How the Real Players Do It; or Lost in New Jersey

Thursday, Ian and I went to the PGA championship at Baltusrol (in the ritzy suburbs of northern New Jersey).  It was fun, but hot and tiring.

Baltusrol is holding like it's 20th major competition, including, I think the film that was on a loop on the bus said, the first PGA back in 1916.  Jack Nicklaus won 2 US Opens there, which is enough to give the place the imprimatur of class.

We got out of the house at 6:30, having been warned the Google Maps 2 hour 15 minute ride was many minutes more due to traffic.  I cut across New Jersey on 46 to 31 (if you know this track), and came to a crashing halt (see red on the Google map) as we merged onto 78.  It cleared some, but it was heavy from there all the way to the parking lot.

Half the fun of all this is parking, then shuttling to the course.  We parked in south Jersey and shuttled to the course, which was "only" 20 minutes going -- two loops of the film on the nice, air conditioned (a big plus going back) coach bus.

We first made our way to the signature hole, #4, a par 3 over water, with a stone wall holding up the green (and in play).  This pic should give you the impression.

You can see the flag (just over the TV guy in blue's head) is close to the wall and water.  Jason Day, for one, just barely cleared it on his shot in.  He made the putt for birdie.

We watched like 6 groups come through, finishing with the group with Day, Phil, and Rory.  Ian hates Rory; I like Phil.  I think he kind of likes Day, but he's more of a Fowler, Thomas, DJ kind of guy.

We followed that group up five, then six, where Phil, putting first, made his putt and the other two, with easier putts, missed.  Surprising.

It was lunch time and we went for merchandise and food.

If you've never been to one of these (Ian and I went to the President's Cup 3 years ago in Columbus), the merchandise tent is huge.  Yes, probably 300 feet by 60 -- essentially a football field -- with more shirts, caps, towels, etc, saying "PGA Baltusrol" with either the trophy (the Wanamaker Cup) or the Baltusrol logo (two yellow wings with a circled B in the middle) than you can imagine.  Shirts by Polo, UnderArmor, Cutter and Buck, Nike, Adidas, and Greg Norman (I'm probably missing some).  I spent more on merchandise than I did on tickets to the event.

Then we tried to follow Jordan Spieth's group.   If you could get near them.  Here's one shot of his group on the green --

If you can't tell, there was quite a crowd around them, so we couldn't get very close.  So, we waited two groups to follow Dustin Johnson (DJ), who rewarded us by making back-to-back bogeys and generally looking around the greens like a man who had no clue.  On the 6th hole, he hit it long, over the green, not ten feet from where we were standing on a path.  As he stood over it, and I was watching him, a cart came through the crowd and ran onto one of my feet!  I said "ouch!" fairly loud, then he drove on and drove over the other one!!!  No one in the cart even said a word -- no "sorry," nothing.  Ian said the woman in the back looked down and saw it sitting on my foot, but didn't say a word!!!  I survived, but that was more fun than I hoped for.

Then came the real excitement of the day.  Ian's phone, which has its issues, was dead, so he rented a charging block from a tent along 17.  Cost him $10.  But he couldn't get it to work right.  So, he had no phone (this is important in a moment).  When we decided after following Spieth (again) through 12 (where Bubba Watson, playing with Spieth, hit his tee shot to 18 inches and then missed the putt!!!) and we decided it was after 4 o'clock, we were tired, had seen the course, etc.  So, we decided to head home.  I said I would meet him at the gate (there was only one for the hoi polloi) & he could go to the booth, return the block, etc.   I thought he might stay and find another charger to charge up enough to get to the car.

Forty-five minutes of waiting by the gate later...

Meanwhile, there was this ice cream stand.

I was told these are popular with the ten-year-old crowd.  "You must be young of heart."  Okay, let's go with that.

Finally, I see Ian, who is outside the gate (!!!) and we walk the half mile or so to the bus (I'm now up to 19,000 steps for the day -- my heart is twice as healthy this day as the recommended steps), with him telling me how long he waited on me, and went to the bus stop, etc.  I tell him that I was where I told him to meet me while he was wandering around -- I wasn't leaving the grounds without him (you couldn't come back in).  Ah, well, I found him.

And, for the final indignity: the ride back on the bus took over an hour!  Google maps showed red; the guy in front of me said they were taking a route 20 minutes longer than the optimal one.  Of course, the busses were surely assigned a route and they weren't supposed to deviate from it.

Then we made the almost 3 hour ride home -- it was 10:30 before we got home, making it a 16 hour day (is my math right?)

It was fun.  It's great to see people play the way those guys play -- they hit the ball so long and pure, and they putt so great.  They make 30, 40 footers like it's nothing, and they are doing it on greens they have only played a day or two.  It's a mystery.

Till another "vacation"...

Party on Cape Cod

It seems my in-laws have decided that if we come to stay with them, I need to "write a blog" about it.  In other words, it seems I am condemned to write a review of the accommodations (if not the company) of my various in-laws (insightful readers will recognize that I have no siblings of my own, so I have no such worries.  It is one reason, I say, to NOT have siblings.  Thanks Mom and Dad!)

I refuse to compare vacations with my in-laws.  Refuse.

So, what do I write?  Let's start with pablum #1 -- the classic sunset over the water pic, taken this past weekend during a quick visit to Orleans, which is on the elbow (as they like to describe it) of Cape Cod.

We were there for the annual party held by brother-in-law Butch (famed from these blog posts) and his wife, Peggy, who have a cottage there that is part of her father's property.  It is a mile+ (according to Google maps) from Nauset Beach.  A bit more on that later.

The party included a bunch of cousins and even Uncle David and Aunt Mary (the youngest uncle and aunt).  It was not a wild good time, but a good time nonetheless.  There was Butch's famous pork barbeque and either Budweiser or Coors Light to drink (if you didn't bring your own; some did).

The blog-worthy highlight were stories about Grampa.  Grampa John was born in Osterville (again, for the geography challenged, in the center of the Cape on the south side) and knew everyone, having worked first in landscaping, then in cranberries, sitting on the Ocean Spray board (it's a coop) for some years.

So here's the story worth repeating here:  Uncle David tells it.  It was winter and he was down to "the house" (a large place with a view of East Bay across the road) to hang out with Grampa.  It had been a cold night and then the tide went out on the bay.  The oysters clung to the grass in the cold as the water receded and Grampa said "let's go down and get them oysters."  David was out pulling off the second bucket full when the local Game and Fish Warden pulled up.

"John, you got a license to harvest those?"  Of course, like everyone around, he knew Grampa.

"No," he shot back.

"Well, John, you can't be taking them oysters then."  (You should be hearing a strong New England accent -- that's how David told it and Grampa had one)

"Nevermind that," Grampa said.

"John, really, you can't be taking those oysters."

"What are you, an idiot?" Grampa responded, seemingly with his voice raised a bit.

David said they had oyster stew that night.  Seems Grampa convinced the idiot that the oysters were going to die anyway...

That was Grampa. Not a man to back off or speak anything but straight.

That day and the next we went to Nauset Beach.  Here's the requisite sandy beach picture --

And, then, there was this -- kind of kept you from going out very far ( how many times did I hear "we're gonna need a bigger boat"??!?!?!) --

And then the 8 hours home.

Even the Food Porn is Bigger (if not better) in Texas

Well, Readers, I wasn't going to blog again, but, after our brunch experience today (Father's Day), I was told I had to blog about it.

What happened to yesterday? Well, you know there was U.S. Open golf on for 14 hours, right?  John and I watched almost all of the 14 hours.

Breakfast was from Buc-ees.  John keeps pronouncing it like "Bucky's," but you see the spelling.  eeeeeeessss...

I took a picture.  I called it an oversized convenience store.  John said people lay out their trips so they can stop at one.  It's called culture. :)

Then golf.

Then we had Thai fusion for dinner.  The pictures are on this link -- it's almost all food porn.

But the highlight of the trip will be brunch.

As it seems I am known to do, I "found this place on Yelp."  It got 4 1/2 stars for brunch.  And the reviews said "you have to try the pineapple upside down pancakes."  Whoa!

John had another idea: a "hole-in-the-wall" in a nearby town that does good food.  He claimed.  But he agreed to go to my place so he could have "complaining rights."

Well, getting there was an adventure.  Cross country, Googly saying you could go left or right at one point!  and not lose any time!  How can that be?

Then we turned into "Hicks Airport."  You can't make this up, right?

And then we get there -- there was a full parking lot and a line and a 50 minute wait!

Here's the picture, because, of course at a cafe in Hicks Airport, you have to have an airplane parking lot.   Of course!

We got in quicker than the 50 minute wait and found a buffet!

Of course, it's Texas, so a Sunday brunch buffet includes not just pancake and omelet stations, but beans and ribs and brisket to go in your omelet.

And then there's the famed (rightly) pineapple upside down pancake.  You're given syrup with it and told to try it without -- you won't need it.  We didn't.

It was delicious.

And, now, it's Father's Day.  The U.S. Open traditionally finishes on Father's Day. TV on, a/c on (the RealFeel outside is a mere 105), and we are falling into our food coma.  :)

Have a good one!

Last Day (and hotel reviews)

Dear Reader,

This is the last blog of the 2016 California trip (though not the end of our trip, but the motto, I hear, is what happens in Texas stays in Texas), but it covers beautiful sights, food porn galore, and even wild animals (and not Michael).

But first, for your information, the hotel review.

We stayed in 7 different hotels (the cabin in Yosemite we’ll ignore).  I will remind you all that I have a criteria for a quality hotel (3+ stars) that includes glass glasses (redundant?), thick towels, firm beds, a choice of pillows, and quality WiFi.

Here’s a damning comment: I slept on a rolled up towel for 3 nights at the hotel in Anaheim. 

The best hotel was the first, the Hyatt at the airport in San Francisco, though the last, the Sheraton at the marina in San Diego, was very close.  Both had all the above amenities, though the Sheraton had the Wifi that asks you to reconnect if you don’t use it for like 30 seconds.  A PITA. 

I liked the Radisson in Fresno, which was a sudden, late night change the night before.  It had all the amenities, and a good price.  But it WAS in Fresno.  We were not impressed with what we saw of the Central Valley cities.

Probably next was the Country Inn & Suites, which I don’t think I’d ever stayed in before, in Ventura.  It was a late addition, too, done a few days before leaving in a swap for the Radisson in Santa Maria – 2 hours closer to the ballpark and LA for the next day.  It was good, and a decent price at $129, but both the other three were better, for about the same money.

The Clarion in Ridgecrest and the Stanford in Anaheim were close.  We stayed at both for a combination of convenience and price (there weren’t a lot of 3 star options in Ridgecrest, on the edge of the desert).  Neither had glass glasses though both had a breakfast that wasn’t bad.  (can’t say that about the Country Inn).

Dead last was the San Simeon Lodge.  It was close to Hearst Castle and across the street from the ocean.  But the bed was horrible, the light fixtures were missing light bulbs, the heat didn’t work (it was 50 the morning we left), and it wasn’t the least expensive place we stayed (the Clarion was, not surprisingly). 

Now, to the last day plus in San Diego.

Yesterday we spent the day in Balboa Park.  Here’s a picture of the iconic tower, which has no bell (we found out) – the symbol of the city.

The park was built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.  San Diego beat out San Fran to host, back when San Fran was ten times larger.  The buildings are. a mix of mission and stucco style (as you can see), in a conscious attempt to get away from the more classical architecture of other American expositions. 

We saw the Old Globe, which Michael says is big in theatre history, but got no tour.

Then visited the Museum of Man, which had exhibits on Beer through history and human evolution and mummies.  I saw enough skulls to keep me for the rest of my life.

We then agreed that the Air and Space Museum had appeal (there are 14 museums in the park).  Michael, Karen and I spent much time in the DaVinci special exhibit (Karen and I dozed through some of the film showing there), and Michael found Barb dozing in front of Tora, Tora, Tora.  Yes, it seems we were all tired.

Then to hotel to swim and clean up for dinner.

For dinner, we went to Coronado, which is an island off San Diego.  Here’s the view as we started dinner.

The menu was good.  Both Barb and Karen had surf and turf; Michael and I had the halibut.  We got comped dessert (pineapple upside down cake and bananas foster bread pudding) because they overcooked Karen’s steak.  Barb told the waiter so. :)

Then back to the Slavins’s suite for cards, where, once again, Michael and Karen swept us, with Michael yet again (who can believe it?!?!?!) complaining about not getting cards.  Right.

This morning, Karen and I took the car downtown and had brunch at the Broken Yolk – motto “we have huevos” – where it turns out we had brunch in 2010 during our “junket” there. 

Then we shot up I-5 to La Jolla, to see the seals. (not to be confused with sea lions, or elephant seals…I’m not sure how or why).  Here’s a shot of them on the rocks just below us.  You can see from the pictures in the LINK that the place was gorgeous.  But the biggest memory may be how gamey the seals smelt…the odor was strong even as you got out of the car!

We stopped at Torrey Pines golf course, where they’ve held one US Open and where they’ll return in 2021 (there were both signs and t-shirts) so here’s a pic of there.

And then to Texas, Dallas, to visit the much famed John from the Scotland blog and his wife Lanissa.  There’s been talk of a trip to Waco (has something to do with HGTV), pub crawls through Fort Worth, and some golf viewing (ironically, the US Open is in PA this weekend).

And there it is.  Thanks for going along for the ride, and thanks to Michael and Barb for being the best travel companions.  Farewell.

Wildlife...and the Zoo

Hi, Readers, we are about to run out of days, but yesterday was another good one.

We started with the drive from Anaheim to San Diego.  In what has happened before, somehow Michael, driving, and his navigator, whose name I will not mention, missed some maneuver and instead of "just staying on I-5" (the navigator and Googly's instructions), we decided to see some beachfront communities.  In the end, we didn't waste too many minutes, but there was much discussion of who screwed up -- the backseat seemed to throw the navigator under the Hyundai SUV -- and away we went.

In San Diego, we went straight to the zoo.  It IS the best zoo in the world.  Period.  I heard one of the staff there say "it's only 120 acres."  It seems bigger.

Let's start with the classic San Diego zoo photo:

Neither panda was awake.

But then I got this souvenir, which was worth the $10. :)

Pongo enjoyed the ride. :)  Dr. Slavin, not so much. :)

I always enjoy the tiger -- there are two pretty good pics.
And Karen's favorite, here's the few weeks old giraffe.  He's not quite 6 feet tall.

The funniest moment (I remember) was on the people mover, up the hill (saving us steps).  In a moment of ineptitude, I caught my foot against the running board and tried to roll down the people mover.  Karen caught me to keep me from hitting the ground.  I heard about this for the rest of the day.  And dinner.

We checked into the very nice hotel -- the Sheraton at the marina -- across the road from the airport (convenient for tomorrow's exit) and Karen and I got in the hot tub just outside our room.

Michael and Barb, on the other hand, upgraded "to a suite." You know, how the 1% lives.  BTW, Michael likes to read the Wall Street Journal.  He's a liberal elitist snob. :) (and it's MY blog :))

Then to the gaslamp district for dinner.  The gaslamp is a part of old San Diego that has been revived with restaurants, clubs, etc, and has people milling around till all hours.  I saw a sign advertising 40 restaurants.

We ate at a place that claimed to be the best Mexican place in the district.  Michael said it was the best Mexican food he'd ever eaten.  My phone gave out so there's not much food porn, but here are the appetizers -- shrimp tostada and the guac, which was excellent.  And we had drinks (me a strawberry frozen margarita) before dinner.  HERE'S the LINK

Then we walked around the block (from 4th to 5th st) to this gelato place.  Michael said "I've had more ice cream on this trip than I've had..." and I said "you didn't have ice cream." :)

Then back to "the suite" to play cards.  Michael whined (with charcuterie) about not catching cards as he and Karen won two straight games!  I showed how to be a bad loser, as well as how to be a bad winner. :)

And now, one full day left. Pout.  Ah, well...someone has to go back to work.  I'm not sure who.

Art and "art" and Food Porn

Dear Readers,

Time has gotten away from me, so I will keep today's entry short (and unfunny) --

We started the day by going to "the Getty" -- the private art museum started by J. Paul Getty, and left funded by him when he died.

The picture of greatest import was this one -- Monet's Rouen cathedral.  Because Michael and I were there last June.

Michael and I agreed "it looks nothing like that."

Then, believe it or not, to dinner.  But first a stop at Venice Beach.  They were shooting a TV show, or music video, in the middle of things.  Karen said it was "edgy," unlike Santa Monica.  The pictures show the surroundings -- but you can see the people.  Michael and Barb were sure there were pickpockets working the crowds.

Then to Hermosa Beach, where we ate dinner at a Mediteranean tapas place I found when Ken, Jamie and I were in "LA" last January.  The highlight, I think, was this dish -- the Morroccan shrimp.

Then we took pictures of the sunset on the Hermosa Beach pier --

And stopped at the Manhattan Beach creamery for dessert -- I had the bomb, a sticky bun ice cream. Yum.

And that was our day.  Tomorrow, to San Diego.  Last stop! ):

The Happiest Place on Earth: Santa Monica & Malibu :)

Yesterday was titled "quiet day," today, not so much.  In terms of Fitbit steps (one measure of the day), almost the most of the trip.

First, know that the two couples separated today.  Probably not a bad thing X days in; probably not a bad thing as Barb talked about being at Disneyland (which is 1.1 miles by foot -- it's not good I know -- from this hotel) ALL day.  Two fingers to temple, pull trigger.  I wanted to go to the beach.  Which is definitely NOT 1.1 miles away.

So, to Steve and Karen's "adventure."  We took the car and headed west on a series of large highways (I know one time there were six lanes) and an hour later we were on ground streets in downtown Santa Monica.  After one false start, we had a great parking spot in the pier parking lot.

Here's the link for all the photos -- https://goo.gl/photos/qM5tgmbrG7kn7u7T7

WARNING!  There are LOTS of photos -- I had 40 some for the day, which I pared down, but I added pics from M&B and K.

I thought about which shot was most iconic to post here, but I am going with this one.

This is from the Ferris wheel on Santa Monica pier; that's the complex on the end of the pier in the background.  And you will notice the wonderful color of the Pacific -- it is just so blue here.  Or aquamarine.

I did say "ferris wheel."  The sign said this "those with heart conditions, high blood pressure, back problems, or motion sickness should not..."  Check, check, check, check, check.   I survived.  In fact, it wasn't bad.  I did NOT throw up!  Or have a panic attack!  Of course, we ate lunch AFTER!  :)

[it was the first of 3 times on this day we ignored said signs.  Karen the Wit said at one "I'm trying to collect on that new life insurance policy."  Funny]

We went to the beach.  So there has to be this shot:

The water was warm enough today I actually swam in it.  Funny, though, the kids around me would go in a little, get hit by a wave, scream, and run to shore.  Kids!

And now this picture.

I think I captured the look on Karen's face as she tried to be "iconic."  She wasn't planning on actually getting wet (there's the pre-photo in the link) and then!  Hee hee.  The look on her face was priceless.  Damned!  I got wet!!! in the ocean!  Who knew?

Lunch was pizza on the pier.  Michael doesn't like pizza.  I know, I know, but there you have it.  yelp was accurate again because it might have been 5 star pizza, especially for the location, but the map...well, we only stumbled on the place, as yelp had it on the side of the pier with no buildings.  I actually looked UNDER the pier for it!  Dumb, I know, but...

Then we drove through Malibu and stopped at Pepperdine University.  We'd both heard it was beautiful.  How's this for a money shot?

Looks like the view from Bloomsburg, right?  Or Lock Haven? Or any other PASSHE school.

Then back east.  Noteworthy was Google maps, aka "Googly," trying to avoid traffic on the highways by cutting us through all these back streets.  It was not a fun drive.  It took 2 hours plus to get back from Malibu to the hotel.

We purchased our day pass to Disneyland and our bus pass to get there and were there by 6:30.  Rah rah.

Then stood in line.  I actually counted (I know, I know, this is bad) -- 40 minutes for the Star Wars "Tour" (a ride), that lasted 4 minutes.  It was in 3D.  The woman next to Karen, and Karen, screamed -- the woman incessantly.   Dr. Johnson's suspension of disbelief on display.   Ho hum.

Then we ate.  Picture of our hot dogs.  Yum yum (winning the food porn award today).  I include Barb and Michael's dinner pics in the album -- I don't know what it was but know they were in the 5-star restaurant in the other park (I have no idea what it was, either).  It looks good, even, to some extent, the blackberry shortcake.

Then to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  (Karen had a wish list, which we covered)  Although they claimed the line was 40 minutes (there's literally an app for that), it was more like 25 before climbing into a boat-shaped vehicle on a rail.  We were in the front seats.  We got wet.  There was screaming, again, as there were a couple sharp drops into water.  The characters and animation were okay.  25 minutes of waiting, five minutes of ride.  Ho hum.

Then next door to the Indiana Jones ride.  An hour of waiting, and, again 5 minutes of ride.  I thought it was the best one of the three, though it was right about both back injuries and motion sickness (prescription 101 for motion sickness: go to blackness and spin the vehicle -- Indiana Jones did this TWICE!).

We came out too late to get a great view of the fireworks, but I got a couple shots.

Then we had ice cream at the Gibson Girl stand; there's no pic!!!!  It was our best food of the day (of course??!?!).

For reasons I am not clear on, we stayed for the parade with the light show.  There are pics.  Such as they are in the darkness.

We were on the last bus out of the park -- the driver declared it so -- which was full.  The Slavins weren't.  We await the story of THAT, and many others, when we rejoin for breakfast momentarily.

In all, a happy day.  And it had nothing to do with Mickey. :)