OK, I’m not a wildlife photographer, these aren’t great photos….. These are the whale photos 🙂
Author: admin
-
California – Whale Watching Trip (Dolphin Photos)
Photos from my whale and dolphin adventure in the Pacific….
Here are the dolphins….. (quite a lot of photos of these)
-
California – One Way Sign
An artful One Way sign.
-
Laguna – Evening Photos
Beautiful and peaceful.
-
California – Pelicans in Flight
Pelicans in San Juan Capistrano….. Or over it.
-
Las Vegas – The Venetian
I always see something new in the Venetian every time I visit, and the interiors are some of the best in Las Vegas. The hotel is of a ridiculous size, it’s the second largest in the world and has just over 4,000 rooms and just over 3,000 suites. I’ve never stayed at the hotel, it’s always been too expensive, but maybe one year.
It’s though the shopping areas, decked out to look like Venice, which are the star of the show for me. The painted ceilings which makes it feel like you’re outside and the gondoliers floating around carrying passengers. All excessive, but so very Vegas.
-
Las Vegas – Betting Statistics
My final betting statistics….
Video Poker
Spent $7
Won $6
Keno
Spent $1
Won $0
Although bear in mind that (other than the tip) the drinks are free, so this wasn’t a bad result for the week. I must be on the verge of being classed as a high roller with this level of betting.
-
Las Vegas – Raising Cane’s Chicken
And with my last post being about fine dining in a French restaurant (or if not fine dining then close enough) it meant that the next meal needed to be one which I could tick off my fast food chain list. And this was Cane’s, a Louisiana based chicken restaurant where they claim that their chicken fingers are always fresh and never frozen. They have, according to Wikipedia, 432 locations across the United States which have mostly opened over the last few years. They’re started an international expansion, although there aren’t yet any in the UK.
The four piece combo meal, although the lovely staff gave me five pieces of chicken for reasons unknown. I like to think it was because they thought I deserved it, but they probably just miscounted. The chicken did seem freshly cooked and was moist and tender, with the coating being crispy and flavoursome. The crinkle cut chips were sufficiently salty and the American style coleslaw added texture, taste and some colour to the proceedings. The Texas Toast, which seemed to be some form of soft garlic bread, I wasn’t so excited by though, although I later realised I could have swapped it for more chips. Anyway, always worth trying…
Service was friendly, although it’s one of those places where you give your name and they call it out. I prefer numbers, avoids any issues with spelling names, although it all worked out on this one. The restaurant was surprisingly cold in terms of the temperature with a gale running through it from the back door to the front, but I like cold, so this suited me. The drinks were self-pour and unlimited refills, as with most of the US, which again suited me as I like binge drinking sugary soda drinks.
Anyway, as fast food chains go, this gets my seal of approval. I don’t actually have a seal to make an impression to give to the restaurant, but I liked it and it all seemed well managed and clean. The quality of the chicken was excellent and this is another restaurant that is much better than KFC, perhaps one of the most inconsistent chains that there is (especially in the UK). I hope that they open in the UK in due course…..
-
Las Vegas – Mon Ami Gabi
Time for a decent French meal….. This is the Mon Ami Gabi, located at the Paris Las Vegas casino on the main strip. The restaurant was larger than I expected and the service was attentive and professional, with the entire operation seemingly well managed. Actually, to run a restaurant that is this popular with the efficiency that they did was quite remarkable. For those who wanted to eat inside (me) that was an option, but there’s also a patio area externally where you can sit in the heat with everyone watching you.
The baguette and carrot, er, heap is compliments of the restaurant. Both were excellent.
The beer selection wasn’t particularly impressive with some rather generic options available. The on-line menu was better than the one that we were presented with, with no decent dark beers available. This is the Evocation Saison from Crafthaus in Las Vegas, which was acceptable, but they didn’t have the Belching Beaver peanut butter stout they mentioned on-line.
The chicken Caesar salad with frites, all very lovely. The chicken was not quite as firm as I’d have ideally liked in terms of the texture, but it had a decent flavour. The salad itself was excellent, lots of flavour and evenly coated, all tasting feeling authentically French. The pommes frites were crispy and firm and were deliciously salty, I like them seasoned like that.
The prices were moderate given the location and the portion size was more than I expected. The restaurant was generously staffed and so service was never an issue. For the perfect visit, I’d have wanted a better beer selection though, but since it’s a French restaurant they have perhaps focused on the wine. However, all rather lovely.
-
Las Vegas – Photos of the Strip by Car
OK, the photos below aren’t the best I know…. But since Richard was in Las Vegas and he had hired a car, this was the first time that I’ve been driven down the strip itself. And here are some photos of it.
