Henderson Hijinks Day 3

 Rockapella Road Trip

Vegas, Baby!

Friday, December 6, 2024

It doesn't matter how many times I use the shower in this hotel.  I still can't figure out how to use the hand-held shower head.  It's so annoying that I'm so lame.

Wendy and I got breakfast downstairs before calling a Lyft to go to the strip.  Wendy told me that she had never actually spent time on the Las Vegas strip before, and since we had no other plans, we went to the Bellagio.  The Bellagio is decorated quite beautifully during the holidays, which I learned during a trip a couple of years ago.  Our Lyft driver was much friendlier than the one that picked us up at the airport.  

The ceiling in the lobby is always beautiful, though.  It's like a tradition for me to take this photo.

The theme this year must have been toys or gingerbread houses.  I wished it smelled like gingerbread there, but no.  It was all really pretty, though, and I loved the huge teddy bear playing the drum!  Wendy didn't believe that the video of the train was actually from the one going around the track until I showed her.  

Santa's Sleigh

Big Toys

More Big Toys

On Donner, On Dasher!

Big Merry Go Round that
nobody was allowed to ride

Hugigant Teddy Bear!

I like the "B" on the shako.

I mean, don't they look like
they want us to ride them?

Scotcherbreadman thinks this
is his house.

As we walked around inside the hotel, we found a gelato place.  So we ordered gelato and sat outside to relax and enjoy the yumminess.  

View of the Bellagio pools 

I was on a mission to find the museum that I saw the last time I was at the Bellagio, because I wondered if it had the same art.  It turns out that the art was still there, which made me happy because I really like it.

Olympian Kurt Thomas

This reminds me of the niece

We decided to go across the street to the Paris Hotel and Casino. 

We searched for a place to eat, and there was a long line where I was thinking of eating.  So we wandered around more, and stumbled upon the opening of a new restaurant.  We had just missed the whole ceremony and cool giveaways, but they were open for lunch!  

Can Can Girl Photo Op

My Smoked Salmon Flatbread

Chef Dominique Ansel was there for photos, but I was too shy to ask to be in one with him.  Also, I didn't know if I would like his food, which is ridiculous, because it was very tasty, and look at those pastries!  Perhaps he was just too handsome for me to feel comfortable being near him.  Wendy did end up taking a photo for him and someone else.

Chef Dominique Ansel

Almond Croissants

I had a taste of this.  It was gooooood.

Beautiful Lemon Tarts

Some people were taking flowers from the display, and it turns out that they were telling people to take them.  So we each got a couple of flowers to brighten up our weird room.

I ordered an almond croissant, but Wendy didn't want to cheat on Bouchon, so she waited to buy pastries until we walked over to the Venetian.  It took a while to get there, because I didn't realize how far it was, even though the people that gave us directions told us it was quite a walk.  That's OK, because I needed to walk off that flatbread.  I guess I thought that it was close by because the last time I was there, I was in a car.  DUH.  

Passed by Caesar's Palace 

Bouchon was closed by the time we got there, and Wendy gave out a little gasp when the guy told her so.  Turns out that the restaurant was just closed for lunch for the day, but he advised us that there was a place to buy Bouchon baked goods downstairs, which is what we wanted anyway.  I got macarons and another almond croissant because I couldn't resist having yet more pastries in my arsenal.

We needed to get back to Henderson according to Florist Lady the day before, and walked over to the Ride Share area.  My phone wasn't picking up on the hotel wifi, and my data wasn't working.  Don't you think they should have wifi available in the Ride Share area?  I was irritated.  We finally got through and our driver dropped us off at a casino across the street from our hotel due to the streets being blocked off.

I dropped off my stuff and decided to try my luck since we had a little while before the parade would start.  How could I not, when I was within a block of 3 different casinos?!  

One of the casinos was attached to the hotel, and the entrance was next to the pool area.   I saw machines that I liked, but I didn't win anything.  I did see that there were people going in to the restaurant, and I might have suggested it to Wendy if we didn't already have leftovers to eat for dinner.

Then I went across the street to the Rainbow Room.   I won the most on a machine new to me. So that was nice, because I was able to just play with my winnings there and in the next casino.  Thanks, Rainbow Room!

I also tried out Emerald Isle, which was, yes, themed to Ireland.  The decor is pretty outside and inside.  I was happy when I found my unicorn game because I could sit there for a while without betting a lot.  The woman next to me kept winning, and I didn't, so I got irritated and left.

I think I ended up with, like $0.27 up when I was done, and I happily threw my change on the bed to show Wendy.  Hey, at least I won!  

We were able to watch the parade from our window, so we could stay nice and warm and eat our leftovers and pastries.  It was pretty loud downstairs because we were right across the street from the announcer's table.  We also saw our friend from the candy place.  

See the rose I got at lunch?

The parade consisted of different school marching bands, a Star Wars fan group, and some vehicles.  All of them had some kind of lighting on them.  It was pretty cool!  I mean, it's no Main Street Electrical Parade, but it was cute for what it was.  Honestly, I just wanted them to finish before Rudolph started, because I was not going to be happy with that racket outside.

Thank goodness, it all ended right before Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer started!  It was fun to watch with Wendy, as I'm usually enjoying by myself and Scotcherbreadman each year.

Scotcherbreadman and Rudolph
are Besties

The next morning, I had an earlier flight than Wendy because I needed to get home for an event.  So I left her at the hotel and got a Lyft to the airport.

I had so much fun on my adventure with Wendy!  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Yes, I'm writing this 6 months later.  It's always Christmas around here.  :)

Free Day in Farmingdale

 Rockapella in NY

Saturday, December 10, 2022

Relaxation Day

On Saturday morning, Bro and I woke up in time for hotel breakfast, and I had some French toast.

Bro's sandwich can be seen at top

We were content with staying in the hotel for the day and just chilling.  I wanted to walk to Wal Mart, because I had ordered some photo prints from the previous night to use as Christmas cards for the guys.  Bro walked with me, and this time we didn't get lost trying to get out of the huge parking lot like we had done so the day before.  (I forgot to write that we went to Wal Mart to stock up on snacks after the breakfast at Starbucks, and thought that there should be an opening in the wall between that parking lot and our hotel, which was just across the way.)  

I was hoping that Bro would be able to watch planes land at the nearby airport from our hotel window, but there wasn't much activity over there.  Oh, well, he had some Emoji Blitz to play.

For dinner, we ate at Houlihan's, which was in that same parking lot next door.  We didn't really want to walk very far because it was really cold outside.  I do not remember what Bro ordered for his cocktail (maybe it was a seasonal drink?), but I ordered a Mango Rita.

Cheers!

Dinner itself was OK.  I ordered dessert, and it was yummy, though.  

Here is the description:

SALTED CARAMEL GOOEY BUTTER CAKE: St. Louis’ signature dessert, Houlihan’s style-finished with Ghirardelli salted caramel sauce, powdered sugar and vanilla ice cream.  

Yes, it was gooooooood!

We walked back to the hotel, and were in time to watch the TV show that CSL4 had to miss because he was performing:

Scotcherbreadman's Favorite

We had thought of maybe going in to Manahattan to either hang out or see a show, but the news warned us about Santa Con taking place that day, and our New Yorker friends advised us to stay away from the drunken madness. I'm glad we took their advice, because it really was a nice, restful day.

Next up:  Rockapella on Long Island

To N.Y.

Rockapella in NY

Travel Day

Thursday, December 8, 2022

I haven't seen a Rockapella Holiday show in several years, so when I saw that they would have some back to back concerts on a weekend I was free and they still had good seats left, I decided to use some of my travel funds and go to New York.  I asked Bro if he wanted to join me.  I was very happy that he said yes!  Bro was able to get a free flight from his miles, so bonus!  That meant that we would be taking separate flights, but we do that all of the time for drum corps finals, so no big deal.   

I couldn't decide whether or not I should park at LAX, and finally decided to take a Lyft, so that I could catch a ride home with Bro when we returned.  So I needed to pack for an extra day.  And for cold.  Possibly for snow.  Somehow I fit everything into one bag plus my carryon in case I wouldn't be able to check my bag.  I made an appointment for the Lyft, then worried that I wouldn't wake up in time for the pickup.  All was well, though, and I was waiting outside early.  The app notified me that my driver was either deaf or hard of hearing, and gave a couple of tips, like waving hello, and texting instead of calling if I needed to contact him before he arrived.  I thought that was pretty cool.  He could hear me fine, though, I think, but I did notice that he did not play any music so that he could concentrate on his navigation app.

I arrived at LAX with plenty of time to check my bag, so I did that, then waited until my appointment to go through security.  They were trying a new thing so that you don't have to stand in a long line, different from TSA pre-check because you still need to take off your shoes and all of that business.  So I texted Bro to let him know that I was in the airport, completely forgetting that he was already on his own flight, up in the air, and couldn't answer me.  My appointment time came up, and I ended up having done all that for nothing, because there was NOBODY in line at security.  I went to the appointment thing anyway, which was kind of useless, because the agent's app wasn't reading my QR code.  But at least I didn't have a long line to deal with. I decdied to get a muffin and didn't like it at all.  Note to self next time for Terminal 1:  don't get the muffins at Urtth Caffe & Bar. Dense and dry.  

Yay for non-full flights!  I talked to the guy seated at the window for a bit.  He was going back to St. Louis, but will be returning in a few months to live with his sibling, because he really likes LA.  I hope the job works out and he can work remotely.  I wasn't going to be staying long at all in St. Louis, but I wanted to know about the food there.  He said that I would have to get ribs since that's what they're famous for, but also that St. Louis has a bunch of different ethnic food because so many people from different cultures have immigrated there because of refugee status or whatever.  So they apparently have a huge Bosnian population there and I should try that food, too.  OK, I have food plans whenever I actually leave the airport in St. Louis!

My flight to LaGuardia must have been uneventful because I don't remember it at all, except that it was a full flight, and people didn't know how to just deal with their carryons and sit the heck down.  When I arrived, Bro met me at my gate and I marveled about the beauty of the airport.  But we had places to go, and it looked like it was going to rain.  

Bro had researched the transportation options for me while he was waiting at his fancy club, and we caught the free bus to the Woodside station of the Long Island Railroad.  I needed to take the elevator because I could not deal with lifting my bag up the stairs, and Bro met up with me on the platform.  I love that we can use apps for all of this transportation!  I downloaded the app, bought my ticket, and we got on the next train.  There wasn't room for two seats together plus my bags, so I sat in a different row as Bro.  The train stopped at one of the stations and I couldn't really hear what the conductor was saying.  We finally figured out that there was an accident at one of the stations down the way, and we were being told to get off to take another train because this one was scheduled to go toward that accident and needed to stop.  That took a while, though.  I texted Bro.

S: "Just hoping that there aren't any zombies at the Deerpark."

B: "Now that would be an adventure.  Got your running shoes on?"

S: "I'll just kick off these shoes and run in my socks."

If you haven't seen "Train to Busan", go watch it now.  It's on Netflix, and it's so good that I recommended it to Bro, completely forgetting that he's the one that recommended it to ME.  

The train we ended up riding blew through a bunch of stations without stopping, to make up for some time.  It was a crazy mess when we got to Farmingdale Station, because of all of the rerouting and people trying to get alternate rides home, and all of that.  I requested a Lyft, and I think I had 3 drivers cancel before we actually got picked up because it was so crazy. Like, people didn't even know how to get into the parking lot.  On a later day, we realized that it's because that area is kind of confusing with the parking lot situation.

Bro and I were hungry by the time we got to the hotel, and we decided to walk to an Italian restaurant down the street called Trento.  I was tired.  I was cold.  It was a little windy, too.  It seemed far because of that cold.  We passed 3 eating establishments on the way, but we were still determined to get there.   There were a lot of cars in the parking lot.  We hoped we could still get a table.  There was even a bouncer at the door.  It was really jumping for a Thursday night, with a DJ, people dancing, and dressed up for parties.  It turns out that there were two big parties there, having their holiday festivities.  While we were waiting for our table, I took a matchbook from the hostess station.  I think Bro took a pen.  Oh, I think I took a pen, too. The bouncer was amused by us and nodded as we took the free stuff.  

We were seated at a table right next to the dance floor, so it was really loud.  The drink menu folder did not actually have a menu inside.  Bro pointed it out to the server, and he apologized.  When he did come back with the drink menu, Bro ordered a Fragola Rock because, well, Fraggle Rock!   It contained Grey Goose, St. Germaine, Lemon, Strawberry Puree, and Prosecco.  I ordered The Temptress, made of Titos, Basil, Cucumber, St. Germain, Lime, and Agave.  Both were yummy.

Scotcherbreadman is here
 and ready to party! 

For our starter, we ordered the Eggplant Ripieno.  The menu did not mention that it came covered in a tomato-based sauce, but I ate some anyway.  It was really yummy.  

The food was taking a while, and the server felt bad, so he comped us a second round of drinks.  I think he also felt bad about the no-drink-menu thing.  We didn't care, but we're good with free alcohol, especially when it's this tasty!

I ordered the salmon, which was delicious with the brussels sprouts and cipollini onions.

Bro ordered spaghetti with seafood.  They brought over spaghetti with marinara, and no seafood.  The server again apologized and brought the correct dish. So Bro not only had 2 drinks; he also had 2 entrees!

Eventually, people from both of the parties ended up mingling on the dance floor, and we enjoyed watching all of the activity.  I wondered about all of the dynamics because one party was a business function, and the other one was a big family that always has their holiday dinners there.

We were quite full by the time the server asked if we had a dessert in mind.  Like, we were already going to wrap up one of Bro's entrees and the rest of the appetizer.   So we said no to dessert and made our way home.  The walk didn't seem as long at that point, probably because we were nice and full and needed the walk!  It was still cold, though, and we were thankful to get back into our cozy hotel room.  

What a great find that was!  If you're ever in Farmingdale, you should definitely try Trento.  I'm not just saying that because of the free stuff we got.  :)

I wasn't really that tired, because I was still on West Coast time, so I watched movies and played games on my phone.  I could have blogged, and did draft some notes at the time, but when I looked at them today, I'm glad that I didn't publish anything. They were kind of a mess, probably because of those two drinks.  

Next up: ROCKAPELLA!!!!!  

DLR LotD 12/31/2022

Disneyland Resort

Line of the Day

Saturday, December 31, 2022

"Is it OK if we stay until midnight?" -- Sherry, to Hannah, multiple times at Catal

Last cocktail for 2022:
Chilly Chata at Catal

Captain Morgan Rum, Fireball,
Rumchata, housemade horchata,
whipped cream and cinnamon stick garnish

Delicious Opera Cake at Catal