Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: United States

  • 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.

     

  • Las Vegas – Haribo

    Where have these been all my life? Best Haribo I’ve yet had and full of fruit as well…

  • Megabus (Las Vegas to Los Angeles)

    The bus was ready around thirty minutes before departure time, although we couldn’t board for around another fifteen minutes. The temperature in Las Vegas by this time was hot, so at least there was a canopy to stand under. The process seemed a bit long-winded to board with the driver telling everyone they couldn’t sit in some of the downstairs seats, but nearly everyone was heading upstairs anyway.

    However, on arrival upstairs, a problem emerged. The bus was like a sauna, which was helpfully noted by the driver when she passed through the coach to count everyone. However, despite some complaints, the driver said that the policy was that the coach drivers were banned from idling by the company. I’m not sure why Megabus have come with this solution, but it wasn’t entirely comfortable for the fifteen minutes or so we were waiting.

    Yet again, like my last Megabus trip, there was someone trying to pay on boarding. There was some discussion about this before the passenger gave up and said they’d try and book on the next bus, although that was around seven hours away.

    The inside of the coach. Megabus are very proud that they have their own entertainment system for passengers, they e-mailed me twice about it and it was also on the booking e-mail. However, the wi-fi on the coach didn’t work, which was most inconvenient, which of course meant that the entertainment system also failed. I was less concerned about this than I had no access to e-mails or anything else during the five hour journey.

    I thought that the lack of wi-fi would be solved by the bus’s stop during the journey. This has always been a McDonald’s, which is very convenient as it allows for not just the purchase of food, but also the use of the restaurant’s wi-fi. However, since my last trip on this journey Megabus has moved to Love’s, a petrol station which charges customers for wi-fi. They had food at the Chester’s Chicken which is part of Love’s, but this didn’t have wi-fi no doubt as Love’s policy to charge for everything they can. In irritation I refused to buy anything and was pleased I had snacks and drinks from Walmart….. The state of the toilets in Love’s was also unsatisfactory, so hopefully Megabus will move to somewhere rather more suitable again in the future.

    Oh, and the bus driver counted everyone and realised someone was missing. She ended up running inside to find the passenger and it transpired they’d decided to stay in the petrol station and not continue with the journey. It didn’t occur to them to perhaps tell the driver that, but I have to give credit for the driver noticing, they don’t usually count everyone.

    Photos from the journey, which went through some marvellous scenery. It wasn’t of course quite as impressive as the Grand Canyon scenery from the previous day, but nonetheless, the wide expanses provided excellent views which passed the time given the complete lack of wi-fi.

    The driver was always friendly and the quality of her driving was excellent, the journey was smooth and we also arrived a few minutes early. This normally wouldn’t make much difference, but on this occasion it allowed me to catch the Pacific Surfliner to San Juan Capistrano. Given that my ticket also only cost $1 the value for money was of course excellent.

    And one more comment, just for Dylan, this means that I’m in California!!!!!

  • Amtrak Pacific Surfliner (Los Angeles to San Juan Capistrano)

    I’ve taken the route of the Pacific Surfliner before and the section between San Diego and San Juan Capistrano is perhaps one of the most beautiful in the world as the train glides along by the beach. The section between Los Angeles and San Juan Capistrano is still intriguing, although rather less so in the dark….

    I only just caught this train as I was fortunate that the Megabus arrived in just a little early into Los Angeles. The Amtrak ticket desk also fortunately had a short queue and then so with a few minutes to spare I was able to take a seat on board. It’s a double decker (Dylan would like that) and as spacious as the other Amtrak services that I’ve taken. There’s a cafe car and there were no shortage of seats on the journey, although it was still relatively busy.

    I did wonder whether customers are allowed to buy tickets on board, but I decided against risking that. However, I found out the answer as the passenger in front of me hadn’t purchased one, and apparently the answer is that these tickets are twice the usual cash price. The conductor phoned Amtrak customer service to discuss something about the ticket price, although I unfortunately couldn’t hear enough to work out the solution.

    The one downside is that the train’s wi-fi wasn’t functioning, it would connect but not actually let me reach the log-in screen. Fortunately I discovered that there is some public wi-fi in Irvine which I could connect to for a few minutes, but otherwise I was unlucky with the access to the Internet today, given this and the Megabus technical issues.

    The Amtrak train pulled into San Juan Capistrano on time with its horns blaring out as usual as it goes over a crossing which cars and pedestrians use. The town was much busier than I’ve seen it before, it felt like a friendly Prince of Wales Road at night….

  • Omaha – Flags

    One thing I do like about the US is that they fly their flag a lot. This was the entrance to what otherwise just seemed a normal business, they certainly like to keep the flags flying…

  • Omaha – W. Dale Clark Central Library

    Where there’s a central library near to me I feel the need to explore it. I had to visit on the Saturday of my visit as they decided to shut the library all day on Friday for some staffing reasons. There’s clearly some back history to the library as the local paper reported a couple of years ago:

    “Frequent disturbances, rowdy behavior and even reports of sex in the stairwell spurred Omaha police to ask library officials Wednesday to clean up the downtown library.”

    It’s a 1970s building, not visually stunning from the outside. When it was constructed it replaced the old and tired previous library which had served the city since 1893. The library is named after W. Dale Clark who was a banker and civic leader, and is perhaps one of the few libraries which has a human scalp in its archives.

    The library looked better from the inside with each floor clearly signed and there was a spacious feel to the interior.

    Lots of books, although there were also plenty of empty shelves as well.

    Plenty of tables were available. I decided to have a little look for local history books, which is where this got slightly strange. The staff member said that they weren’t available for the public on request and I had to ask for them by title, or ask for recommendations. This didn’t really suit my browsing requirements and is a quite ridiculous policy IMO that I’ve never come across before. I did find a row of around 25 books relating to the history of Omaha which were in the general history section of the library and this did suffice me, but I’m sure there were many more of interest.

    I used to have some of these, I like the American Reader’s Digest.

    All in all, this was a peaceful library which seemed devoid of visitors, which is useful as it keeps things quiet, but it’s also slightly concerning from a literary point of view. The library was clean throughout and the books were clearly labelled and displayed, but I still find the lack of local history books on display slightly bizarre.

  • Flights – Omaha to Las Vegas (Allegiant)

    Today’s flight (excuse that I couldn’t get a photo of the aircraft due to where the jet bridges were, so here’s a can of Coke) was Allegiant Air from Omaha to Las Vegas. Allegiant are a relatively cheap carrier with a reputation similar to Ryanair and I find them pretty similar, they’re reliable but not exactly customer service obsessed.

    Incidentally, on the Coke issue, they’re $2 which seems to be good value and I noted that nearly everyone on board ordered something. Allegiant don’t serve hot meals, just pre-packaged snacks and drinks. The crew service is efficient and well managed and they completed four sweeps of the aircraft offering drinks and snacks.

    Interestingly (just to me) this aircraft was an A-319, registration N313NV. This aircraft was from October 2004 until December 2017 operated by easyJet before Allegiant took it over.

    Views from the aircraft. I was fortunate that the middle seat was free and I was allocated the window seat, so it was all sufficiently spacious. The flight was delayed for around 45 minutes in Omaha because of adverse weather conditions in Las Vegas, so they were trying to space the aircraft arrivals out.

    The flight was also one of the most turbulent ridden that I’ve experienced and the aircraft landed at quite an angle. As a back story, the guy on my row was chatty and good humoured, but he hated Allegiant. He’s got a long history of flying and he said he only booked this flight because he was drunk. He claimed that the poor flying conditions were down to the flight crew, which is perhaps rather harsh. But their communication to passengers wasn’t great if I’m being honest.

    We landed in Las Vegas just under one hour late, but that didn’t seem unreasonable given the weather conditions. Then it all went a bit wrong. As the airport was being hit by thunder and lightning the ramp staff didn’t want to be hit and so went inside into the dry. My flight correspondence on the same row as me blamed the unions and said that Americans needed to toughen up. I didn’t get involved.

    What was meant to be a short delay for the ramp staff to come back turned into a 90-minute wait. Another Allegiant aircraft parked up next to us, stuck in a similar situation. Others planes seemed to be parking up, so I’m not exactly sure what was going on, but nonetheless it was a frustrating wait as it was never clear how long it would be. When the announcement we were moving was made it was performed by a cabin crew member rather than from the flight deck, which seemed unusual to me. However, the pilot was visible at the end of the flight in case anyone wanted to answer questions or be rude to him. As I was British I thanked him for a lovely flight.

    Overall, I can’t really blame Allegiant for the delays, it was a cheap flight and they got me where I wanted to be in a reasonable time. And I was very pleased that they auto allocated me a window seat. I’d certainly consider using them again.

  • Omaha – Godfather’s Pizza (Omaha Airport)

    I’ve heard of the Godfather’s Pizza chain, although goodness knows where from, and it was founded in the city in 1973. It was once one of the largest pizza chains in the United States, although it has dropped back somewhat over the last couple of decades.

    There’s not a vast amount of dining choice at the airport after going through security, and everything looked a little expensive so I soon lost interest. However, personal pizzas at Godfather’s were around £5, which seemed reasonable.

    They had pizzas which were pre-cooked and placed in warmers, but I thought I’d go for one which was freshly cooked, so the buffalo chicken it was. I also liked that they were serving personal pizzas rather than just individual slices, it feels more like a proper pizza that way.

    I did wonder whether they’d query me ordering a pizza which they didn’t have already cooked, but they didn’t and said it’d be cooked fresh and would take around seven minutes. This is precisely how long it took, although I imagine they’re pretty good at knowing how long they take so this shouldn’t be a surprise.

    The service was friendly and helpful, with the counter seeming to be quite busy. The pizza didn’t perhaps look the most attractive when it was served, but it was hot and the base was crispy. There was a very reasonable amount of chicken and other toppings on the pizza and the whole thing tasted rather nice. The dough was soft and had some flavour to it and a pot of ranch dressing was served with it for free.

    As pizza options go at an airport, this was an affordable and quick option. There were also plenty of nearby tables for customers and there’s also free wi-fi in the eating area (and indeed the whole airport). I think I’d order another one if I find myself back at Omaha Airport in the future, although I’m not sure that’s entirely likely.

  • Omaha – Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium (Other Photos)

    Just some more photos from my Henry Doorly Zoo visit…..