Las Vegas Summer 2013

Aquaknox

 Aquatini, not too tart and not too sweet. A must have drink

if you go to Aquaknox.

 Amuse-bouche...a nice little chunk of tuna

 Lobster Bisque with Main Lobster, Caviar and Creme Fraiche

 Wild Blue Crab Cake with Chayote Slaw and Creole 

Remoulade Sauce

 Ponzu Oyster Shooter

 Florida Littleneck Clams in Garlic, chili, chardonnay-herb butter

Surf and Turf..USDA Prime Mesquite charcoal grilled Fliet

Mignon with Shishito peppers, grilled onions and 

potato puree. & Georges Bank Scallops with Black Truffle

creamed corn and applewood smoked bacon polenta.

 Tasty

 We had an awesome booth.

 Creme Brulee

On our last evening in Vegas we had to have dinner at our

favorite restaurant. Once again everything was outstanding.

The highlights for me were the Lobster Bisque, Oyster

Shooter and the Surf and Turf. The Lobster Bisque is

insanely rich and creamy with a deep lobster flavor. 

The Filet was loaded with flavor and fork tender. Its one

of the top couple steaks I've had. Scallops are delicious if

they're cooked right and these always are. I really liked the

clams too but they were a bit spicy for Dawn. All in all a

fabulous meal. The service is top-notch and the atmosphere

is dark and quiet. We will be back!

Disneyland and California 2013

California Science Center

 What an amazing machine

 I love this shot. That nose has experienced some

serious heat!!

 We had to walk over and peek in the Coliseum.

 Our first experience with Chick-fil-A....tasty. We figured it 

must be good with the amount of cops eating there. It

was packed with them!

I was looking forward to seeing Endeavour more then anything

on this trip. The California Science Center was cool but the

Space Shuttle is what made it worth the drive. It's almost 

otherworldly walking into the hanger and seeing Endeavour

sitting there. I saw her sitting on the pad once but this

time was much more up close and personal. It was so

 fun spending some with her, but I really wish she was

still flying. When they get the new building built for

Endeavour it's going to be truly amazing. The shuttle

will be displayed in a launch configuration complete with

external tank and SRB's.

Angels vs Athletics

 Walking in

 Ouch....expensive beer

 Check out our seats...front row!!

 Jered Weaver was on fire with 8 strike outs.

 Michael and his ball. The guy in the jacket behind him is

who tossed it to him.

 Josh Hamilton and Mike Trout. Trout and Albert Pujols

hit home runs for the Angels. Josh Hamilton was 2 for 4

with a double.

 Pretzels and beer..... or pop for the kids

 Beautiful stadium

Michael, Yosh my Dad and I took in an Angels game while

we were down there. The Angels have a very nice stadium. It's

close to Disneyland too. Dawn took us and picked us up after

the game. It was maybe a five minute drive if that. Our seats

were killer! Front row about midway between first base

and the right fielder. It was amazing watching a MLB game

from that close. All four of us had an outstanding time. 

Michael got tossed a ball that the outfielders were using

to warm up. How cool is that!? The food and drinks were

tasty but pricey...to be expected. The Angels won 4-1. 

After the game they had a huge fireworks display...all

in all a very cool day.

And this completes our California vacation (about time right). 

Hope you all enjoyed reading about our experiences.

Disneyland and California 2013

East West Shabu Shabu

This picture makes me so hungry...

 Liquor in the front...parking in the rear...

 Yum

 We hit East West Shabu Shabu twice during our trip. We're all

fans of Shabu Shabu/Sukiyaki and this didn't disappoint. Theme park

food was getting a little old, so I yelped Shabu Shabu and quite a 

few places popped up. I picked the one with the best reviews and

we headed out. It's not in the best neighborhood (Garden Grove), 

but the restaurant and it's surroundings were nice. Every time 

we're in Las Vegas we hit Swish Shabu Shabu in Chinatown.

East West was better then Swish. Everything seemed just a 

touch fresher and Dawn liked the broth more at East West. I

loved that they had some mysterious "hot drops" they would 

add for you. It was a tiny bottle with an eye dropper that had

the label covered up. A few of those really spiced things up! I 

think I had 11. Another thing I hadn't tried before was the raw

egg this is served with sometimes. You cook your meat then

dip in the seasoned raw egg for flavor. Sounds gross but I'll

be getting it from now on. The second time we went Dawn's 

friend Lisa came along. She liked it too.

On the drive back we came across a seedy little doughnut stand.

I'm always up for a doughnut so we swung in. Other then 

the broken liquor bottles around it wasn't bad. The 

doughnuts were quite good actually. Not the best location 

though. One of those places you wouldn't want to be 

after dark.

Disneyland and California 2013

Farmers Market and the Beach!

 The original LA Farmers Market. Established

in 1934.

 Roast Beef sandwich from farmers market. The bread

was dipped in Au jus. It wasn't as good as I thought

it would be. Not bad though, The mac and cheese in the 

background was really good.

 Pralines from Littlejohn's Candies. Really good. I'll put a 

link at the bottom to order.

 Bob's Doughnuts. Great doughnuts. The glazed old fashioned

I had was killer. Dawn had a beignet.

 The Grove is an outdoor, upscale shopping area next to

farmers market. Nothing too special but we did run 

into Mario Lopez, aka Slater. He seemed like a douche.

Fun in the sand.

 This has to be one of the coolest piers in the country.

 Michael, Yosh and I had a blast playing in the ocean.

 Michael and I are in this wave!

 The California coast is beautiful.

The end of the line for Route 66. Rush hour traffic in LA is

so bad.

After a day at Universal and two days at Disney we changed things 

up a bit. Today would be a stop at Farmers Market and the Grove,

then a few hours at Santa Monica Pier/beach. After breakfast

was delivered to out room we hit the road. Traffic wasn't

too bad on the way to farmers market. We got there nice and

early and scored a great parking spot. The LA Farmers market is 

neat. It's different from our farmers market in that the "stores"

are set up in permanent locations. There is everything from 

fresh produce to gourmet French foods with pretty much 

everything in between.After browsing around, trying a few things

and getting some lunch we walked over to The Grove. The Grove

is an outdoor, upscale shopping area. Nothing too special but I did

go in the biggest Barnes and Noble I have ever seen. Three stories

tall. E! was filming something and Mario Lopez was there. I

know...big deal. I used to like Saved by the Bell though. A little 

after noon we headed to Santa Monica. Again, the traffic wasn't

too bad. Little did I know what i was in store for later... It 

took awhile to figure out where to park and change once we 

got there. Once changed we headed straight for the water. 

Michael, Yosh and 1 spent a couple hours in the water. 

It was a blast. You get some big waves in California. I think

Michael would stay in the water all day if you let him. After

playing in the ocean we changed, got a bite to eat at Pacific

Park and hit the road. Big mistake! We should have looked around

for awhile and sat down for dinner. Rush hour in LA sucks and that

is an understatement. It took forever to get back. We did make

it though and had dinner at East West Shabu Shabu. I will

do a separate post for that.

Littlejohn's Candies

LA Farmers Market