Las Vegas Day Five

Started the day with a ham-n-egg breakfast at the Magnolia Cafe inside the 4Q. Delicious 8-ounce bone-in hamsteak, two eggs, hash browns, and toast. Broke down and went to the Walgreens down the street and bought a small of Prilosec for $13. It'll take 24 hours to take effect, but hopefully will take care of the heartburn. I ate nothing after that, but drank complimentary beer at the Fremont most of day for the carbonation. In some crazy way, it seemed to help.

I spent most of the day at the Fremont Hotel playing $3 blackjack, and came out ahead at end of day by about $35. Nice. The Fremont also offers free Internet, so occasionally I'd go into the cafe and play on the Internet. I noticed a lot of Hawaiian in the place, so I googled "Sam Boyd Fremont Hawaii" and learned that the Sam Boyd had (he died 1993) had a big connection with Hawaii and that his corporations' hotels/casinos are so incredibly popular with Hawaiians that Las Vegas is sometimes called "Hawaii's Ninth Island." Many tours are offered, and Sam Boyd properties are the most frequented among Hawaiian visitors.

Fremont Hotel & Casino
The Orleans Hotel & Casino.
Gold Coast Hotel & Casino.
Suncoast Hotel & Casino.
Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall, Las Vegas.
California Hotel Casino.
Main Street Station Casino, Brewery, & Hotel


At about 5 p.m., Bruce Cummings of Tavannes Watch Co. contacted me, and we agreed to meet for dinner at Gordon Biersch Brewing Pub on Paradise Rd., a kind of upscale beer brewery and pub. They have locations throughout the U.S. but closest to me is Bollingbrook, IL, thus I hadn't heard of them. Caught an Uber ride to the restaurant, and we met at 7 p.m. I had their wheat beer which is called Hefeweizen. Delicious. Very similar to New Glarus's Spotted Cow and other weiss beers in our area.

For dinner, I ordered their 7-ounce sirloin, medium-rare, with sweet potato fries and coleslaw. Had to send the steak back because they overcooked it. They made it right, giving a whole new platter. But again, why did it leave the kitchen in the first place? I guess it's because the chef -- who outranks the waiter -- will hope you eat it. The waiter is kind of the pawn in the whole game. He or she must hear the customer bitch first before they can take it back to the kitchen. My overall opinion of the meal was that was just OK. We have much better beef right here in the Midwest. I don't know that I would come back to this place. The beer, however, is excellent. And I guess I can't complain too much because Tavannes picked up my tab. Hard to go wrong with free food.

I had a wide-ranging discussion with Bruce and Marc Cummings, the #1 and #2 men of Tavannes USA. I hinted that I wanted a copy of the 100 limited edition Submarine Commander watches that will be coming out this year, and they indicated I would have one, and that I would be paying something less than the $1,900 retail for it. Hooray!

Ubered back to the Four Queens downtown and settled into my room for my final night. Set the alarm for 5 a.m. in order to be at the airport somewhere around 6:30. I awoke, dressed and headed down to the Magnolia Cafe for their "Queens Breakfast," which is 2 small pancakes, 1 slice of thick French toast, 2 eggs, 2 bacon, and 1 sausage patty. All for $8.99 plus $3 coffee. Opened my email on the cell phone, and had a message that my flight out of Vegas was pushed back an hour. Crap.

Could have slept longer. So after breakfast, I went across the street to the Fremont Hotel and proceeded to lose $15 at the blackjack table. Crap again.

Caught an Uber ride to McCarren airport. Cleared security no problems or undue delays. Had a coffee at a Starbucks. At about 8:45, we boarded the Spirit aircraft. Again, no problem with the backpack as far as a luggage charge. Smooth flight all the way, joining the Conga line of aircraft making their way into O'Hare airport. It was 2:30 local time, and by the time I made it to the bus shuttle center, the 3:00 Van Galder bus had already left. Fortunately, the next one was at 3:30, so only had to spend a half hour in that dreadful waiting area, which has about as much appeal as a 1960s school cafeteria. One lousy snack bar and chairs left over from the Eisenhower administration.

Smooth ride aboard the Van Galder bus, with one pretty significant detour around Beloit due to a major backup on the Interstate. Back in J'ville approximately 5:40 p.m. Stopped at Woodmans Grocery for a few things, and had brats, corn on the cob, and fresh cut melon for dinner back at the apartment.

All in all, a very nice trip to Las Vegas. But, as always, nice to be back home again.

Bruce