Back home from our Northern California family road trip. Added about 1500 miles to the family minivan. Added a couple more cities that I have never been to, to my travel log.
We left last week on Friday. Spent the day in Los Angeles, specifically Wi Spa. Enjoyed our relaxation time there and then spent the night in LA at the Hyatt Regency. Woke up rather latish, and had brunch at Chez Marie on the edge of Santa Monica. Food was ok, service was good, ambiance was very nice, but they had a massive fly problem out on the patio. From there we made the very long drive to Woodland, California where my sister-in-law lives.
We arrived around 7pm or so Saturday night. My sister-in-law literally moved into her new house, the night before. There were boxes everywhere, nothing could be found, etc. It was a major disaster area, as to be expected.
On Sunday, we went to Napa Valley. We had brunch at a very nice place call Brix. The Sunday brunch was very good, as far as brunches go. From there we toured Sterling Vineyards. I wasn't super impressed with the wines, but then again, I pretty much just drink Pinot Noir, and Sterling apparently doesn't make too many of those regularly. My sister-in-law and her husband have a membership there so that's why we went.
Monday was my free day and I got out to Capital Casino. I made 2k playing 2/5 no limit and 300 playing 8/16 limit. I got involved in two big no limit hands. The first I had pocket sixes and flopped bottom set on a 6 King Jack two diamond flop. The spot limped, I raised to 25, everyone else cleared out. He called. He check/raised my flop bet of 35 to 100 and I called. Turn was 5 of diamonds, he bet 210, I called. River was 5 of clubs, and he check/folded to my river bet of 475. Talked to some of my friends, who play no limit a lot more than I do, and they pretty much said that I screwed up every street. Oh well. The other big hand I got involved with was pocket kings that ended up winning unimproved. Very loose aggressive splashy player open raises under the gun to 25. New spot calls him next in. Folded to me in cutoff. I raise to 115. Splashy calls, spot folds. Flop comes 973 rainbow. He check/calls my flop bet of 150. Turn was a blank. He check/called my turn bet of 350. River paired the 3, and he lead for 500. I insta-called and he tabled 75 suited, and I collect the monies.
In 8/16 two memorable things happened. When the table first started, we had 5 chops in 6 hands! The only non-chop hand was when I raised the cutoff with A9o. Then I proceeded to dribble off a bunch of chips, before I went on a rush, winning like 4 or 5 pots in row. In a kill pot, some obviously poor player open-limped early, I raised with A4h, everyone else cleared out. Flop comes AQx. He check/calls, turn A, same action, river A, same action. I collect the monies. In all I enjoyed Capital Casino.
Tuesday we headed out to San Francisco. Did the San Francisco thing, visited Pier 39, the wharf, rode a cable car, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then drove to Monterey and spent the night at Casa Munras. Nice hotel although we didn't get there until a bit before midnight, and their bar was already closed, which was a little irksome for me.
The next day, we hit Monterey Bay Aquarium. And then drove into Carmel, and had dinner at Dametra Cafe. The food was good, but the service was horrible. The owner came by and asked us how our meal was and I was pretty honest with him. The bartender/waiter and kitchen screwed up multiple things, and I let him know, particularly since I have worked in restaurants before and I know how they are supposed to work from both front of the house and back of the house operations wise, exactly what I think went wrong. He was very apologetic and offered to buy our dinner for us. I didn't let him, but he did buy my wife and I a bottle of wine, and gave us two for the road as well, along with a free dessert, so that was nice. We'll definitely go back and give them another try, next time we are in Carmel.
Comparing Carmel and Monterey, from the little I saw of both of them, I much preferred Carmel. Carmel reminded me of a mix of La Jolla and Del Mar. After dinner we got some ice cream and coffee, and then it was off to Solvang, a little piece of Denmark, right here in California.
We arrived at the Kronborg Inn a little after 10pm. From a hotel room perspective, I actually liked this room the best, even though it was the lowest star hotel we stayed at. Go figure. As it turns out, there is a casino located super close to the hotel. After getting settled in, the wife said I could go check it out, and grab another $1 check for my collection. So off I went to Chumash Casino. Big casino, little poker room. I played 15 minutes of 1/2 (yes one dollar two dollar blinds) no limit and played I think 4 hands, winning 3 of them, and booking a $52 profit. The first hand I played, I flopped quad 8's. The second hand I played, I missed my open ender with 87 on a J56AK board. The third hand I played I hit made my straight with KT on a QJ889 board, and the fourth hand I completely forgot as I think I raised the button, continuation bet the flop and took it down. And then the table broke, and I took off. I stopped off at the blackjack tables for a little bit, and lost some. And then headed back to the hotel.
Today, we toured Solvang, riding around on a surrey which was fun. As we were walking around the town, I hear this woman yell out my wife's name. Turns out one of my wife's friend from San Diego was also in Solvang today, small world. Then on the drive home, we stopped in Los Angeles and ate at Beer Belly in the heart of Koreatown, unbeknownst to me or my wife when I suggested we eat there, care of Diners, Driveins, and Dives. Food was just a tad above average. We ordered the following off their menu: Duck French Dip, Beer Belly Grilled Cheese, Beer and Chipotle Braised Short Rib, Death by Duck, and the Summer Crab Salad. The Duck French Dip and the Grilled Cheese were excellent. The short rib was mediocre to blah, and the Death by Duck was nothing special, and I mentioned to my wife that the Summer Crab Salad would have been better without the crab! So don't think we'll be headed back there anytime soon. And then we drove home, just so I could head on back out tomorrow!
I am leaving for Vegas tomorrow morning, to attend Cecil's bachelor party and to celebrate my law school acceptance as well. So it's a dual trip for me. The only real issue, is I am extremely tired, and I am not sure how much partying I will actually get done this weekend. We'll see.
View Larger Map
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment