New Orleans November 2009

There are a lot of cities I have been to and haven't been to. There are expectations, some are below expectations, some meet them, and some exceed them. I would say New Orleans far exceeded expectations. So much so that I thought I would be spending the entire weekend at Harrah's, and other than the first night, I hardly spent any time there at all. I will tell you what though, it was a long ass day of travel, especially on Southwest which made me stop in Phoenix and Houston, with one plane change and one small delay. When I got to New Orleans, Dannel thought that perhaps I should get some rest, but no, I was ready for a beer and to check out the French Quarter. I immediately embraced the fact that you could purchase a beer and drink it out on the street, so I had an Abita Light (New Orleans #1 beer) and a Bud Light Lime in a paper bag. Like the officer doesn't know whats in the paper bag. Our hotel, the Pere Marquette, was adjacent to Canal street and across from Bourbon Street. Even on a non descript Thursday Night, Bourbon Street was crawling with people, I wouldn't quite call it Mardi Gras like, but it was cool nonetheless. We popped into a few places, and Dannel was on the tail end of his night. That means my night at Harrah's was about to begin. I got into a game of 1-2 no limit right away, and much to my delight, they comped drinks on the floor. This compensated for the fact that rather than rake pots, they charge $6 every half hour just to play. That is $12 an hour, so you better darn well win some pots, even if they are small. I decided to drink fast enough to keep up with the rake, and boy did I. I played very well, and started up over a hundred dollars. I cannot tell you the exact hand, but I suffered a bad beat, and possibly went on tilt? I found myself out of chips, re-bought for another hundred, and promptly lost that too. Damn it ATM time. So I sat down with one last $100 and went on the run of almost a lifetime. I was catching cards, getting paid off, getting free Coors Lights, and loving life. I got involved in a Monster Pot, where I had top pair, top kicker, and there was an obvious spade draw that everyone three players were drawing too. Two bets of $15 were met by my raise to $60, with both players calling. The turn brought no spade, and I raised all in for another $180. The guy to my right thought and thought, eventually folded, although he cursed me under his breath for about 15 minutes. I found myself with over $500 in chips in front of me, it was 6am, and I wasn't seeing straight. Time to cash in. I did see straight enough to find myself at Brother's Fried Chicken, for what was probably the best drunk chicken strips and spicy fries with BBQ sauce I have ever had at 6am.

Day 2
After a close call at the poker table, it was time to give the casino a rest, and check out the French Quarter. Both for curiosity's sake, and to get the lay of the land for the race, which is I guess the reason we are here, right? I met Dannel, Hans, and Kat at The Bayou, which is some kind of New Orleans restaurant. Hans was insistant that I loaded up on carbs, so I obliged and ordered a Hopitulous IPA! I used it as an excuse to steal alot of his fries. They were good. I found a great band just a few blocks off of Bourbon, it was a ten piece, 20's era brass band. That is not my expert musical opinion, just a guess. I enjoyed spending the day walking around the French Quarter, trying the famous Hand Grenade Drink from the Tropical Isle, and getting to bed reasonably early because of the race tomorrow.

Day 3
Today was the Great Urban Race, and I will spare you much of the details, because I wrote about it quite thoroughly in my other blog, but I will say the entire day was quite the Adventure.
My last memories of the evening were hanging out on a balcony at the Tropical Isle, drinking hand grenades, drinking beer out of our eighth place trophy, and thinking to myself, that I had better head back to the hotel, otherwise I would not make it!

Day 4
We woke up probably way too early for a Swamp Tour, but I was excited about it. We would get to see much more of the city that was damaged by the hurricane, and go for a boat ride in a swamp. I would say that is worth the fifty bucks. We got in the bus, and the bus driver had the classic southern accent. I could listen to the guy read the phone book and it would be riveting. His estimations for how high the water came up in certain places were actually quite comical. We did see some damage, but it was not as bad as I thought. We did see a rocket at a Nasa station that I guess landed on the moon? Not sure, I was pretty tired. The bus ride did Dannel in, he definitely didn't feel well by the time we got to the Honey Island swamp. Our boat drive was Captain Claude and he immediately started talking about football, so I knew I was going to like the guy. The boat tour was pretty much what I expected, minus seeing tons of alligators. It was fun, cold, informative, and funny all at the same time. His description of a muffaletta made everyone want to try one. He finally pulled out a pet baby alligator at the end of the trip and let everyone take turns taking pictures with it. Well everyone but me, I wasn't going near the thing. As we were heading back to town, we were negotiating for some Saints tickets, as we had the Panthers in town, and who didn't want to see the Saints in the Superdome! Well Dannel apparently, so I headed out on my own to try and obtain a cheap enough ticket to get me in the stadium. Well, after quite a few failed negotiations, I found someone with a ticket for $100. That was literally the best price I had seen. The person next to him told me that he paid $20 for the ticket. WOW do I wish I had paid 20, but I negotiated down to $75 and was perfectly happy. The ticket was a sheet of paper, so I crossed my fingers that it was actually authentic. New Orleans was a sea of black and gold and people drinking beer in the streets and doing the WHO DAT chant. I felt out of place not wearing a jersey, but I made it CLEAR that I was not there for the Panthers, although I did get a good amount of pictures of the Panther players because they were warming up in our end zone. Strangely I have now seen the Panthers three times. I have only ever seen NFC teams! Anyways, the guy who sold the ticket ended up still sitting next to me. I guess he got pissed at his girlfriend, and they flew all the way out from California! He was a hardcore Saints fan, and I wasn't going to argue. The atmosphere was electric as the Saints were 7-0, but they started off down 14-0 after some electric plays by Deangelo Williams. I told them not to worry. As the Saints got back in the game, the Who Dat chants got louder and the place was whipped into a frenzy. My new buddy Omar bought me a couple of beers, and the Saints came back to win. Brees did good, not great, but just enough to win. It was amazing and I was awestruck being in the Superdome. Who wouldn't be? And of course, the French Quarter had a major after party to celebrate. It seemed like everyone in N.O. had Saints jerseys on that day, including Hans and Kat! I got maybe a 10 minute nap, before Brittany and her friend Kay showed up to do some French Quarter partying! Dannel, Mr. Lame-O of course stayed in the room. We pretty much went to, well I can't say all since there are so many, but a lot of bars in the Quarter. The first stop of course was the Tropical Isle to get some hand grenades. Always a good start to the night! We listened to music, danced, had pizza, drank, drank some more, had shots, listened to more music, and repeated the process over and over. All in all a fun and blurry night on Bourbon. And did I mention EVERYONE, including the bands and security guards, all were wearing Saints jerseys!

Day 5
Everyone was gone, but me and Brittany, and finally we had a nice shopping day and had lunch at Margaritaville. That was good alcohol soaking food. So were the beignets at the Cafe Du Monde. Absolutely as advertised. And buried in powdered sugar. I went into every single cheesey New Orleans gift shop in the city, and bought way too much pointless crap, but it was fun. After a good two hour nap, and some packing, we decided to give the quarter a last go. Brittany was disapointed that we couldn't get into the cemetary, but we did find a bar with Monday Night Football much to my delight. It was Steelers Broncos and Brittany was a good sport. As we were trying to find a restaurant, we passed by a singing couple, and there daughter. I have told this story a million times so I will spare you the details, but it was the sweatiest half hour and the worst dollar I ever spent. We found a little diner, had a decent meal, struggled through a couple of beers and passed out again. I had about a 3 hour turnaround until my flight!

All in all New Orleans was amazing and I can't wait to go back. I would definitely put it in my top ten favorite cities. So much to do, so much to see, and so much left over for next time. I will be back in October of 2010 so that is exciting! Hope you al can come along this time.

Alaska Cruise 8/30-9/7/09

The Great Adventure known as the Alaska Cruise actually started two days prior in Seattle on the eve of the Great
Urban Race. I arrived in Seattle on Friday August 28 rather late after a stop at the Emerald Queen Casino. To
avoid the risk of sounding redundant, I will simply ask that you scroll down to read the details of the race below.
My dad and Jonathan arrived late Saturday Night, late enough that the bars were closed, but not too late that we
couldn't get a few hands of poker in.

Official Day 1. Due to not having to embark until 2, we had a nice full day to sleep in, but then realized we were
cutting it close to not only drop off the cars at my friends house, but find a bank, and a container to put Jonathans
Raspberry Vodka in. Amazingly, thanks to my Tom Tom, we were able to achieve all that, drop off the cars at Jenny's
house, and the cab was there waiting for us. It was an absolutely picture perfect Seattle day, which bodes well for
having good weather for the trip. As we got closer to the port we had the first glimpse of our cruise ship, The
Norwegian Pearl. It was quite the sight to behold, and it definitely looked out of place here in Seattle. The embarkation
process was relatively smooth, and my dad got the coupon book which was his passport to FREEdom and fun on the trip.
He did make his fair share of embarassing jokes while in line, which seems to be the standard, so we have learned
to accept it. We took the mandatory boarding picture, went up the ramp, and were handed a glass of champagne, not before
having our hands sanitized for the first of many, MANY times. The first thing we did was find our room, which was
really nice, and seemed like it would be comfortable for 7 days with three people in it, provided that Jonathan does not trash
the place. HAHA I am asking way too much aren't I. We dropped off our things, finished our champagne, and headed
up to the buffet. This would be my dads paradise for the next seven days. When he discovered the hummus and the curry,
he could not be happier. Oh wait, that was until he discovered the sugar free dessert. You see, when you have diabetes
cheesecake is a real treat. I had my first of many turkey burgers, and MAN do I crave those things. Nowhere can I get
them as good as they were on the ship. After lunch, we took a quick peek in the casino, and headed to the top deck for
the embarkation party. They were playing reggae music, kids were in the pool, and I had my first Bud Light Lime. It
felt like we were heading to Mexico, not Alaska! It was sunny and hot, and people were doing the Macarena. We got my
dad a soda card, which is a big deal because sodas are two bucks a pop, literally, and you know how much soda I drink.
We were not sitting down for a minute, when we lost my dad TWICE to the buffet. Mind you we just ate. Seattle looked
beautiful as it got smaller and smaller and smaller in the distance. Me and Jonathan decided to don our bathing suits
and get in the hot tub, which at the time seemed very ironic considering our destination. A few beers in and we were
not thinking of irony too much..We were trying to figure out when the Casino was going to open! Well we had one of our
only nice dinners at the Indigo Dining Room, and my dad discovered a world where you can have as many New York Steaks
as you want. And sugar free dessert. Our next stop was the casino, for some extremely high rake, 1-2 no limit hold
em. The table was quiet, but insert me and a few beers, and it became a little more social. You see, you had to factor
the rake into every hand you played, and the golden rule was not to get tangled up with each other, meaning my dad, and
Jonathan. On a very early hand, I had pocket Kings which was raised twice before the flop. I was heads up to a player
that raised, I re-raised, and he went all in. I called with my Kings and much to my dismay the had flopped a set of
8's. I miraculously hit a King on the turn, and scooped in my first $250 plus pot, complete with the $25 rake. I wasn't
complaining though. For those non poker players out there, out of 52 cards, two cards could help me. Any of the
other 50 help him. I won that hand and never looked back. My dad, who was down a little made a big mistake and called
me on an all in with a Flush Draw when I flopped two pair. This didn't make sense because we were just donating money
to NCL and scaring away all the rest of the business. I won the pot and my dad was in an even bigger hole. I gave him
some of his money back, and we kept playing and I ended up UP about $250. Me and Jonathan had a 2am dinner at the Blue
Lagoon after the table broke, and the food there is like diner style. Again, quite good. I am used to Carnival food
which is SO SO.

Day 2
AT SEA
After a bite to eat, me and Jonathan went and did what all idiots do while on vacation. Hit the gym. The gym was sufficient
but not as elaborate as a Carnival gym. You can basically do an entire body workout, more like you are forced into it
and then maybe a little cardio. After burning off 1/10th of our beer calories from the previous day, we decided to hit
the casino with our fun books. The first promotion that we played was the free ace. We each bet the full $25. Jonathan
hit his, and I got a blackjack. Meaning $37.50 for me and $25 for Jonathan. We won on all of our match plays. We even
won on our free slot play. We basically won about $100 for doing nothing but increasing the odds dramatically in our favor.
This called for celebration, and the insisting that my dad signed up for a fun book too. He basically broke even on his
which added to his tilting for the trip. We decided the hot tub was once again in order, and the rule I feel on cruise ships
is to go into the hot tub that have other people in them. Not a couple making out per say, but you are there to be social
and we met these two Australian blokes on a tour of America. They basically ended up being our homies for the trip. We also
discovered that it was cheaper to get six beers in a football helmet, rather than one at a time. After a couple hours of hot
tubbing and another gorgeous day, we decided to try some bowling but it was busy, so instead we went and had dinner at
Indigo. Again, the food is good but the service is a notch below because they are not expecting a tip, whereas on Carnival
they know they are working for that $20 handshake at the end of the cruise. We then went to the comedy show, arrived late,
and through a series of fortunate events for me, the Comedian who did not appreciate us being late, grabbed the first person
in our party going down the stairs, which happened to be Jonathan. Jonathan was now on stage to play a role in the Wizard
of OZ. His part, was the scarecrow. He had to sing and to the scarecrow walk. The Aussies were sitting right behind us
and were rather amused. What was cool is that Jonathan was known on the rest of the cruise as the scarecrow. After a very
good laugh, we went back to the bowling alley and got a couple games in. You seriously have to wrap your mind around being
on a cruise ship, way out at sea...and bowling. We found our Aussie buddies and had USA vs. Australia bowling for a Bud Light
Lime. USA won, thanks to everyone playing pretty pathetic, and me hitting a strike on the 9th frame. We went back to the
casino, where I spotted Jonathan a hund to play poker and once again he struck gold. He always does that when he is low
on funds and using my money. Maybe we are onto something? I was down to about $60 myself, although I did play fairly solid.
I hit a crappy two pair and got paid off by Jonathan towards the end of the night, and ended up breaking even, and he was
up $200 which was really nice. At the end of the night, we ordered way too much room service and passed out.

Day 3
Juneau
We woke up, with a much better view of what looked like a destination. We were actually being escorted into port by the
coast guard, with very big machine guns. The nice thing about a 2pm port call is that you get to sleep in. We were rested
showered, and ready to go well in time for the departure. The good thing about our crappy, bottom of the ship cabin,
is that we were situated right next to where you get off the ship, and nobody had access to our floor except for people
that were staying on it. We were super amped to be getting off the ship, especially considering we had been on board
for almost 48 hours, and we were finally in ALaska! I was very excited to take my first step into Alaska and take as
many pictures with the signs as possible, proving I was here. We found our Aussie friends, yet again, and headed towards
the tour area. Now, there is a big difference between Juneau, and the Juneau for cruise passengers that is conveniently
there right when you get off the ship. I can imagine lots of people going around to all the cheesy shops and tourist traps,
and not even leaving the area to explore the city. The star of Juneau is the Mendenhall Glacier, and there are many
ways to see it, but we opted for the $7 per way shuttle ride. There was a very COLORFUL lady that was the bus drive, I
am not sure if she passed a drug test today or ever. Really, one had to be there but she had this same weird shpeil and
creepy look in the rearview mirror, but it was nothing short of entertaining for all the wrong reasons. It was about a 20
minute ride to the Glacier which was nothing short of breathtaking. And it keeps getting better and better the closer in
you got. My dad blatantly disobeyed the no food rule, as he was destined to have an encounter with a bear. There were
icebergs floating in the bay, float planes flying overhead, and kayaks traversing through the water. We came close enough
to dip our fingers in the ice cold water. We took pictures with every camera and from every angle. This was something
new to all of our eyes. We then decided we should go for a hike on East Glacier Trail. At the head of a trail, there
was a warning sign that bears had been spotted very recently. Jonathan wanted no part of this, but we pressed on. It felt
alot like Oregon, minus the massive glacier. There were some huge Alice In Wonderland mushrooms, and streams that either
passed over or under the trail. There was also a conspicous lack of people on this trail. My dad was definitely a 69
year old trooper, keeping up the whole way. We walked for about a half hour, when we finally got to what was the payoff,
a really cool waterfall. My dad climbed to the top of the slippery rocks for some cool pictures, although I wasn't happy
he did that. We then what seemed to be much quicker, took the trail back and ended up back at the visitor center. There
was a lot of commotion, apparently because of some bears that had finished eating a bunch of salmon and had climbed to the
top of a tree to relax and scratch their backs. We just looked for all the people, and we found the bears. We came very
very close to bears, just hanging out there in nature, doing their thing. We made it back just in time for our shuttle
bus back, and we had the same crazy lady, and the same stupid jokes. One of the jokes was, "There are three things to do
in Alaska; Drinking....Drugging....And Breeding!" She asks the bus, How many of you like drinking!? Most of the people
cheer. How many of you like drugging!? Some people cheer. And How many of you like breeding!? My dad basically gave
a standing ovation. She also said you people say OH! The Bear! And we say, ooooohhhh, the bear. She basically
repeated every bad joke, each way. When we got dropped back off in town, we headed over to the Red Dog Salloon, which is
supposedly very famous, and very old. There was still sawdust on the floor, and old time piano player, and basically
whiskey, beer, and some bar food. We had all three of those things. The potato skins, Alaskan White Ale, and Jim
Beam went down real easy after a long hike. We did a little bit of shopping, bought for six liters of Absolut for 8.50
a piece!, and a bunch of beer that we successfuly got back on the ship, which will save us all a bunch of money! Of course,
the first thing everyone wanted to do was hit the buffet, so I obliged, and got my standard turkey burger. There was no
poker game going tonight, so we went and made our own game in the card room. Again, the theme of the trip was me winning,
so what I would do is win a little bit of money from Dad and Jonathan, and then I would post it towards our bill or
gratuity, or something that helped everyone out. Me and Jonathan went to the Bliss and watched the Vegas style shadow
dancers, that could have been naked, or could not have been. Jonathan thinks no. We went to the Blue Lagoon for a late
night dinner, and Jonathan asked if he could have some boneless buffalo wings. She said that she could not make them.
So Jonathan ordered some chicken tenders, with a side of wing sauce. They could do this very easily. I was laughing
so hard I had to try real hard to prevent from crying. Dad was still awake when we got to the room, and we watched the
movie, North To Alaska. We would continue to sing the theme song to this movie the rest of the trip.

Day 4
Skagway
We basically arrived in Skagway with our hearts set on gold panning. We found the place that offered gold panning in
Skagway, and it was basically the backyard of a store that some lady ran. Not very authentic. Skagway is described
as basically a Disneyland in a town in Alaska, where nothing would exist if it were not for cruise passengers. The
population shrinks to about 800 in the winter time. The street is old west themed, with wood panel sidewalks and many
shops and restaurants. Our dilemna, and goal was, what to do. We wanted to make the most of every port we stopped in.
Our first stop was the Skagway Brewing Company. They were actually out of the IPA and the Pale, which are what I wanted
to try, so we settle for some darker beers, I had an interesting salad, and my dad got his free hat. This is a newer,
less authentic place, but it was fine. We went into many, if not all of the shops, and I found us a tour, on a bus, that
takes us the same route as the Skagway Railroad, but on a bus, for a fourth of the price and it included gold panning!
I will admit, the drive up was not the most exciting thing, but we did see some nice scenery, beautiful waterfalls,
and took lots of pictures. The higher up we went, the more exotic the scenery was, and we actually crossed into Canada.
The bus ride down was even less exciting, because it was a repeat, but we did stop at Gold Mine Cemetary where they had
the grave of soapy smith and other historical Skagway characters. The next stop was our, um, authentic gold panning
experience. Ok, it was actually pans, pre-loaded with dirt, and three small gold flakes, where the object was simply
to extract the gold. Again, not what I had in mind, but we had fun. The bus driver, who was very nice, dropped us
off at the Red Onion, which was a former Brothel, and we had a delicious pitcher of Alaskan White and some really good
nachos. They might have been extra good because of our long day, and the girls were dressed up as old brothel girls.
We successfully got some more beer on board the ship, and we hit up the casino. Again, the game was not that good
so we made our own game in the card room. My theme was winning, and this time was no different. I took the money that
I won and posted it to our hotel bill.

Day 5
Glacier Bay
Today was one of the cooler days, both literally and figuratively. We sailed into Glacier Bay, and me and Jonathan
were actually up and on a great spot on the top deck by the time we entered the National Park. Jonathan had an Irish
Coffee, me a Red Bull, but we were both freezing. The pictures here are a thousand words, but we pulled up to some
of the most amazing glaciers anywhere on the Planet. The star of the show was the Marjorie Glacier, and we each unloaded
our cameras on it. We lost our dad for a couple hours, but little did we know he was having a romantic moment and could
not be bothered with such scenery. We saw seals swimming, bears, and allegedly ice fell off the glaciers themselves, and
there were many icebergs floating. It was very amazing to see how the Grand Pacific Glacier carved out this whole valley.
We decided it was enough ice, and it was time to get in the hot tub. Sitting in Glacier Bay in the hot tub was another
highlight of the trip. We hit the gym, and went up to the casino for the poker tournament. I actually won my portion
of the entry with some more of the fun books, but both dad and Jonathan bought a piece of my action. I actually started
the tournament on fire, playing perfectly, and amassing chips. I took a little bit of a hit during the first table change
but I went to the final table with about an average sized stack. I got a free drink for doing that, which is about as
good as it was going to get. The blinds and levels went up so fast, it was clear the casino was more interested in making
the profit, and moving on, rather than hosting a good tournament. I actually got screwed when we were figuring out
where the button would be and had to play 9-10 suited in the blinds, and lost to Isaacs pocket queens. We gambled a little
bit more, and headed up for a much needed nap. Second City was having a show in the Spinnaker Lounge again, and of course
Jonathan, the ham, volunteered, with much less success. In fact, the cat got his tongue on numerous occasions. We met
some new friends, proceeded to have way too much to drink, and passed out good after what was a long, fun day.

Day 6
Ketchikan
This port came a tad early, as 6am and we were off the ship. Not really sure what to do in this town, we headed into
town, and figured our best bet was the Lumberjack show. We had some time to kill, and me and Jonathan found a diner.
I actually had a bite of his halibut and chips, and it may have been one of the better things I have ever tasted. Dad
was reluctant to spend money on the show, but we actually ended up having a great time. Our side, the Canadian side,
won the show which was pretty good, and pretty funny as well. We walked around town a little bit, and bought four LITERS
of Absolut for 7.95 which was a pretty damn good deal. Again, we successfully got more beer on the ship. Tonight was
get hammered with the Aussies night. We were drinking jaeger and canadian whiskey like it was water, and attended the
toga party in bliss. Yes, I donned a toga, and it was very classy. Made for some great pictures. We went and ordered
probably the most room service known to man, and passed out.

Day 7
Victoria
I played in another tournament today, and this time it was only one table. It was a quick, inglorious exit as kings
ran into aces, and I decided not to rebuy. We found our friends and made our own game in the card room, and I probably
ended up winning another hundred. When it was down to me dad and Jonathan, we played some dealers choice and I put
my dad on perma tilt by beating his full house with quad aces in Three From Your Hand. This might have happened yesterday
but you get the point. We were VERY excited about our Canada trip, because A. Its Canada, and B. We were heading for
the Casino View Royal. We did not even pass go, we got in a cab and headed straight to the casino. It was ok, the bar
sucked, and the poker was dealerless. Jonathan could not wait, and he jumped in right away. He was actually up a bit
while I went and played the machines. I sat down at the table, and I actually climbed to ver $200 and Jonathan ended
up completely tanking. He was on tilt, and pretty much done gambling for the trip. I took my winnings and bought us
a bunch of Canadian beer at the liquor store next door. The girls that ran the store were very funny and were wondering
what Americans were doing all the way out there. We took the free shuttle back to the cruise dock, spent the last of
the Canadian money, and got back on the ship for the last time. I had packed earlier, so it was pretty much drinking time.
We met some new people in the Spinnaker, put a serious dent in my peach vodka, and passed out around 4am, for what would
be a rude awakening the next day.

Day 8
Seattle
Well, this day was inevitable. The week of fun, drinking, gambling, and looking at scenery had come to an end and with
most last days, it was bitter sweet. We had such a great time, but all great things must come to an end. The debarkation
process was actually pretty smooth. We definitely liked NCL and the freestyle concept. I left with quite a bit of gambling
winnings, and we all left with tons of pictures and memories. My dad was sold on cruising, and especially the hummus!
See you next year NCL...or is it Royal Caribbean...or is it Carnival...

Leaving for Alaska tomorrow...

Well, everyone says Alaska is for old people...and they are probably right! It's not every day your dad turns 70...now if only he would get a proper haircut! We have actually been planning this for a couple of years now and its a long time in the making. It has been a long time since he has done anything on this scale, so its kind of a big deal. No, its not Mexico or the Caribbean, but it still sure is bound to be a great time. Panning for gold, fishing, looking at glaciers, visiting Alaskan breweries, and lots and lots of poker. How do you go wrong? And the Norwegian Pearl is the newest and nicest ship in the fleet. Tomorrow all of the blank pages get to be filled in!

Alaska Cruise...

Only 17 more days!!!

Vegas 7/09

This was a very fun and HOT trip to Vegas. It was Shauna's first time going there so it added a little bit of excitement. I always love being in Vegas when its somebody's first time! I still feel like its my first time every time I see the sights, and get excited checking into my hotel. The VIP check in no longer works for gold cards, so it took a while to check in. We took a very short nap (since I had no sleep) and headed right down towards the pool. It was the usual, crazy, 4th of July seen...hot as hell, crazy people everywhere, and the drinks were jacked up in price by a couple of dollars. After a few hours of roasting and being completely submerged in water, we headed back to the room, got ready, and met Tain and Zoop for dinner at Toby Keith's. Can I just say how good that place is? The service could honestly be better, but whatever. Speaking of Zoop he is no longer at Rumjungle, he is at a new place called Tacos and Tequila at the Luxor. With a name like that, how can it be bad!? We met up with Shawn and Angie (the bride and groom to be) at Bill's for a craps lesson which ended up being a $200+ profit craps lesson for me, Shawn, and Shawna, and more drinks than we could keep up with. Going to sleep up on your first night is definitely a good thing.

The next day was Fourth of July and wedding day, so we got dressed up and met everyone in the lobby and took a taxi over to the chapel. The chapel was uninspiring, but the wedding was quick, maybe too quick, and to the point. Me and Shawna walked over to Fremont street from there and let me just say 110 degrees was a conservative estimate. We had a couple of beers, some light gaming, and headed back to the strip. We went to the Forum Shops, the Fashion show, and headed back to the pool which was way more crowded and the day was half gone so we ended up back in the room to get ready for the night. We had a not so good dinner at the coffee shop at the Flamingo, had a heck of a time figuring out where we were going to see fireworks, and ended up seeing a pretty decent show at Ceasars. I had a 72 oz Miller Lite that I could not finish. We had some drinks at Shawn's go room, which was really nice, and I ended up drinking quite a big of jaeger. We did the Harrahs/Circle Bar/O'sheas loop, had some pizza, and headed back to the room.

Today I decided to take a cab to the Rio for Day 1C of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker and what is now called Pokerpalooza. It was not as good as the Gaming Life expo that I went to a couple years ago, but it was ok, got some free magazines, and rather than a plethora of celebreties, I saw Victor Ramdin. The tournament, however, was another story. I saw the entire Phillips Army and Dennis Phillips, and a table down was Dan Harrington. Now that is a legend!! I saw Howard Lederer but I couldn't get a good picture of him. I worked my way up to the feature table and saw of all people, Daniel Negreanu! He was his usual chatty self and I watched him take down a hand from the button. I headed back to the hotel and had a little bit of pool time, and this time we were at the Euro (read topless) pool and let me just say, the chairs are nicer, the DJ is better, and there are no screaming kids! I know you are not buying a word of what I am saying but its true! Later that night we met up with Tain at the Hard Rock and had dinner at Pink Taco. He had passes to Pure so we went to Ceasars and I decided that I was not nearly buzzed and alcohol was not going down easy so we decided to have a pint of jaeger, and we finished it about 7 minutes. Going from sober to hammered in a pretty short amount of time. While we are sitting there, I get the bonus on Jungle Wild, and the screen fills up with wilds, and on a 50 cent spin I win over $300. Can you say VIP table at Pure! We met up with some of Tain's friends, and we got a VIP booth and a very expensive bottle of Absolut. I was in no shape to drink, but after they fixed everything up for us so nicely, how could I say no! I had about 4 vodka/cran/sodas and pretty much left the place off my ass. I had a piece of pizza at O'sheas and it was pass out time!!!

Today was most everyones last day, so I took some of my hard earned winnings and we pitched in on a Cabana at the Euro pool. Can I say what a great idea this is? You get about $100 worth of booze, guaranteed chairs, a flat screen tv, and you look like a rock star! I actually couldnt drink at first, but the ice cold corona lights convinced me otherwise. You also get these melon balls soaked in vodka, and they come in this melon shell. A lady turned the melon shells into a bra, and came over to me and asked if I liked her melons! I really hit a wall with the drinking, and with the last remaining gas I had in the tank, we went over to Excalibur and went to dinner at Dick's. The brisket sandwich was awesome, but I think our server last time was more fun and more creative. No hats for us! I then took Shawna on a tour of the other side of the strip. NY NY, MGM, Luxor (where we saw Cris Angel), and Planet Hollywood. Now you are probably wondering if I played much poker, and the answer is no. I played a little, won some money, but I realized I was playing at a table with people that were playing in the main event, and I was maybe out of my league. Well, maybe not, but I dont have ten grand, so at least out of my bank roll. I can never seem to win on my last night, but thats ok.

Getting up to leave in the morning and head to the airport is always a rude awakening, but its a must, a few dreams left behind in the Vegas sand, and a glimmer of hope for next time. If I am going to get rich can it please be sooner than later! I don't want to be that 80 year old man that wins powerball =) See you back in Vegas in sept...

Vegas...

Only 41 more days!

Maui 2009

DAY 1: This trip started off a lot differently. For starters I wasn't stressed about my job the whole time, and I was much more looking forward to the trip, and in a much better mood on the plane ride there! Well I am never really a fan of over 5 hours on the plane, but after my Hawaiian beer, and some sleep, I woke up pretty close to Maui. We entered into a sea of clouds, which as it turned out, would be hanging out for at least the first few days. This time as well, rather than waiting an hour for the shuttle to leave and having it drop off a few more couples, we were able to get our rental car almost right away, and as an added perk, stop at "Da Kitchen" for lunch. The food was ok but it was really good to be in Maui! Another perk was a stop at the giant liquor store for some supplies (ie liquor and beer). We were driving in our (compact) Dodge Caliber, and I knew the road as if it had not been three years since I had been here. Not a lot of time past before it was bathing suits and the swimming pool, but it was a bit cold, and the hot tub was much more inviting. That and the Lakers Jazz game was on! I had my traditional first bud light at the bar, and proceded to drink the rest of the beers I brought down with me in my beer bag (great $5 investment at Wal-Mart). We met some guys from the Pacific Northwest (recurring theme for the trip) and they had a jug of liquor concoction, so I felt less bad about bringing beer down to the pool. A Hawaiian musician (who looked and sounded like Brutha Iz) with a yukele played for us by the pool, and the Seattle guys went up there and sang with him. After catching a good buzz and a nap, we headed over to Leilanis in Whalers Village, where I had a gardenburger and tried some of Shaunas fish and chips. When in Rome! I met a local shop owner who was very appreciative when I pointed out that the bartender ordered him the wrong food. The night, as per the usual in Hawaii, ended fairly early.

DAY 2: A fairly unsatisfying breakfast at Whalers Village started off the day, followed by a cloudy day by the pool. The beers were the better part of the afternoon. I braved the cold long enough to do the water slide, and it was off to Lahaina for Warren And Annabelle's. We had dinner at the Hard Rock. We must have been starving because we ordered a bit of everything! Perfect open air ocean view table. We also finally saw David as his shave ice stand. We then went to the show, where you have drinks and listen to "Annabelle the ghost" play requests on the piano. The whole thing was kind of cheesey but we met a nice couple from Oregon and they talked about their yearly trips to Maui. Something about this place I guess! The coconut porter wasnt half bad either. The Warren part of the show was amazing. Not only was the magic good, but I was dying of laughter the whole time. He was hillarious, put on a good show, and the best part was when he was making fun of everyone. We did some shopping at ABC and Hilo Hattie (another recurring theme) and headed back to the hotel.

DAY 3: The weather was trying to get better. A better breakfast at our buffet (which you have to do at least once), but at $60 after our discount, only once!. After about an hour, I finally talked Shauna into doing some snorkeling over at black rock. Before we even got in a sea turtle swam right up to shore, almost as it to investigate what was going on. After about 5 minutes in the water she was hooked, and there were so many fish to look at, amazing colors, and tons of coral, especially over at the tip of black rock. But look out for the divers overhead! After a couple hours, we changed and took a walk up Ka'anapali over to the Hyatt to see the penguins, and R2D2, the coolest parrot ever. We had to head to Lahaina, for the Banyan Tree's birthday, which wasnt all that exciting. Not the tree, but the birthday party. We had some pizza at this place where the girl who worked there, also worked at Da Kitchen. Lots of people from the mainland live here and have not been here for too long a period of time. We gave the rest of the food to David and he gave us a super ono shave ice. I ate it so fast it was ridiculous. I found the big Buddha for Shauna, and then it was off to the Luau. We were stuck at a table with some weird, overly drunk Canadians, who ended up being ok after we started talking about sports. People seem to bond over obscure baseball conversation, and ordering every tropical drink on the menu. The food was ok, the show and the music was good, but the free booze was great and BOY did I ever get my moneys worth.

DAY 4: Heavenly Hana. We actually did make it out of the hotel by about 8, and made it to Charleys by 9:30 for truly the best breakfast of the trip (recurring theme). There was a sensational Bulls/Celtics game and the Rockets also beat the Blazers today. The veggie scramble was so good, and the perfect start before the windy road. Our first stop was twin falls, and my first banana bread stand. I bought a couple of things, and gave the nice German lady a tip. There was a rastafarian guy selling some hemp jewelry under the bamboo, and we took a nice hike down to where the falls are. This is the stuff I never got to see when Jeff sped along the highway, hellbent on getting to Oheo Gulch! One of the falls was shut off, but it was still really nice and surreal down there. Well, after spending about an hour here, we were walking up towards the car, when I could not feel my keys anywhere. Not in the pockets, bag, nowhere. No cell phone reception, and too far from civilization. This is not good! I ran back over to the campground and the German lady gave me a look like...I have something of yours. Thank goodness for tipping and the nice German lady who found and held onto my cars for me. I imagined far worse possibilities! I got some more goodies at the Huelo lookout, and proceded to stop at every banana bread stop and waterfall picture site along the way. A lot more hiking, getting dirty, and fun. I found the fruit stand we stopped at on the last trip and bought some of my favorite coconut candy and the Mango banana bread, and got a veggie taco from Up In Smoke bbq. After hours, we made it to Hana, thinking we were in time for the East Maui Tarot Festival, but it was too late, so we went to Black Sand Beach. We explored the Blowhole, the Lava Tube, and hung out on the beach for a while. The road always seems longer on the way back than the way there! We were so tired when we got back, but after a nap, we went to the same mall in Lahaina we always go to and had a Mexican dinner. I had a Modelo Especial, which reminded me of Mexico! I always long for the other places, even when I am IN one of those places!

DAY 5: We had breafast in bed for Shaunas birthday, and went down to the pool. It was HOT HOT HOT!! The ice cold beers were extra delicious, and Antoine joined us. Boy that guy is a character. He was hiting on some married lady from Hawaii, uh, joking of course, but it was nice of him to have a few beers with us before he headed into work. We then went tubing in the waves, and all was fine and dandy until I got flattened by this wave and lost my sunglasses =(
We had a pretty mellow night in Lahaina, had dinner at Aloha Mixed Plate, and we did some more shopping.

DAY 6: Off to Lahaina for our snorkel cruise with Pacific Whale Foundation! This was a bit different than other snorkel cruises that I have been on, with the emphasis on the environment and education, and less on the booze. (Dont worry I still got mine) We took the one hour ride to Lanai, spotted a dolphin, and everyone went crazy. When we pulled into the harbor, imagine when we saw over a hundred dolphins, swimming, diving, and jumping out of the water. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. After they cleared out it was time for snorkeling, and after getting used to the cold water, the under water world was absolutely amazing. The coral and the rocks were like nothing I have seen before. The colors of fish I have seen, but we all spotted a squid which was pretty amazing. Spot 2 was not as good as spot one, but as usual, I was last to get back on the boat. The bbq lunch was pretty good, but the ice cold miller lite was even better! We spotted some whales on the way back to Lahaina. All in all a great trip. We had a little bit more pool time and water sliding, did some more shopping at Whalers Village, and went to Lahaina for dinner. After changing our mind fifty times, we ended up having a really good dinner at Cool Cat restaurant. The Hula Chicken was decent, but the onion rings were better. They even had live jazz music, and I think one of the bartenders were singing. We gave the rest of the food to David and met him for dollar drinks at Moose McGillicuddys. This has to be the most ridiculous deal on the island. We had two beers and a shot of rumpleminze and goldschlager for $8. This is the land of ONE drink costing TWELVE dollars. Of course this place was packed, but well worth it! We said goodbye to David, and went back to the hotel to pack. I hate this part too!

DAY 7: Packing last night enable us to go to what was REALLY the best breakfast of the trip, at the Gazebo in Napili. Everyone was saying to go here, so we finally did and boy did we wish we did it earlier! I was discouraged by the line, but I would wait in line ten times over. It was a perfect Maui morning. The sun was shining, the pog juice was flowing, the popeye omellete was good, and the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pancakes were the best thing I ever tasted. We had about two more hours or so of pool time, and it was Aloha and Mahalo. I love this place and will be back soon!

Alaska Cruise 8/30

Going to Alaska from Seattle on the Norwegian Pearl. Jonathan and Dad will be going as well for some poker and looking at ice.

Vegas 7/3

Going to Vegas for 4th of July...taking advantage of some free room offers from the Flamingo...pool scene is gonna be off the hook!

Hawaii 4/23

Will be going to Maui, staying at the Westin in Kaanapali beach for six nights...16 days left and counting down!

This is my travel blog site

I will be keeping a more detailed account of my travels here. You can either keep up with where I have been or get a sneak preview of where I am going. I plan to have a lot of entries, so keep checking back! Or maybe you can come along on one of these trips instead of just reading about them!