white noise

The memories linger…

1. “What the Hell!” or rather “Wha da Herr!” – Christy, NYNY dealer
2. “That’s it. Take out all your frustrations from every woman who has ever wronged you in your life” – Craps dealer to Joe at the Stratosphere
3. “Enterprise, this is Kirk!” – Amanda, D, Me
4. “Look, Joe got a free t-shirt with his steak!” – Me
5. “I want to eat, but I’m afraid I’ll die!” – Carol

Last week was D’s Spring Break so we set off for annual fun in Vegas. This was a long visit for us this time – staying at NYNY for six nights. This trip was extra sweet since we coaxed some party pals to join us. With people arriving and departing throughout the week it kept things really moving. It was the first trip out for a couple of em so we made a lot of the usual rounds (canals at Venetian, gardens at Bellagio, inclinators at Luxor, lions at MGM, etc). We all did treatments at the spa, ate very well, and drank even better. Xomox got a new appreciation for craps. I learned to love the sports book winning 4 of the 6 college basketball bets I placed (wtf Davidson!). And the ladies had much fun slotting it up with fish, Vader, and Hitch.

After one failed attempt (who knew a bar could close at 10pm in Vegas!) we finally tackled the Star Trek experience and got blasted at Quark’s bar.

On our last day we made our ritualistic trip out to Red Rocks for a lot of hiking and a little climbing. On the way out we took a little drive around the new housing developments on the outer stretches of town and imagined what it’d be like to live out there. And afterward we checked out the new Red Rocks Casino and had a fantastic lunch buffet. We finished up at NYNY with some great gaming until 2:30 in the morning and set out for the airport before 5. In the end I was up $15-25 (truly a miracle after six days of gaming), some blisters on my feet, one sunburn, and some new awesome Vegas memories.

Donna and I spent a long weekend in San Francisco last week. It was a chance to see more of the city, hang with my old college pal, Al, and our course, drink some superb wine.

We arrived late Thursday after a two-leg flight. Our first leg (Dayton to Atlanta) got off to a rough start as we were subjected to some of the worst turbulence I’ve ever experienced. For about a minute our small regional jet was really getting whipped around as it struggled through some thunderstorms. I’ve flown so much in the past I’m not too easy bothered, but these sudden drops had me white knuckling it. Our stewardess remarked that it was the second worst she’s experienced. The rest of the trip was uneventful, which was pretty damn welcome.

We stayed in a hip little hotel right downtown complete with a stereotypical San Franciscan name, Hotel Diva. The location made Friday’s sightseeing easy, despite the fact we didn’t have a rental car. Friday started with riding cable cars…

going on a cruise of the bay, under the Golden Gate…

and around Alcatraz…

After the cruise we grabbed lunch at Fisherman’s wharf (the clam chowder and lobster bisque were great!) and then desert at Ghirardelli Square (fine chocolaty goodness). Then to burn off some calories we walked across town, past Lombard Street…

and up and over many hills…

and back to the hotel. We caught up with Al in the evening, and he treated us to a fantastic dinner at Kingfish in Burlingame. Great seafood, great wine, and even desert. Here we learned that high gas prices aren’t all bad after all.

Saturday we all met up early and headed to Napa. We started with one of our favorites, Rutherford Hill. (If you go out for a day of tasting in wine country you want to be sure to hit the best first – both to beat the crowds and to enjoy the finer flavors before you start getting tipsy). Al is a member of the RH wine club, which we also joined during this visit, so we got exceptional service and a few extra tastes. The highlight was a blended wine they call Episode which sells for $200 a bottle. This was followed by the traditional finale of zinfandel port and chocolate covered blueberries. We also got to enjoy their fine view of the Napa Valley landscape…

From there we stopped in to the Peju winery, and then made our way to V. Sattui winery. Sattui was quite the scene – a huge tasting bar, outdoor barbecue and picnicking, and tons of visitors – very much in contrast to the almost intimate tasting earlier at Rutherford. We finished our wine country run at Franciscan, where we took in a small tour and tasting. The tour was pretty lame, but we did get you go right out to the field and sample some petite verdot grapes right off the vine.

Things wrapped up with waiting in a LOT of traffic, and some great comfort food at a Mexican joint back in Burlingame. For essentially a two day trip (plus two travel days) things couldn’t have been better. Contrary to every other visit we’re taken to SF, the weather was perfect – warm, cloudless (and foggless!) days.