Lose Yourself in the Horns

Okay, so I finally got this video I made of the Longhorns National Championship Season in 2005 up on YouTube. Yeah, I know. Only 2 years later.

'Cause That's How I Roll!!! (Or, San Diego, Pt. 1)

Tonight, Kaitlyn said she wanted to brush her teeth. We, of course, forgot her toothbrush and toothpaste. Becky asked her "Why do you want to do that?"

Her answer was "'Cause. That's how I roll!"

I do not know where she picks this stuff up. :)

But, let's back up a bit.

We arrived in San Diego Saturday around 12:30. A little late. Got the car (Kia Optima. Sweeeet.) and went to meet Becky's friend Kelli.

We dropped Becky and Kaitlyn off and Drew and I headed to the Padres game. They were playing the Braves.

For those who don't know, I've been taking Drew to a different MLB game for the last several years. My goal is to do it as long as Drew will let me. We've been to Detroit, Florida, Texas, and now San Diego.

Because of the late flight, we didn't end up getting there until the middle of the 4th inning. But, it was well worth it.

We sat in the very top row, on the 1st base side, just off of home plate.


They really were good seats, though. A really great family from LA was sitting next to us. We talked a lot, he let me borrow his binocs, we helped each other out when ordering vending items, and he had the cutest little boy that kept staring at Drew.

Summary of things bought:

• Parking $20
  
• Tickets $40
• Beer $8.50 (yeah, no shit)
• Pretzel $3.50
• Water $3
• Cotton Candy $4.50
• Sno-cone $4.50
• Pizza (1 pepperoni, 1 bbq chicken) $13.00
• Another Beer - $8.00 (yeah, no shit)
  

It was a great game. We stayed until the bottom of the 8th. The Padres won.

We got a couple of free blankets.



This is a great stadium. I love ballparks that are right next to city centers. You can go down, park, have a couple drinks at a bar, catch the game, and then get some dinner or whatever. Not enough places are like this. Of the places we've been to, Texas and Florida pretty much suck. Go. Park. Go to game. Leave.

Detroit was a little bit better. Hockeytown is across the street.

From our seats, we had a great view of the Coronado Bridge.


As well as the Clocktower, which Drew really seemed to like.

Petco Park is built right into the city, with some existing buildings left in place. There's a great view of downtown.


I love how they incorporated the Western Metal Supply Building.

"An excellent example of adaptive reuse, the Western Metal Supply company building, a hundred-year old structure that had been scheduled for demolition to make way for PETCO Park, was saved and incorporated into the design of the ballpark. The building was renovated and contains the team store, private suites, a restaurant and rooftop seating. The corner of the building serves as the left field foul-pole."

They also have a beach in right field. Right in the middle of this picture.



After the game, we headed back to the hotel. It was a quick drive over there.

Personal commentary: For as big as it is (1.2 million???), San Diego has a really small town feel. It's the same size as Dallas. Doesn't feel like it at all. I know that San Diego County is even bigger than Dallas County. I'm just sayin'.

To close out the day...Rock Bottom Brewery and a quick pool trip (for me and Drew. Kaitlyn was sentenced to shower and bed.) at our hotel, the Westin Horton Plaza.

Biba

As alluded to previously, I recently went back to Florida for work. Usually I stay in some boring Hilton or Marriott property. The hotels are so damn expensive, though. Even with the government discount I usually try to get.

I decided to check out Yahoo! Travel this time just to see what my options were. One interesting hit that came up was Hotel Biba. It was the same price as the best price on the Hampton Inn ($120). I researched a bit on Tripadvisor. The reviews were typically negative. When it comes down to it, the only people that generally post on review sites are either paid schills or people that have something to complain about. You have to take both with a grain of salt. I use these to guage whether the negatives are something I can deal with. Usually, yes. Shit doesn't bother me quite like it does other people. Example: "bar was too loud and I couldn't sleep." Me: sounds like a great bar...

The Hotel Biba was built in the 1920's just on the edge of the El Cid Historic Neighborhood and looked like the typical "load the family up we're going on a road trip to South Florida" motor court hotel thing. It was originally the Mount Vernon as you can see on the picture to the left. The big ass parking lot in the back? Not so much. That's now apartment parking for the building in the back.




I didn't roll in until almost 2am the first night there because I flew into Ft. Lauderdale. So, didn't get to see much. The rooms are very cool though. Funky furniture and design, 42" LCD screens and original Terrazzo tile

When I checked in, the desk guy asked me if a room by the bar (which "can get loud at the times") and the pool would be ok. "Mmmm. Ok. I guess." :)

Monday and Tuesday were pretty quiet. I got in a quick swim after work before I went to go play poker at a friend's house. I won $50. My room was right by the pool. Step outside and in.

Wednesday, though, the party begins.

I had several people from work meet me for happy hour at the Biba Wine Bar around 7. It was very low key. We were pretty much the only people there besides a couple of girls that were dressed for action in their little black dresses. At 8. And, for what it's worth, they were still there at 11. More on that later.

We spent a little time out front on the patio, and then went out back by the pool.

The Biba Bar is a great little bar. It used to be one of the lobbies of the old hotel. Now it's a very colorfully decorated Wine Bar. With liquor and beer too of course.

Wednesday night is Veuve Clicquot night. They also have a dj that starts up around 10.

When we pulled up after dinner, it was a serious club scene. Valet. Hummers. Mercedes. Crowds of people all around. Guys in shirts unbuttoned too far with big dark glasses and water bottles. Girls in too short dresses. Including the black dress girls from 8pm.

One friend and I decided to check out the scene. We walked in from the back door. It was 20 feet from the door to my room after all. The bar was packed, so I grabbed a couple of Miller Lites from my room. Only Lites in the place.

It was a hell of a scene. Way out of my coolness range. Of course, that's not hard to achieve. We hung out in front in the courtyard for a beer until it started raining and then we shut it down. Completely not my scene but interesting as hell. I'd rather sit down and listen to a guy I've never heard of play guitar. But, that's just me.

Some dude had rented the room right next to the bar as an "alternate party site" as far as I could tell. Singles and couples would walk in, go to the bathroom together for a couple minutes, and come out. Hmmm. Wonder what was going on.

The amazing thing was that it went on until 1am or so and I couldn't hear it from my room at all. I peeked out a couple of times and it was still going strong.

Funky hotel. Great scene. Different. I liked it.

Old Red House

A month ago or so, I was in Kansas. No, I did not feel like there's no place like home.

However, I did take that chance to go visit my home, where I was born. St. Joseph, MO. And a couple of other places.

I was in Wichita, KS for work. I decided to take a day and go visit a client in Overland Park and then go visit my family.

First, I visited my Uncle Kenny. He lives in downtown Kansas City, in the Plaza area. We had such a great time. Met some friends, went to dinner, and then spent the night at his place. I didn't get to stay there too long, but his place was awesome. He had one of the most amazing houses and backyards I've seen.

The next morning, I went to visit my grandpa on my dad's side in Maysville, Mo. This is where my dad grew up, and I spent a lot of time of time here as a kid.


Grandpa and I visited my Grandma's grave in Fairport and then had lunch downtown. It was short, but we really had a great time.

On the way back to the KC airport, I drove through St. Joe. It's been a long time since I've been there.

The only place I could remember where I lived was on Olive Street.


I remember a couple things about this house. The wallpaper that was red velvet, and the fact that I thought Mister Clean lived in our basement!

Lake Worth

I had to go to Palm Beach County for work. Again. Of course, I had to make the most of it.

Lake Worth is an old haunt of mine.

I first started working in South Florida on Jan 3, 2005. Damn. The first day in town I went to the Orange Bowl where USC destroyed OU. Ha. Ha. OU sucks.

When I first stayed in Palm Beach, I stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Palm Beach. Yeah. "Palm Beach" is a little misleading. Yes, it's on the island. Yes, it's in Palm Beach. If I'd booked this place thinking it was in Palm Beach??? I'd be a little pissed.

Now, I liked this place, so don't get me wrong. On the intracoastal, one of the thinnest parts of the island, right across from the Lake Worth Pier/Casino Park/Beach. Casino isn't near as cool as it sounds. Used to be.

So, it's pretty much Lake Worth.

But, I love Lake Worth. It can be a bit sketchy at times. Nothing that worries me, though.

The downtown area is great. I used to go to Ray's Key West all the time to play NTN Trivia. Yes, I'm a huge trivia dork. I've been as high as #8 in the country on a single game. In Amarillo. My 15 minutes.

When I went down there last week, Ray's was closed, replaced by some lame ass place.

So, I went across to South Shores Tavern. They have trivia. Nobody was playing, though.

This was early. Around 7:30. What the Tavern did have is a singer playing guitar and singing Dylan, Grateful Dead, and his own songs. And a lot of other stuff. I gave him a $5 tip, and he was so grateful.

One thing about Lake Worth is there is more live music than in a lot of place in S. FLA. I talked to the singer at South Shores. Matt something or other. He came from the northeast (yeah, i pretty much pegged that). He was very disappointed in the music scene in Florida. Yeah. So am I.

He was great, though. Humidity was about 99% and he was playing for his moms and me.

I've just had a a lot of good times in Lake Worth. A coworker set up a happy hour for our project team at Brogue's Irish Pub. Drunken cigar smokin' time there. It involved rusty nails at some duck themed cigar bar.

On my 32nd birthday, I went to dinner at Charley's Crab. After that, though, I met some other coworkers at a bar in Lake Worth.

Lots of good times there! Damn Ray's Key West for selling out and not having trivia...