Dinner at Gasho's

Saturday started off a little late. It was nice to sort of sleep in. Because of the time change Skyler wasn’t getting up until 8am. That was pretty cool, only thing about that is that we had a late starts in the morning. This morning Skye had some errands to run with Charlanne, so Skyler and I headed to some random park. It wasn’t the best of parks but it served it purpose. When we got there we were the only ones there. By the time we left there were like 10 other older kids running looking for trouble. A few days earlier we had bought Skyler a sand pail and shovel from Target. I brought that with us to the park here so Skyler could play in the sand box. There were kids that were circling us like vultures because they wanted to play with Skyler’s sand toys. Mind you, these kids weren’t 2 years old or 3 or even 4 years old. They had to have been at least 8 or 9 years old. At one point, one of the kids tried to reach for the pail and I said, “I don’t think that’s yours.” That made him back off to regroup.

Skyler - Cold Spring Harbor

Soon after that Skyler was done with the park and so was I so we got back in the car. It was hot so we headed to the mall. When we got to the mall there was a little carnival set up in the parking lot with the usual cast of strange “carnies” manning their stations. We walked around but there was really not much for Skyler to do so we headed into the indoor mall. We found a smoothie stand and ordered a peach smoothie. Skyler loves those. He pretty much finished the whole thing.

On our way home we drove past a White Castle. Skyler had fallen asleep in the backseat so I pulled into the drive-through. I ordered some sliders. Those things are greasy, but good. I think a couple of greasy sliders every couple of years is all right.

Skyler looking for a rabbit

After the nap Skye was free for the rest of the day. We decided to drive up to Cold Spring Harbor. Charlanne had told us there was a fish hatchery up there that one of her patients goes to with her boys. It was only about 20 minutes away but seemed like it should be farther. We drove though the town and it reminded me of Vermont.

We found the fish-hatchery but it had just closed. The parking lot was connected to an old church that sits on a large pond. We decided to walk around and check out the scenery.

Skye and Skyler at Cold Spring Harbor

As we walked up to the side of the church there was a very nice sight. Canadian Geese were swimming around the pond as a mother and daughter looked on. The mother had to have been in her late 80s or early 90s, the daughter in her 60s or 70s. There were just sitting on a bench looking out over the beautiful, picturesque landscape; it was such a nice memory being made for them.

Skyler at Cold Spring Harbor

We walked around the fed the geese, chased a rabbit and Skye and Skyler found some old Easter eggs. It looks like the church must have had an Easter egg hunt and not all of them were found, until now…

Skye and Skyler - Cold Spring Harbor

We had a dinner reservation at a Japanese steakhouse called Gasho’s where we were to meet up with Charlanne’s Mom, Ruth and Step-Dad, Neal. It was a restaurant like Benihanas, where the cook cooks in front of you. There was some minor drama involved when we got there but things worked out and we had a nice time. It was entertaining.

Skye and Skyler - Cold Spring Harbor

We came back to the hotel. Had a swim in the pool and went to bed.

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The Bayard Cutting Arboretum

Skyler Under a Tree

The morning came much too fast.  Skye had things to do with Charlanne to prep for the wedding on Sunday so Skyler and I were on our own in a “foreign land.”  At first we just got in the car and headed out to go find a park.  Luckily we had the GPS and there was a listing for parks.  I popped in the closes park and we were off.  We arrived 10 minutes later.  The park where we arrived was an equestrian park.  It looked kind of creepy so I just made a U-turn and headed right out of there.  Skyler was happy enough just looking out the window.  I sifted though the listings in the GPS and came upon an arboretum, the Bayard Cutting Arboretum; it was only 15 minutes away.

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On our way there Skyler fell asleep.  Jetlag is a pain.  We pulled into the parking lot and all you could see were so many huge trees and green, green grass. It was great.  Skyler had only been asleep for about 10 minutes so he woke up a little groggy but once he saw all the trees and grass he was ready to just run around and explore.  We took a lot of pictures here.  There were gaggles of Canadian Geese walking around the grounds.  Skyler really found it fun to run after them.  There was this one huge tree that must have been a hundred years old.  It just stood out among the other trees with a sort of majestic aire.  Skyler ran over to it and I was able to fire off some amazing shots.

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I got to talk to a mother with her three children and she told me about the other side of the property.  Apparently this used to be a private residence in the early 1900s and where we were was just the backside of the house.  She said the front lawn was much better because it lead to the water.

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I went back to the car and put Skyler’s lunch stuff in the Sherpani Kid Carrier, Skyler jumped in and we were off to explore the other side.  The trail led to the front of the mansion.  Beyond us lay an expanse of grass, trees and the Connetquot River.  There was a weeping tree that was so big.  We found a way inside and under the tree branches; without exaggerating, you could fit a house under that tree, it was so big.

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We had lunch under one of the big trees on the front lawn.  Soon it was time to head back.  Skye called to tell me she was back at the hotel.  We packed up and headed back to the car then back to the hotel.

That evening we had a pizza party at the hotel.  Charlanne invited all the out of town guest and people in the wedding to come.  It was a nice time.  Skyler has been working on his different faces so he did some showing off on how he can make his surprised look, his sad look and his serious look.

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New York Arrival – JFK Airport

Waiting for our stuff.

We landed and waited for everyone to filter off the airplane.  It is much easier that way.  It always cracks me up how when the lights in the cabin announces you can take your seat-belt off, everyone jumps up and grabs all their stuff only to wait until the slower people in front of them get ready.  The other kicker is how they all rush off the airplane only to wait for their luggage at the carousel and the carousel hasn’t even started yet.  It reminds me of the idiots that race from one stoplight to the next only to arrive at the same time as you.

Rental Car

Working on about 3o minutes of sleep and a year of adrenaline, we picked up our luggage and headed out the airport doors to find the Hertz rental office.  Funny thing, the people who were racing off the airplane were still standing there waiting for their luggage.

There was a bit of confusion as to where the rental office would be, eventually we found it by way of some parking structure that happened to be connected to some sort of elevated train call the AirTrain.  Halfway to the AirTrain my luggage handle bent because of all the weight that I had on it.  I had to do some minor field surgery on my new suitcase to keep pushing forward.  I’m sure the amputated aluminum pull-handle still sits sadly abandoned in that random parking structure outside the elevator.

We took the AirTrain to Federal Circle.  Federal Circle is the stop where all the rental car offices are.  Our reservation was with Hertz.  I had reserved a Ford Edge to drive for the week mainly for the size, it wasn’t too big and it wasn’t too small for our roadtrips around Long Island.  Also, Skye I have been on the lookout for a new car that is kid friendly, not a minivan, not too big, and not too ugly.  It was a perfect time to test this out.

The car came with a car seat and a GPS.  I plopped in the address to the hotel and away we went.

Holiday Inn, Hauppauge, New York

Luckily we were able to check in when we got there; it was 9am.  We took a 2 or 3 hour nap, I really don’t’ remember but it was well needed for all three of us.  When we woke we had a list of things to do.  One of those things was to go to a store and buy what we needed for the week.  We found a Target store, got what we needed and then ate at a Panda Express.  Outside we found a small fountain overlooking a small lake.  Skyler really likes water so we hung around there for a little while so Skyler could have a snack and enjoy the fountain.

The day went by pretty fast.  After coming back to the hotel and putting everything away it was already time for Skye to head off to Fire Island with Charlanne and the girls to go out for some drinks.  Skyler and I stayed at the hotel and went swimming in the indoor pool.  Bedtime for Skyler and me came early; I don’t know how Skye did it, she was back at the hotel at close to midnight.

That was a long day.

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Bound for New York

Day 1 – Wednesday May 20th

The Flight to New York

Driving to the airport, the music I could hear in my head was the music from the film Miller’s Crossing, more precisely, the opening credits.  A little strange, since we were humming down the 105 freeway in the car-pool lane through Los Angeles and it’s massive, monumental freeway overpasses.  Through the window my wife was pointing out the airplanes landing in parallel to the freeway as we got closer to the airport to our 22-month-old son. He gazed out the car window awe-struck.  He had never flown in an airplane, but he knew what an airplane was as he would be sure to point them out to us at our house when the airplanes would fly 6,000+ feet above our neighborhood.

LAX - Terminal 5

I need to emphasize, this was the first time for our son to fly.  This had been a worry to me for over a year, as we knew we would be flying to New York in May for my wife’s best-friend’s wedding.  To overcome the unknown is to be as prepared as possible for it.  Months before the trip I jumped on Amazon.com and bought a couple of books, Rough Guide’s Travel with Babies and Young Children and Travels with Baby. Both books were highly recommended and served me well.  The repeating theme throughout both books: “Be Prepared.”

Luggage Check-in

Months earlier I was put in charge of booking the flight for my wife, son and myself.  We normally we fly Jet Blue out of the Long Beach Airport but since the economy has been in the toilet I thought I’d look around for cheaper fare.  I scoured the Internet for a “red-eye” and found the best price from Delta, about a combined $50 cheaper. The only bad part about it was that we’d have to fly out of LAX instead of Long Beach.  Our flight bound for New York’s JFK airport was scheduled at 9:15pm, Wednesday evening.

Being Prepared

By being “prepared” we were at Los Angeles International Airport ready to check in our luggage by 5:30pm.  This was when I found out why Delta was cheaper.  My wife and I each had two pieces of luggage to check in.  Delta charges, per ticket, an extra $15 for the first and another $25 for the second for a combined $40 for two checked-in luggage, each way.  Walking away from the check-in counter and wheeling our luggage over to the TSA’s security X-Ray machines, I found my wallet an $80 lighter; “Hey Delta, thanks for the heads up!”  It is on their website but they do a great job hiding it.  Not technically a bait and switch but pretty damn close.

After watching out our checked-in bags go through we headed up to the security walk-though.  Luckily we were the only ones in line so we were able to take our time practically disrobing and unpacking the carry-on bags for the x-ray machine.  Throughout all this Skyler did great.  He was just watching everything happening and helped in the best way he could, by just going along for the ride.

Dinner in Terminal 5

6:00pm in Terminal 5.  Our flight – 9:15pm.  I think we were a little early, but it gave us time to run Skyler around and tire him out for the overnight flight to New York.  We had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen before we boarded and took some funny pictures.  Skyler is starting to really ham it up in front of the camera.  This is his big smile face, oh yeah and my wife’s big smile too.

Like Mother like Son

As the boarding time approached we assumed they would make an announcement for pre-boarding for passengers with small children.  I’ve always heard Jet Blue announce it, why should it be different.  Oh yeah, because Delta sucks.  The pre-boarding announcement never came and we were left fending off line jumpers.

Mental notes: Delta had already hit Strike three!  The first strike was the bull crap about paying for check-in luggage.  2nd strike: Overbooked! 3rd strike: No pre-boarding for children.  I’ll never fly Delta airlines; not if I can help it.

There are 5 so called zones into which Delta has the airplane divided.  Zone 1 is business class, with Zone 2 through 5 are for the peasants.  We were in Zone 4 that meant we had 3.5 zones to squeeze through to get to our micro-seats.

The Flight

Once we were seated and somewhat settled in for the 5 hour flight things worked out fine.  Skye sat by the window, I sat in the middle seat, Skyler, on our lap.  His travel was free because he was under two years old, however, a word of advice, if you can afford the extra ticket for your toddler, go for it.  It is well worth the price, moderately speaking.  Luckily a very nice lady who was a preschool aide took the aisle seat.  She may have talked a lot but it was fine, she didn’t complain about have to be sat next to a toddler.

One amazing thing that we noticed was when we stepped on board, Skyler automatically realized we were inside an airplane.  He is just barely starting to talk and he mimics us so his word for airplane is a combination of pointing to the sky as if following an airplane with his finger and then he makes the sound of an airplane.

On the Airplane

We got to our seats and Skyler pointed up and made and airplane sound, he knew we would be flying up in the sky.  While we taxied and took off, Skyler just looked out the window with a look of excitement.  It was really quite cool.  After about an hour he fell asleep, Skye fell asleep, and I fell asleep…right before we landed.

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With eyes fixed on the horizon, Sinatra singing away, and thoughts of sleepless nights ahead of us, I came to the realization that we were on our way to Vegas, and since I was driving it was a good idea that I had realized that early on. Trailing the countless line of cars, we were finally out of Orange County by 19h30 and after a stop at McDonald’s, a potty break north of Baker, and a short three-and-a-half hours later, we could see the oasis of light at state line.
We had reservations at Buffalo Bills for that night; we pulled in to the parking lot and found a spot right under the towering Desperado, the roller coaster that looms over the hotel like some kind of guard dog from hell.

A western theme was a constant thought out the hotel, from the cowboys hanging in the fake trees in the casino to the nightstands in the rooms that were made out of tree stumps. We dropped our stuff off in the room with trout wallpaper and set out for that crazy cowboy casino. Here’s a quick recommendation: while at Buffalo Bills don’t expect to get served any cocktails on a Friday night between 11:00 and 1:00. After eluding us for most of the night, I was just about ready to send out a search party when we saw them, a group of waitresses all headed in the same direction. We tracked them down to a corner of the casino, they were not going to get a way from us this time, we were finally going to get our free drinks. In a blink of the eye they were gone. They had disappeared into the restroom, never to be seen AGAIN!!! The horror! Eventually a cocktail waitress came around and took our order, I guess we looked pathetic enough at the nickel slots to warrant a drink. Twenty or so dollars lighter and my eyes heavy from the smoke filled casino it was time to call it a very long day.

That next morning we woke to the screams of people rushing past our window, mind you, we were on the fourth floor. I pulled the drapes back and there it stood, Desperado. All I can remember is the long journey to the top, the endless clunk, cluck, clunk. There was no end in sight, just a clear blue sky above, a mountain range in the distance, and a blurry abyss below; there was no turning back now. The last thought that raced through my mind before I heard the last clunk was, “I hope my breakfast won’t come back to visit me.” Whoosh!! Beyond was a blur, an almost vertical drop with a speed that was intense. Drops and turns followed, it was great. As it finally ended, the adrenaline was running through my veins, I felt invincible, onward to Vegas!

We hit Vegas about 45 minuets later and did a quick survey of the area. Drove down the main strip and saw the new mega hotels like Paris, The Venetian, and The Bellagio. We saw those old standards like Caesar’s Palace, The Flamingo, and The Stardust. We ventured to downtown on Fremont Street and saw those classic casinos like, The Plaza, Golden Gate and The Four Queens. After our driving tour of the city we ended up at The Hilton, and went to see The Star Trek Experience. Without going into much detail it’s close to what Star Tours is at Disneyland but the actual “experience” is what makes it great. We dropped into Quarks for a quick drink and appetizers and then headed over to The Luxor.

Unbeknownst to Jon we had reservations there. In an attempt to fool Jon, Jen and I had told him that we were staying at The Holiday Inn with that huge scary clown face on the outside. I’m sorry but there is no way in hell I would stay at a hotel where I would have to walk into the lobby by way of the Evil Clown Head. While walking though the casino at Luxor, Jen and Jon had to use the restroom. The opportunity presented itself; I bolted for the reservation desk, signed in, got the room keys and with a grin on my face headed back towards the restroom.

We were on the 21st floor with a great view of The Tropicana and the rest of the strip. The decor was Egyptian with hieroglyphics on the dressers and nightstands. It was a very nice room. Once settled in and rested a few, we soon ventured out onto the strip. We headed towards Excalibur and then to New York, New York. We hung out there and gambled a little, we then headed across the bridge to the MGM Grand. We had just barley set foot in The MGM when Laura and Sheldon called on Jen’s Phone; they had finally arrived on their Harley. We were to meet them outside in the front of The Luxor.

15 minuets later we were in front of The Luxor, Laura and Sheldon were not there. After much confusion as to where the “front” of The Luxor was we finally found them clad in leathers by the side entrance. They had ridden their Harley from Orange County to Vegas!! We showed them up to the room so they could drop their stuff off and then we all ventured out into the night. We set out to The Tropicana, the main event, Sam Butera and the Wildest at the Celebration Lounge.

We got there at around 10:00 that evening. Sam was scheduled to play at 10:25. Since we hadn’t eaten yet, the rest of the gang went to get some dinner while I held the table down front/center stage. I ordered a Sapphire Martini and just sat while the band warmed up. There I was feeling like a lounge lizard, kicking back in a lounge with martini in hand and Sam Butera on stage.

With a quick wave of his sax he was off like a tornado. He started off with the Tune, Let the Good Times Roll and then cruised into Night Train. Night Train was the first song he ever played for Louis Prima back the 1950s.

Now in 1999, Sam still wails like he did some forty years ago. He didn’t miss a beat and played all the old songs from way back when. Jen, Jonn, Laura and Sheldon returned from diner somewhere in the middle of the first set and took a seat to watch the show. After the first set, I went over to talk to Sam and buy a CD from him of which he signed. We talked about his past shows and his upcoming show sometime in L.A. at the House of Blues. He didn’t have a date for that show yet, what he said was, “Don’t worry ’bout it, baby. I’ll write you when we do.” And then socked me in the shoulder. The second set started at 11:50 and went through until 12:45. After a quick photo with Sam we then headed out to conquer the city, the city at night.

We walked to the New York, New York hotel then ventured to the Monte Carlo, took the tram to the Bellagio and stopped at the atrium to look at all the colorful and lively flowers. We took a few pictures here and headed out into the cold to cross the street to Paris. We arrived in Paris about 15 minutes later and stood in a Casino that looked like the streets of Paris. This would have to be one of my favorite themed Casinos in Vegas. We stayed there a while and decided to head back to our hotel, The Luxor. We took a taxi back Jon was beat, and we dropped him off and then headed back out. We drove over to eat Pecan Pie at the Peppermill and to see the seriously sweet surroundings inside this lava lounge of luxury. It was finally late enough to call it a night and head back around 3 in the morning. We had seen as much as Vegas as we were going to see that night and, hell, we were damn tired.

Sunday Morning Sheldon and Laura were going to head back on the Harley so they got up and ready and headed out. Jen, Jon and I checked out of the hotel and headed over to Paris for Brunch. The line was so long that the next available seat was three hours later. We decided to find some place that took less time. We ended up at New York, New York and ate at an Italian Café/Pizzeria.

We were soon on our way back home. It was a nice drive, even with the smell of stinky cheese we picked up in Paris. The wind kicked up and the whole way back gusts of wind push and pulled at the Truck.

With eyes tired and memories of smoked filled casinos and echoes of Sam’s saxophone in the distance, we all were sort of glad the weekend was at an end. We had a great time and knew we would be back soon. We arrived back in Fullerton in a short 4 hours and as the weekend drew to a close, plans for the next trip were soon in the works, Catalina baby!

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