The United States Of Eating - US (and Toronto) Aug/Sep 2016

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 3 – continued…..


Was lucky enough to jump on the bus almost immediately I was done with the sign and zipped a couple of stops up to MGM Grand. When I was here in 2010 I had gone inside wanting to take a look at their exhibit with a couple of live lions. On that occasion we missed them by about 15 minutes as they had just been taken away for the evening. Well this time it seems I missed them by 4 or 5 years because no one seemed to know where they were until finally someone butted into a conversation I was having with an employee to tell me they were long gone. Oh well, I will just have to go a zoo somewhere instead.

MGM Grand:


Earlier in the thread jazza1971 had recommended Ellis Island BBQ at Ellis Island casino which is one street back from the strip behind Bally’s. I love BBQ ribs so this was right up my alley. Jumped in a cab and headed up there for a late lunch/early dinner. Ellis Island is a small almost locals casino so it has a much more relaxed vibe than the big strip casinos. It has a decent sized bar at one end with a bunch of slots and video poker machines. In the centre of the room is maybe 6 or 7 tables games and the rest of the area is filled with the usual array of slots.



Their website indicated a discount for slot club members so I signed up for that one. Also received some free slot play (can’t remember how much) with the sign up which was an added bonus. I realised that the BBQ didn’t open for about an hour so decided to play some of the games. Had a successful session of $5 blackjack which saw me win about 8 or 9 hands in a row at one point and draw the attention of the pit boss as well as the attention of a busty young girl who was playing at the same table with her mother. Turned out she was a coughtail waitress at one of the smaller strip casinos I had visited the day before. Being a foreigner she must have thought I’d actually fall for the “come and visit me at work tonight” line. I was polite but inside was thinking “this isn’t my first rodeo, I know EXACTLY what you’re really after”. In any event, I wasn’t going to make a trip out of my way in the middle of the night just to give a tip hustler a few bucks when I had to pick up a hire car early the next morning.

The casino also has its own microbrewery which should be an instant attraction for any beer lover. I jumped onto one of the video poker machines at the bar and had a couple of their IPA’s. Won a few dollars, activated the free play I had been given and the drinks were comped to boot. Nice!




By now the BBQ was open so I headed over, grabbed a table and ordered the full rack of baby back ribs. The meal came out almost immediately and was accompanied by corn, coleslaw, beans & bread. The ribs themselves were some of the nicest I have ever had. Beautiful flavour to the sauce, meat cooked absolutely perfectly and falling off the bone. Absolute heaven! Price was $14.99 plus tax (can’t recall how much this was) with the slot club discount. If you can’t be bothered spending 2 minutes to sign up then the cost comes to $16.99 plus tax. Great value regardless.These were well worth the short detour off the strip and I would recommend the place to anyone. Next trip will see restaurant elevated to number 1 on my must visits.

Full menu can be found here: BBQ - Ellis Island Casino and Brewery

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 3 – continued…..


As I was only one block from the strip I decided to walk back to the Venetian instead of getting a cab. Pretty easy walk which google maps puts at just over a mile. Didn’t take long and before I knew it I was back at my room for a quick refresh and phone call to the boss. Decided to have a look at the one of the only strip casinos I had missed on my two visits – Circus Circus. I almost immediately wished I hadn’t. Walked out to the strip, up past the Wynn and through what wasn’t exactly the best part of town. I didn’t feel the safest I’ve ever felt but with the added speed this gave me I was the half mile up the strip and outside Circus Circus in no time.



Good advice - no one should be entering this cesspit:


Dump would be a pretty accurate description of this place. Looked very run down both inside and out. A friend had given me rave reviews of their steakhouse and he may be right but the place was in such a poor state that I didn’t get far enough into the property to find out. I was in and out in less than 5 minutes. An even shorter visit to the even more dumpy Slots o’ Fun connected about 20 metres next door and I had had enough. Not wanting to make the mistake of walking through the same neighbourhood twice I jumped in a cab to Encore. Played briefly at Encore (lost) and briefly again down the hallway at Wynn (also lost) and it was back to the Venetian for a short final Vegas fling (which I won).

As mentioned previously the package I had booked included $150 in resort credit. Due to the delay in LAX as well as the late wakeup today I had only used about $40 of this. Not wanting to let it go to waste I went to the gift shop and bought some bottled water for my Yosemite stay. I got an interesting look from the girl at the counter when I said I wanted 15x 1L bottles of Fiji Water. She is probably used to seeing people being ripped off with overpriced goods and services but 15 bottles of $6 water may have pushed the limits. In any event I knew it was extortion but it was either the water (which I would have bought from somewhere else anyway) or waste the credit. Managed to lug all 15 bottles up to the room in one trip and then it was sleep time at around midnight.

 

[irv]

We stayed at Sheraton on the Falls and upgraded to falls view room. You are 100 per cent right, get a decent hotel with the view.

That was our view in 2011, was magic especially when the falls were lit from behind.

 

[jazza1971]

Glad you made it to Ellis Island NoName, and that you thought the ribs were good!

 

[UP4014]

Las Vegas Day 3 – continued…..


View attachment 79664

Dump would be a pretty accurate description of this place. Looked very run down both inside and out. A friend had given me rave reviews of their steakhouse and he may be right but the place was in such a poor state that I didn’t get far enough into the property to find out. I was in and out in less than 5 minutes. An even shorter visit to the even more dumpy Slots o’ Fun connected about 20 metres next door and I had had enough. Not wanting to make the mistake of walking through the same neighbourhood twice I jumped in a cab to Encore. Played briefly at Encore (lost) and briefly again down the hallway at Wynn (also lost) and it was back to the Venetian for a short final Vegas fling (which I won).

Circus Circus is one of the remaining oldies which is now at the dumpy end of town, I haven't been in there for years but it would be tired now. I'm sure it won't be long before the explosive technicians move in.

 

[NoName]

Glad you made it to Ellis Island NoName, and that you thought the ribs were good!

They were probably the highlight of the Vegas culinary experience. Will definitely be back next time. Need to try the chickens they do as well.

 

[NoName]

Circus Circus is one of the remaining oldies which is now at the dumpy end of town, I haven't been in there for years but it would be tired now. I'm sure it won't be long before the explosive technicians move in.

Lets hope! Genting Group is building a high end property next door so maybe that will be the catalyst for some improvement in the area.

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas – Yosemite


Up at 5:30 and down reception to check out. Have I gambled enough to have any of my stay covered? Doubt it but yes, please ring and ask. Result: one night comped! An unexpected surprise! Out the door and into a cab to the airport rental car centre which is a few miles away from LAS. Into the centre to pick up my rental car from Dollar and before you know it I’m away in a blue Ford SUV (specific model escapes me). I booked through UK Dollar website (www.dollar.co.uk) as through various discussion on this forum it seems that using this method results in a cheaper price than you would otherwise get. I think a few people have had past issues with Dollar but having used them twice now I have been happy with their service. Vehicle was quite new, tidy and drove well despite my best attempts at killing it. 5 days plus GPS with LDW & SLI for GDP227.05.

Took off out of Vegas and across the desert with my breakfast venue about an hour away. There really was some impressive scenery along the highway but unfortunately I didn’t stop for any decent photos. The mountains of rock springing up all over the place were a site to see and were completely different to the sparse wasteland that I had expected to see. Soon enough I was approaching Pahrump, a town which appeared to have very little in it but is apparently famous for a couple of large scale legal brothels. I’ll leave the reviews of those establishments for someone else as my focus was fixed on thePahrump Nugget Hotel & Gambling Hall and their Gold Miner’s Buffet.



Pulled into the parking lot with about 45 min before the buffet opened and had a quick look around. Nothing remotely impressive about this place at all but allegedly the best in town which isn’t exactly saying much. Tried to join the slot club but the 95 year old woman at the desk couldn’t seem to make the computer work. With no one else arriving to help until 8am I didn’t worry about it. Played some $5 blackjack at the only open table (out of 6) and got duly pummelled. On the plus side I did ask and receive a comp for the buffet from the pit boss who looked like a fatter, balding version of Pugsly from The Addams Family and was dressed like he’d just came from his local tenpin bowling league.

Without the comp the buffet would have cost me US$9.99 (presumably plus tax). An honest assessment would be that the buffet was poor but the reality is that this was not Vegas and for the price it wasn’t too bad. When I saw what was on offer I wasn’t interested in sticking around too long so I made a beeline for the food and proceeded to shovel down a few platesful of what appealed to me. Basically bacon, sausages, potato Obrien, an unappetising sludge-looking dish they called corn beef hash (was actually the stand out) AND A couple of glasses of apple juice. Additionally they had some fruit, cereals, salads and a guy on standby to cook omelettes or carve a leg of ham as you wanted.






With stomach full I grabbed half a dozen mini blueberry muffins for the car ride and hit the road. Next stop Death Valley which was around another hour away.

Another uneventful drive and before I knew it I was approaching the national park entrance.

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas – Yosemite – continued…..


I had made the slight detour to come here simply because it is the hottest place on earth and I wanted to experience what extreme heat felt like. I was here pretty early in the morning though so had to settle for a touch over 40 Celsius at 9:30am. I had done quite little research so was not expecting to see much on the drive through the park but it really was a spectacular desert landscape. Unfortunately the photos don’t nearly do it justice. I found out through their Facebook page a few weeks before my trip that there have actually been quite a few movies filmed in the park, including most famously Luke Skywalker’s home planet in the original Star Wars. For anyone thinking of checking this place out, do it. It’s a shame I was only driving through on the way to somewhere else because I think its somewhere worth spending a few days if you can. I will be back for more of a look if I get the opportunity.


Zabriskie Point - Spectacular!






Death Valley 49ers Gateway (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_%2749ers)




Furnace Creek – Holder of the official highest recorded temperature on earth.

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas – Yosemite – continued…..

Highway CA190 through Death Valley

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas – Yosemite – continued…..


Father Crowley Point





Joshua Trees at Lee Flat along highway 190

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas – Yosemite – continued…..


Off and away again, out of Death Valley National Park and on up through the highways of eastern California. A couple of hours later I stopped at a town called Bishop to grab some sunscreen and a knee brace at KMart. Looking at the petrol gauge and was tossing up whether to fill up in Bishop or wait another couple of hours until the roadhouse just outside Lee Vining on the turnoff to Yosemite. Chose the latter option and paid the price (pardon the pun). US$2.86 per gallon in Bishop but US$3.80ish per gallon at the roadhouse. I should have remembered the massive markups in and around Yosemite from the previous visit. Oh well.

Got to the roadhouse, filled up, sat down to devour an equally outrageously priced ham breadroll and called MrsNoName to let her know I had almost reached my destination.

Mono Lake beyond the car park:



15 min of leg stretching later and I was away again with a mere 12 miles left to the Tioga Pass entrance of Yosemite National Park. Stopped a couple of times along the way for photo ops. I really find this part of the world to be spectacular:







Soon enough I was at the park entrance:




My final destination was still another 60-odd miles away and with all the amazing sites as well as the big weekend crowd it was still going to take another few hours. I stopped at various spots along the way for photos and/or short walks.

Lembert Dome:

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas – Yosemite – continued…..

Tuolomne Meadows:



Tuolomne Meadows Visitor Center:



Tenaya Lake:



Clouds Rest (tomorrow’s hike) taken from Olmstead Point:



Half Dome (Tuesday’s hike) taken from Olmstead Point:

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas – Yosemite – continued…..

Eventually I reached the gas station at Crane Flat, turned left and was on the final approach to Yosemite Valley. When I visitied in 2010 I was spellbound by its beauty. I had never been anywhere quite like it with spectacular monoliths every way you looked, giant waterfalls, beautiful trees and wildlife. Nothing had changed, it was still the amazing place I remembered and I was excited to finally be back. Down into the valley I went inching ever closer to my destination and then there it was! Not my final stop but the site that had first captivated me 6 years ago and was my first memory of the park…..


El Capitan








Further down the road towards my camp and there it was - Half Dome – the main reason for the trip!

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas – Yosemite – continued…..


I reached my accommodation at Half Dome Village (until a few months ago known as Curry Village) at around 7:30pm. The village is basically a place to camp for people who don’t want to camp. This was me to a tee. Originally I had wanted to camp but when I thought about it further decided that having to lug a tent, sleeping bag, cooking equipment etc etc across America was going to be too big an inconvenience. Accommodation is very basic – just a canvas erected over a wooden floor cabin with A-frame. No electricity other than a light from the roof and shared toilets & showers around the village. Two small single beds with a thin mattress and sheet & a safe for valuables. Positively the village itself has a great social vibe about it with dining pavilion, pizza deck & bar with rave reviews, general store, mountaineering school/shop, lounge, free-wifi (very slow) and a swimming pool. I chose Half Dome Village for the low price relative to other accommodation within Yosemite Valley and the close location to the trailhead for my hike up Half Dome. Total price for 4 nights was US$483.56 inc tax.








I got to the restaurant area of the village about 8:30 and was drawn to the much hyped pizza deck. There was a long line of people waiting to order so decided to wait till the following day to sample. Headed to the dining hall instead. In fitting with the accommodation the dining hall was very basic. Just a big hall with tables and a couple of TVs around the room. The food on offer was limited with the main menu item people were choosing was a kind of set dinner with a choice of 1 protein, 1 sides, plate of salad options and a drink for around US$20. I went for the beef fillet with mac and cheese & potato wedges, coleslaw, potato salad, smores pie & a coke. The beef was nice enough as was the coleslaw. The mac and cheese was average at best while the potato wedges were cold and not at all crispy. The smores pie was ok but rather than having any issues just wasn’t my thing. Overall a disappointing meal which would become more disappointing after having the pizza each of the following three nights.






Pretty tired from the day of driving I was straight into bed after dinner for a rest before the first of my day hikes the next morning.

 

[NoName]

Yosemite National Park – Day 1


Up reasonably early and into the car around 6:30am for the hour drive to the trailhead of today’s hike –Clouds Rest. Clouds Rest is a highly prominent mountain in close proximity to Yosemite Valley. It’s just above 3,000m above sea level at the summit and sits a couple of hundred metres higher than Half Dome, which it looks over from an angle not usually seen in the valley or the other common viewing spot at Glacier Point. There are a few ways to reach the summit but I took the most commonly used trail from the Sunrise Lakes trailhead on Tioga Rd. The trail is approx. 7.2 miles each way with an elevation gain of just over 500m from trailhead to summit. The final ascent to the summit is along a thin, steep ridge which is a little challenging and would be more so if one were scared of heights. At the summit you are treated to absolutely spectacular views in all directions including as mentioned the view of Half Dome only a couple of miles away. If you have a set of binoculars you can actually look out over the final section of the hike up Half Dome and see people pulling themselves up the cables to the summit. A really enjoyable hike which was reasonably good preparation (both in terms of distance and difficulty) for the big one two days later. Beginning at 7:30am I reached the summit about 10:15am, began the descent about 11am and reached the car just after 2pm. I was told by other hikers this was pretty quick going which surprised me. I guess the music I was listening to got me into a better rhythm than I thought.

More information about the Clouds Rest Trail can be found here:
Yosemite Hikes: The Clouds Rest Trail

 

[NoName]

Yosemite National Park – Day 1 - Continued......


More Clouds Rest....

The final approach to the summit




Half Dome taken from the top of Clouds Rest

 

[NoName]

Yosemite National Park – Day 1 - Continued……


Back in the car feeling (not unexpectedly) pretty worn out but also quite satisfied that I had completed the hike. I had been in two minds as to whether it was a good idea to do a hike this long and strenuous with only a day’s recovery before Half Dome but having now done it I was glad I did. I had planned to take a look at the Tuolomne Grove of Giant Sequoias the day before but after a later than expected arrival I decided to push it back to today on the way back from Clouds Rest. Now driving along feeling quite weary the thought crossed my mind to push it back again to the following day. Should I? Shouldn’t I? What the hell, I’ll just stop and do it on the way back. It can’t be too bad right? Well under normal circumstances no it wouldn’t, but after close to 15 miles of hiking maybe it would? Into the parking lot, boots back on and away we go….slowly and stiffy. Nope, this wasn’t the best idea. Shuffled the one mile down the hill to the grove to take a look. To be honest I wasn’t that impressed. There are a few really big trees in the grove and those are quite awesome to see but I thought there weren’t enough of them. Maybe I had unrealistic expectations? Maybe after a full days hike my enthusiasm had been killed? Who knows. The Mariposa Grove is the most famous grove in the park but with it being closed for restoration until next year it will have to remain on the “next time” list for now. Shuffled even slower back up the hill, into the car and back to the Valley.










Had a quick freshen up in the shower once I got back to the camp before making my way to the pizza deck to see what all the fuss was about. Three sizes – small, medium or large. I can’t recall the price of each but the mediums I ordered each time were approx. US$15 + $1.60 per topping. I had pepperoni, bacon, sausage & mushroom on mine and it was out in about 10 minutes. Pulled up a chair at the bar, ordered a beer and dug in. The pizza was quite good. I have had better of course but this was in the top half dozen or so I would say. Thin, crispy crust with enough toppings to keep you satisfied while not being so much that it goes everywhere. The medium size is recommended for two but I polished off the whole thing without too many problems. The beer I had was a Half Dome Wheat Beer made by the Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Company. Tasted fantastic after a long day on the trail and had plenty of flavour. I’m not really a big wheat beer drinker though so I would (and did) go for something else in future.

Pizza & Beer - Good!


Walked over to the lounge to relax on the lounge with some wifi after dinner but a combination of excruciatingly slow speed and a body that was nearly falling asleep in the chair meant that I was pretty quick to head back to the cabin for some sleep.

 

[NoName]

Yosemite National Park – Day 2


Up pretty early again but wasn’t in a hurry as I wasn’t doing a day hike. Went over to the dining hall to see if their breakfast offering was any better than the dinner from a couple of nights before. It wasn’t. Same sort of deal – choose a protein and a couple of sides etc for a cost that was well out of proportion to the quality. I had bacon with hash browns, scrambled eggs & mushrooms with a glass of apple juice. Bacon was pretty decent but the hash browns were semi-soggy, while the scrambled eggs were the powdered variety and on the revolting scale managed to exceed what were served to me in VA Y last time I flew to America (no mean feat). All in all the half eaten packet of trail mix left over from yesterday’s hike would have been a better option.

I wanted to walk the first part of the Half Dome hike to get a small idea of what I was in for so made my way to Happy Isles which was about a half mile from the camp and took less than 10min. They have a nature centre there nestled in amongst some lovely trees and a maze of tiny branches of the Merced River. It’s a relaxing spot and tends to get quite a few people coming down for swims later in the day.







Next was the actual short hike up the John Muir/Mist Trail to the Vernal Falls Bridge which I would also hike the next day. At just under a mile from Happy Isles it isn’t very far but the constantly rising, fairly steep trail gives a good workout. This is a very popular trail as it gives people the opportunity to see some great scenery as well as Vernal Falls from a reasonably close distance. People also hike further up the Mist trail to get a close up of Vernal Falls and if they reach the top of the trail, Nevada Falls.

Bonus points for anyone pointing out what's wrong with the sign:

 

[NoName]

Yosemite National Park – Day 2 Continued.....


Mist Trail...





Taken from Vernal Falls Bridge looking up to Vernal Falls about 1 (very steep) Km up the trail: