Trip Diary 8-12-06 (9 of 20)
Somehow, someway, I've managed to get a small cold of
sorts. Now this angers me to no end because my last trip in
December was all but ruined because of a bout of bronchitis almost
coughing my chest up every night of the trip. The LAST thing I want
is to get sick again, especially when I'm only in to half of my
trip. It's not serious yet, but the signs of chest congestion and
nightly sore throat are beginning to take hold. I bring with me
packets of vitamins, one for each day, on these trips, and I'm now
going to have to go to the drug store and get something else before
this cold takes hold.
Today's plan is to check off another item on my "to do"
list. I've read four or five people from the board rave about a
place called Hash-a-Go-Go, a restaurant on Sahara as you head out to
Red Rock. Martin and I decided to have breakfast there and see what
all the praise was about. Now, getting Martin to eat anything that
isn't either free or has a coupon attached is a bit of a minor
miracle, but I volunteered to pay for the meal being that he was
treating me to dinner with his $50 meal comp tonight.
The outside of the place is much like any other single
building restaurant. However, once you step inside, you're struck
by all the aluminum décor. The bar, the tables, all the chairs, and
the railings are all silver. The idea, I'm guessing, is to give it
a "factory" look. The strange things is that contrary to the
pictures on the wall depicting old, hash-house restaurants of the
30s along the dust bowl roads during the Depression, all the of
waiters and bartenders were dressed as hippies: tie-die (sp?)
shirts, shaded sunglasses, bandannas, and sandals.
We were sat towards the back. The menu was extensive and,
admittedly, I didn't know most the items on it. The waitress was
very helpful, and while Martin decided on a breakfast skillet, I had
a pork-fried steak with hash, bacon, and biscuit in a covered
barbecue sauce that the waitress has suggested.
Now, all of you on the board raved about the food, but I
don't recall any of you mentioning the portion size. I've been to
Claim Jumper and the Cheesecake Factory, both known for their large
portions of food. But let me tell you this: Hash-a-Go-Go makes
these places seem like their serving appetizers. I have NEVER seen
portions like this in my life. The platters are two feet long (not
exaggerating). My pork fried steak covered the majority of the
platter. This dish, seriously, could feed four people. Martin's
breakfast skillet was not your cute, little skillet you're served at
Applebee's. These are actual stove skillets. His cut, fried
potatoes were two full potatoes. There is no wonder why America is
getting so fat. Who in the world could possibly eat this much
food? If I hadn't seen every table around with the same two-foot
platters and skillets, I'd have thought it was joke being played on
us.
After all of this, I'm only giving the breakfast 2 ½ forks.
The food, though huge in size, was just okay in taste. This isn't
to say I won't come back and try a lunch or dinner here, I probably
will. But as far as breakfasts go
I suppose there's only so much
you can do. Both Martin and I liked it, but at $14 per plate, on
average, I'd rather see them cut the portions and the prices in
half. I end up quitting having only eaten about a third of the meal
a gigantic waste of food.
Hash-a-Go-Go is just past Decatur, and I had a $5 match
coupon for Arizona Charlie's. Neither of us had been there for a
few years and was curious to see what changes, if any, they had made
to the place. Well, in a nutshellnothing. It's exactly the same
as it was four years ago, except that; they've gutted all their full
pay video poker machines. Supposedly, local casinos are supposed to
have better video poker because of the savvy local knows a good play
and these casinos need to stay competitive. Well, I guess the word
hasn't gotten out to the Arizona Charlie's casinos. There was
nothing to play here except the coupon, which I gave to Martin to
use because I don't like walking up to tables and only playing a
coupon. The dealer gave Martin a hard time (not surprising) and the
pit boss came by to okay the coupon. Fortunately, he won and
pocketed a nice $10 profit. It will probably be another four years
before I go back into this place.
It was time to play our free play at the Fiesta Rancho. We
drove to the parking garage of the Fiesta and went inside to find
their full pay machines. Fortunately, Fiesta Rancho has a bank of
nickel, dime, and quarter full pay Jokers, DDB, and Deuces along a
wall with a narrow railing that wasn't designed for the portly. My
video poker luck continues to disintegrate as I quickly lose three
twenties, first to deuces wild, then jokers, then the DDB. Martin
is holding his own but not making any money. We finally wave the
white flag and go to play our $5 match play bets for here that we
both received in the mail. We decide on roulette. I play the
black, Martin plays the red. I winMartin sulks. He's about even
for the year in match plays, but hates to lose any of them.
We're going to the Texas Station casino (just across the
street) to see SUPERMAN RETURNS. The showtime is still an hour and
a half away, and Martin reasons we should both stay here as we get
3X points here (also from our mailing). So, he settles in to an
Optimum video poker machine to play quarters. I, knowing the VP
gods aren't with me today, decide to take on a few penny video
machines. The winning percentages on these machines are in the
eighty percentile, and I know that, but I do find them a fun
diversion from video poker; and by using good strategy, I usually
don't lose or win much (the missed jackpot on Deal or No Deal still
fresh in my mind). I play Elephant Jade and Super Jackpot Party.
Both these games rarely hit their bonus rounds, but if you're
patient, you can catch them. When you do, the payoff is usually
quite high. Fortunately for me, I caught three bonuses on Elephant
Jade and one on Jackpot Party. After almost an hour, I was down a
grand total of $3.00.
Martin was a little ahead during his VP session, and we
headed out to Texas Station to see the movie. Again, I had a $5
match play from my CASINO PLAYER magazine, and again, I gave it to
Martin to play. Again, the dealer called over the pit boss, and
again, they sourly let him play it. He wonand walked. Now these
pit bosses and dealers see thousands and thousands of dollars won
and lost on single bets almost every day. Why they need to always
make a stink over a $5 coupon is a mystery to me, and one of the
reasons I don't like playing them. It simply isn't worth the
hassle. Martin, of course, disagrees and has no problem with
fighting with whoever it is to get it.
Though I've already seen this movie, I enjoyed it as much as
the first time. I suppose I just see things others don't, or I'm
just a sucker for these hero flicks, but I loved this movie (4 ½
claps). Martin, and most the critics, didn't care for it as much.
That's okay, it was still a nice way to spend a couple of hours and
Martin got his free, refill of the tub of popcorn, though he'd
regret it later in the bathroom giving most of it back.
It was time to head back to the Hilton. Dinner was still a
couple of hours away, and I wanted to go after Deuces Wild on the
Spin Poker machines in the sports book one last time. Over the
years, I've done quite well on these. Before we left for the day,
Martin and I had bought a baseball parlay ticket. I bought one for
five dollars on five teams to win (Padres, Indians, Cards, A's, and
Dodgers). If they all win, I collect $65. Martin made a three team
bet on the Padres, A's, and Indians for ten dollars. Well, as I
played my spin poker, all my teams were winning. And all of them
end up winningexcept the Cards, who lost it to the Pirates in the
eighth inning. My parlay was now worthless with the one game I was
most confident about. Martin, however, won his.
The swings on my Spin Poker session were all over the
place. At one point, I was all the way down to just a couple of
deals, then I'd hit a few nice hands. After all was done, I never
hit the deuces and was down $50. My loss-limit has been reached,
and my gambling for the day was done. Oh well, another down day at
the games. Martin was playing quarter single line 9/6 JOB and was up
a little, so we cashed out and headed over to dinner.
With his $50 coupon, we could choose to eat at any of the
Hilton restaurants except the Sub Shop and another one, I've
forgotten the name. We settled on their Asian restaurant called
Garden of the Dragon, which is next to Benihana's. It's a very
nice, stylish restaurant, but when you really look at the menu, it's
really just you're typical Chinese cuisine with the usual assortment
of rice, vegetable, fish, and pork dishes. It's in the Hilton Hotel
though, so the prices are set accordinglyhigh. We chose the cashew
chicken and a shrimp dish along with a very good beef/egg soup. The
food was good and we only went over the $50 comp by $5. I paid the
$10 tip and Martin signed for the food.
It was good, but nothing special and not worth a return trip (3
forks).
I was done for the day and headed back for the room. This
is my last night at the Hilton, and I'm going to be sad to lose this
spectacular view. For those of you, who plan to stay here, ask for
the 27th floor, rooms 62 through 88 facing the pool. The pool, the
entire strip, the LV valley, and the airport are all at your viewing
enjoyment. At night, it's fun to watch the planes come into
McCarran. You look to the east, and you see them stacked up for
approaching the landing with their lights on. It takes me back to
Fred McMurry and his flubberized Model A flying in the skies.
It's 8:05 AM right now as I write this and the pool has just
opened. Already there are about fifty people vying for the best
lounge chairs and kids jumping into the poollife is good when
you're on vacation.
More tomorrow.