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Vegas!

baldbradyLeave a comment

I know they say that “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” but I’m going to leak some of the happenings during our visit there in late April.

Las Vegas has changed. I first went there sometime in the late 70’s during my wanderings around the west after attending geology field camp in Montana. I remember bright sun, lots of neon, the Sahara, Rio, the Sands, Caesars – all the classic casinos. High-rise hotels, low-rise casinos. No monstrosities. Cheap buffets (ideal for a starving student). Old fashioned slots with real arms you had to pull. Single deck Blackjack. I don’t remember any shows – but I probably wasn’t interested.

During my 30-year career in SoCal, I probably came to Vegas 10 times. I did some gambling, saw the new monstrosities being built (Treasure Island, Luxor, and the like), and saw a show or two (Cirque Du Soleil), and still enjoyed cheap buffets. I played the poker rooms downtown (Binion’s, 4 Queens). Rooms were around $20. Vegas was filled with retirees filling up the slots. Back then Vegas made its money from gambling – everything else was there to make you want to stay. Inside the casinos you could never tell night from day. Not many kids around – I remember my young son being kept well away from the casino floor.

Later, after retirement, I visited Las Vegas a couple more times with friends. The friends will remain nameless, and events during those visits will stay in Vegas…

That Vegas is gone. Try finding a room on the Strip under $300 – especially after the resort fees, parking, and numerous other unbundling fees. Impossible. Jane and I stayed downtown at the Golden Nugget. Nice room but $300 per night? Not that nice. We could walk to the Fremont Experience – what is left of Fremont Street. Now it is more amusement park/theme park than it is a street. Not much of interest for me. I read somewhere that during the 1980’s, 80% of Las Vegas revenue was from gambling; now gambling is only 20%, the rest comes from entertainment, fine dining, shows, resort fees, $20 drinks, and $40 Starbucks orders (it was for two and included a couple muffins, but still!).

See Jane’s video of Fremont Street

We did spend one evening down on the strip. We had a forgettable dinner and saw one of the new Cirque Du Soleil shows, KA, which is the only show that fit our brief stay. It had the usual acrobatics, but was designed to tell some mythical story involving a young brother and sister. I found the story absolutely indecipherable (there was no dialog, just action and music), and the human feats overwhelmed by pyrotechnics, a stage that resembled a raft being tossed about in a hurricane, and music loud enough for my Apple watch to send me several alerts! Jane said she enjoyed it though…

I did a bit of gambling. Blackjack is now multi-decks only, with very unfavorable rules and lots of very bad side bets. I played some poker – I managed a small profit that didn’t quite make up for my donation at the BJ table. I broke even (nearly) on a couple of bets on the Cavs – Raptors game (lost the game but won the over), but my gambling budget turned black when the Guardians beat the Blue Jays on the point spread.

By far the most memorable experience in Vegas was our dinner at Oscar’s Steak House. Oscar’s was opened in 2011 by notorious mob defender and former mayor Oscar Goodman as a throwback to the Rat-Pack days. Originally it was known as Oscar’s Beef, Booze, and Broads. Oscar was not much interested in being PC. They’ve dropped that tag, but its cuisine is still very much old Vegas. My steak was done to perfection as was Jane’s and all the fixings were excellent. I had two delicious Martinis (Bombay and olives, shaken not stirred) that left me spinning. Jane said her creme brûlée was the best she ever had (and that is saying a lot!). All that for just over $300 for two.

I doubt I’ll return to Las Vegas in this lifetime.

Oscar’s Steakhouse – looking down Fremont Street.

The OC and Sedona

baldbrady2 Comments

We have been in the USA for 12 days—time enough to be over jet lag, and time enough to assess my reaction to coming back after an 8-year absence.

I expected more changes—the OC was pretty much how I remembered it. A few businesses are gone, but most are intact. The biggest change was all the new construction that has completely altered the campus of my former employer, Cal State Fullerton. I literally got lost on campus! One comforting, still-intact feature: the old escalators in McCarthy Hall—and fittingly, they weren’t working.

While there, I was reminded of SoCal’s greatest attraction: the friendly people. I had forgotten what it was like to wander around Albertsons at 7:30 am and have everyone I pass (customers and staff alike) wish me a good morning. Likewise, passing someone on the sidewalk often led to a short conversation. All that sunshine makes for a friendly population—that is something I do miss.

Sticker shock hit me fast. Dinner for two at my favorite old taco stand, Q-Tortas, was $50+! We’re talking a walk-up window here, not a sit-down, tablecloths place. Granted, I ordered like my 30-year-old self, and we had enough food for two meals, but still! And gas! The cheapest we saw was $4.99 per gallon; the most expensive was at a lonely gas station in the middle of the Mojave off I-40—nearly $11 per gallon, complete with a sign warning customers not to complain about the high prices! We left without making a purchase.

We had a great time catching up with friends and former students while in Fullerton/Placentia. It was good to see I am not the only one who has aged over the last eight years!

Oh yeah…the birding was pretty good at Bolsa Chica. Nearly every bird was a lifer! Pics will be posted on FB.

After a few days, we moved across the desert to Sedona (with a quick stop at Rainbow Basin to show Jane where I spent so many days). She was mildly impressed. On the other hand, we were both quite disappointed in Sedona. Yes, the scenery is nice (maybe I am a bit jaded, and Jane is not a huge fan of desert landscapes), but one of the biggest reasons I chose to stay in Sedona for a few days was the large number of fine restaurants to try. Ha! We ended up eating four out of five nights at our Airbnb with Safeway ready-to-eat food.

On night one, we arrived too late (too late in Sedona is 8 pm, when most restaurants close!). Night two, we had an early burger and beer at a nearby casual restaurant. Then, for the next three nights, I tried to make dinner reservations—EVERY restaurant was completely booked, many of them for the next week or even month! Sure, we could have gotten a table at 3 pm two days later…we chose Safeway.

On our last night, based on ChatGPT recommendations, we drove up to Airport Mesa to watch the sunset. Holy crap—so did 5,000 other people! Huge parking lot, no views without people in the way. Some had 10-foot-long selfie sticks to get above the crowd. The sunset was a dud—no clouds, just an orange ball dipping below a distant butte. We left early to beat the traffic and drove to 3–4 restaurants (ones that don’t take reservations). They either had huge lines or the kitchen was already closed (7:45 pm). Back to Safeway.

We have been in the USA for 12 days – time enough to be over jet lag, and time enough to assess my reaction to coming back after an 8 year absence.

I expected more changes – the OC was pretty much how I remembered it. A few businesses are gone, but most are intact. The biggest change was all the new construction that completely changed the campus of my former employer, Cal State Fullerton. I literally got lost on campus! One comforting still-intact feature: the old escalators in McCarthy Hall – and fittingly they weren’t working.

While there I was reminded about SoCal’s greatest attraction: the friendly people. I forgot what it was like to wander around Albertson’s at 7:30 am and have everyone one I pass (customer and staff alike) wish me a good morning. Likewise, passing someone on the sidewalk elicited a short conversation. All that sunshine makes for a friendly population – that is something I do miss.

Sticker shock hit me fast. Dinner for two at my favorite old taco stand, Q-Tortas was $50+!. We are talking a walk-up window here, not a sit-down table-cloths place. Granted, I ordered like my 30 year-old self, and we had enough food for 2 meals, but still! And gas! Cheapest we saw was $4.99 per gallon – most expensive was at a lonely gas station in the middle of the Mojave off I-40 – nearly $11 per gallon, and complete with a sign warning customers not to complain about the high prices! We left without making a purchase.

We had a great time catching up with friends and former students while in Fullerton/Placentia. It was good to see I am not the only one who has aged over the last 8 year!

Oh yea….the birding was pretty good at Bolsa Chica. Nearly every bird was a lifer! Pics will be posted on FB.

After a few days, we moved across the desert to Sedona (with a quick stop at Rainbow Basin to show Jane where I spent so many days). She was mildly impressed. On the other hand we were both quite disappointed in Sedona. Yes, the scenery is nice (maybe I am a bit jaded, and Jane is not a huge fan of desert landscapes), but one of the biggest reasons I chose to stay in Sedona for a few days was the large number of fine restaurants to try. Ha! We ended up eating 4 out of 5 nights at our airBnB from Safeway ready-to-eat food. On night number 1, we arrived too late (too late in Sedona is 8 pm when most restaurants close!). Night two we had an early burger and beer at a nearby casual restaurant. Then for the next 3 nights, I tried to make reservations for dinner. EVERY restaurant was completely booked – many of them for the next week or even month! Ok, we could have gotten a table at 3 pm for 2 days in the future….we chose Safeway. On our last night, based on ChatGPT recommendations we drove up to Airport Mesa to watch the sunset. Holy crap! So did 5000 other people! Huge parking lot, no views without people in the way. People had 10 ft long selfie sticks to get up above the crowd. The sunset was a dud, no clouds, just an orange ball dipping below a distant butte. We left early to beat the traffic and drove to 3-4 restaurants (ones that do not take reservations), they were either huge long lines, or the kitchen was already closed (7:45 pm). Back to Safeway.

Sedona wasn’t all bad. We loved our big Airbnb house in a deathly quiet neighborhood—it had a nice yard and was well equipped. I did discover that one of their coffee mugs was decidedly not microwaveable—I have two large blisters on my fingers to prove it. The other nice surprise was the Sedona waste disposal site. Yes, you read that right. Its actual name is the Sedona Wetlands Preserve. The city of Sedona teamed up with the National Audubon Society to create a man-made series of marshes and ponds. Great birding locality with numerous waterfowl and passerine species. I spent two fun mornings there.

We also spent a day driving up to the South Rim. For me, the Grand Canyon from the rim is just a big hole. Jane was likewise only mildly impressed. It did bring back memories of the numerous backpacking trips I did there in my youth, and the raft trip I did with my son and 20 colleagues 20-odd years ago. It makes me think about doing another raft trip—anyone want to go?

We are off to Vegas today. I’ve heard about big changes there too (and high prices). I’ll tell you about it later!