CLASSIC TRIP: Las Vegas, Nevada - 2002

NOTE: See video of our helicopter flight at the end of this report, below...

Sunday dawned and after a delicious breakfast, we continued on to Vegas.  Since we were a bit early, a drive down the strip to see the casinos and hotels was in order for Tim.  Soon, the traffic proved to be unbearable so we headed over to the Tropicana, our home for the next couple of days.  Still early for check-in, we parked the car and headed across the street to the New York, New York casino.

NYNY is elaborately themed.  There is a 300 foot replica of the Brooklyn Bridge you can cross over to get to the entrance.  The skyscrapers of New York...the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building among others...are reproduced in half scale as is the Statue of Liberty out from.

The casino is themed to Central Park and in the back is a very nice streets of New York section with many places to eat.  A lot of attention to detail went in here down to the steam rising up through the manhole covers. 

We ended up at the Mango Hut, which is an homage to those great juice and hot dog places in New York such as Gray's Papaya.

While one hot dog will set you back four times as much as it would at Gray's, it's still a big beefy sausage and it was delicious.

At 1:00pm, we headed back across the street to check in at the Tropicana.  We had planned on seeing their Birdman show at 2:00 but an hour later I was just reaching the counter to check in. 

As we walked to our room in the rear tower, we passed the bird show.  It looked interesting but the location of it...a lounge that was basically a wide spot in the hall...was not too conducive to a show.

Our room was pretty nice.   A king size bed for my wife and I, and a full size sofa bed for Tim; lot's of room to maneuver; a great view of the pool area and the strip; and a large bathroom with a large bathtub.  I asked about the accessible rooms and the only difference was grab bars on the toilet and tub so we stuck with the normal room.  No roll-in showers here.

The Rick Thomas Magic show is also found at the Trop and we were looking forward to its family-friendly reasonably priced entertainment, but Mr. Thomas was on vacation for a few more days.  Add this to the list for things to do next time.

With the afternoon magic showed cancelled, we put on our swimwear and headed down to the pool.  The pool here at the Trop has got to be in the top three or four of all Vegas hotel pools.  It's huge, has waterfalls, an island, a water volleyball court, an indoor section, and...in the summer...swim up blackjack!

Looking Across the Tropicana's Pool Toward NYNY and the MGM Grand

There are also a couple of smaller pools nearby in this heavily landscaped area.  One for adults and one for kids.  Not to mention, a few spas here and there.

Lifeguards are on duty during pool hours.  You can rent a tube and just float around or get a lounge chair and soak up the rays.  A pool side bar will take care of your thirst.  If you have money to burn, three private pool cabanas are available.

Tim and I chose to float and swim around in our inner tubes while my wife spent most of her time working on the tan.

I had read on a Vegas web site that the San Remo had one of the best cheap prime rib specials in town.  Being very close to our room, we walked over for dinner.  I don't know if that web writer has been there lately, but it was really bad.  Bad food, bad service...but cheap...and to top it off, the security guards started hassling Tim because he lingered a little too close to the slot machines while I paid the dinner bill.  Not doing anything but waiting mind you, but given a hard time by an unnecessarily rude guard.  When I complained, he said he was just doing his job but I think you could ask someone to move a little nicer.

Across the street from the San Remo was a monorail station at the MGM Grand.  It's accessible but the elevators are not too easy to find but there are signs to mark the way.  This monorail (an old Disney World train) takes you a few blocks north to the back of Bally's hotel and casino. 

From there it is a very long walk through the casino out to the Strip.  Wheelchairs have the added bonus of taking several elevators to navigate up and down levels along the way.

Out on the Strip, we are deposited directly in front of the Bellagio hotel.  Here, we are able to watch the huge fountain show on the lake in front of the building.  It's really spectacular (someone said it's a quarter mile line of fountains) and best of all, free.

Our plans had included taking in the pirate battle at the Treasure Island and the Volcano at the Mirage, and seeing the shops at Paris and Caesar's Palace but my wife was worn out and had back pain from all the walking so we headed back to the monorail to return to the hotel.

The next morning we had breakfast at the Trop's coffee shop, Calypso's.  It was very good but a bit on the expensive side ($8.50 for what was essentially a Grand Slam without the bacon).  In comparison, back at Buffalo Bill's, a New York steak & eggs breakfast was only $2.95.  Delicious too!

After breaking our fast, we headed over to the MGM where there is a Coca-Cola store and M&M World (basically anything and everything you'd want to buy - plus more - adorned with Coke & M&M logos).  The 75 cent Cokes in the old-fashioned bottles hit the spot and my wife loaded up on some pretty cool Coke souvenirs.  We didn't buy a thing at the M&M store.

In Front of the Luxor...Notice the Monorail Track

Catty corner to the Trop is Excalibur where another accessible monorail whisked us down the road to Mandalay Bay.  My wife bought some shoes in the shop there and we then boarded another train to take us to the Luxor next door where we gaulked at the re-created Egyptian monuments.  Be aware that the monorail back to Excalibur is designed with making you walk through another large casino before you exit.

Back at the Trop, we spent the rest of the afternoon in that really lovely pool.  Ahhh, I get a warm feeling just thinking about it...and that's not just the 8-year old who just swam by!

Another View of the Great Pool at the Tropicana

Just before dinner, we head back to NYNY and buy tickets for the Manhattan Express roller coaster.  This is a steel coaster themed to New York taxicabs that takes you on a three minute excursion around the Statue of Liberty and the buildings.  There are two inversions...a tear-drop loop and a heart-line roll into a half-loop.  It's fun, expensive ($10), and very, very bumpy.  Be prepared to have a headache when it's over. 

The large amusement area where the coaster station is located is themed to Coney Island and it even smells the same! 

Dinner was at Il Fornaio inside NYNY.  We got a great table next to a pond and bridge (supposedly Central Park).  I guess this place is supposed to remind you of Tavern on the Green.  Doesn't really, but it's still a very nice place with very good food.  Not cheap though, but after the debacle of San Remo, a very nice sit down meal was just what the doctor ordered.

After the sun went down, we called on Maverick Helicopters to give us a lift.  We headed down to their office on the outskirts of McCarran Airport.  After plying us with a glass of champagne, we were ushered into one of their ASTAR helicopters.  Since Tim couldn't get in on his own, the pilot shut down the engines before helping us get him in the craft making it safer, easier, and less noisy than with them on.

Watch the Video!

Once aboard and with the engines up, we donned our headsets while our pilot, Darren, whisked us up and away.   We flew at a thousand feet and a hundred miles an hour up the strip, passing by the observation deck of the Stratosphere, over the Fremont Street Experience, and headed back to the south.  Darren flew us threw the ultra-bright spotlight emanating from the top of Luxor's pyramid and we hovered over the endless expanse of the Mandalay Bay's pool area (the very best hotel pool in Vegas) before landing back at Maverick's offices.

It was over with all too quick, but was worth every penny and turned out to be the highlight of the trip.

Darryl
Copyright 2002 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

THE COCKTAIL HOUR - White Sangria

My wife had a delicious sangria at Claim Jumper the other night so I tried to recreate it at home.  Pretty delicious and a bit more potent than a normal sangria.

Watch the Video!

INGREDIENTS - one drink

Juice of one medium orange
Juice of one lemon
1 oz brandy
1/2 oz triple sec
white wine
vanilla
cut up fresh fruit, pineapples, strawberries, grapes...whatever you have on hand.

Fill a glass half-way with ice.  Put all ingredients except vanilla and wine in.  Put just a couple of drops of vanilla.  Pour to the top with wine and stir.

Cheers!

Darryl

CLASSIC TRIP: On the way to Las Vegas - 2002

There's a curious migration that takes place on a weekly basis in Southern California. Every Friday afternoon, the eastbound San Bernardino and Pomona freeways get extra crowded. On Sunday afternoons, it reverses as the westbound directions resemble the worst rush hour has to offer.

What's happening is thousands of Southern Californians are heading out hoping to party, gamble, and other wise get lucky in that modern day Sodom...Las Vegas.

Normally, this would be about a four hour drive across vast, empty stretches of desert. Our schedule unfortunate matches this weekly marathon to get out of town. Being Good Friday, we have the extra fun of not only weekend Vegas traffic; not even holiday weekend Vegas traffic; it's the dreaded Holiday Weekend Spring Break Vegas Traffic!

Thankfully, my understanding boss let me out two hours early in a futile effort to beat the traffic. Unfortunately, the weekend getaway had already started with gusto. Basically, we were in jammed traffic the entire way except for a stretch out of Barstow to about twenty miles before the state line. Six and a half hours after starting, we arrived at Primm, which is what they call the smattering of buildings and casinos clustered at the border.

First of all, let me give you some full disclosure. I'm not a big Vegas fan. I don't have anything against gambling or Nevada. In fact, I love going to Laughlin, Reno, Carson City, and Lake Tahoe. It's just that Vegas has always seemed more than a bit sleazy to me and I've never gotten the allure.

As a result, I have avoided this city like the plague and haven't been here since before Luxor opened up (10 years or so?).

My son, on the other hand, has always wanted to go here. Of course, he's not old enough for the casinos yet but still would like to see this city of lights, shows, and action. Alright, we're going to Arizona anyway and this would give us a hopefully inexpensive stop over along the way.

Back to my Friday dilemma. I would really like to leave on Saturday...I'm in no hurry to get going because I have the whole week off to travel. Unfortunately, I cannot find any decent hotel in Las Vegas that will let me check in on Saturday.

So, we have a bit of a compromise here. Tonight we will drive as far as the border, spend a couple of nights there, and continue on to Vegas on Sunday after the LA weekenders have headed home.

After that long, weary drive across the desert, the Primadonna Resorts bloom from the sand like a neon-colored oasis. This will be home for the next two nights, specifically Buffalo Bill's Hotel & Casino.

After a fifteen minute wait to check in, we're given the key cards to our room on the 3rd floor. It's supposed to be handicapped accessible...as envisioned by Torquemada.

There was no roll-in shower, only a bathtub with a few grab bars and a shower on a hose. The bars on the toilet were positioned in a way to block your access to the toilet paper. The door was a pocket door (those sliding doors that come out of the wall) that took a herculean effort to move.

With a lot of effort, we got Tim bathed and situated for the night. I can't help thinking (and later would confirm) that it would have been easier in a non-handicapped room.

In the morning, I awoke before anyone else and took my shower. I made a mistake in closing that pocket door...it would no longer open up. As I stood there, naked...no phone...everyone else asleep, I pondered my options. Not wanting to wake anyone up, I struggled to get the door open. No dice. I found my wife's makeup mirror, and reflected some light into the wall notch for the door.

Finally, with one last huge push against the door, I popped it off of its rollers and it came off completely. Complaining to the management, after being trapped for over an hour in there, got us a new room but no other consideration. The new room was not a handicapped accessible one but confirmed my suspicions that it was easier to use than the so-called accessible room.

Other than the problems mentioned above, the room was clean, had two queen beds, cable TV, and a view of the roller coaster and pool. The staff was for the most part very friendly and helpful and the food at the Wagonmaster coffee shop was superb.

After breakfast on Saturday, a trip via monorail over to neighboring Primm Valley Resort is in order. After a LONG walk through the casino (we are to find out LONG walks through casinos will be a common occurrence), we come upon the Bonnie and Clyde Death Car...a bullet-riddled Ford sedan where the crime duo were sent to they're maker at the hands of Texas Rangers. Also on display is the shirt Clyde was wearing when he died.

Now, here is a gruesome and maybe morbid coincidence. As we sat watching a video on Bonnie and Clyde in the mini-museum of their death, I couldn't help notice a rather obese security guard wandering around the children's arcade just behind the display. To the right is a restroom where my wife disappeared for a few minutes. Yes, this is the restroom where little Sherice Iverson was murdered by Jeremy Strohmeyer while her father was off gambling in the casino. The Primm Valley Resort was called the Primadonna Resort at the time...the name being changed to disassociate itself from that horrible day. I find it a bit ironic that a display that memorializes a sensational death...complete with bullet holes and blood stains...sits directly in from of the site of one of the more gruesome murders in recent memory. And, yes, my wife said it was more than a little creepy being in that bathroom...

Just beyond that spot is a factory outlet mall where we spent the rest of the morning shopping. My wife, gotta love her, but whenever we go shopping, she takes hours and usually walks away empty handed. And, that is how it goes today although I end up with a new wallet and Tim picks up a pair of swim trunks (because we forgot to pack some for him). She does get an order of sushi to go so it's not a total loss for her.

Back over to Buffalo Bill's. Tim and I head over to Desparado, the big steel roller coaster that winds its way around the hotel. Of course, with our luck it is out of commission. The ticket seller has no ideal when it will reopen. There is also a log ride here, but the ticket seller doesn't want to sell us tickets right now because the line is over two hours long (kind of a silly reason but we don't want to wait two hours either).

We take a little nap in the room, have dinner at the Wagonmaster, and head up to Vegas...a half hour drive away.

Tonight, as a first little taste, we take in the Fremont Street Experience...a four-block long canopy of lights that displays shows over its entire length hourly. The show is quite spectacular, a lot of fun, and free. Unfortunately the "experience" includes the surrounding blocks that seem quite liberally populated by drug users, sellers, and street walkers. After the show, we headed back to the relatively quiet confines of Primm for one more night.

Arriving back at Buffalo Bill's, Tim and I head back over to the ride area and purchase some tickets for the log ride. They have a very nice area for handicapped loading here and the ride attendants even helped with the lifting to get Tim in (I don't know if they're supposed to do this or not...most amusement parks will not allow their employees to do this).

The ride is relatively tame for a log ride. Loading in the casino, the lift takes you outside around some faux desert rocks and over two small drops before winding back through a "canyon" built through the casino. The fun part is that they give you a laser gun and you shoot at targets along the way. Some targets shoot back if hit (with water guns).

Getting out at the end, I ask the attendant if he knew when Desparado would open up again. "About 2 to 4 weeks" was the reply. Oh well, save it for another trip.

Stay tuned for part 2 and our nighttime flight over the strip (with video!).

Darryl
Copyright 2002 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

TRANSIT REPORT: San Francisco, California

(Note: Fares updated July, 2021 and face masks are required on all public transit - Ed)

San Francisco is California’s most transit oriented city. It’s the nerve center of Northern California and many regional transportation systems converge here. The city itself is served mainly by Muni (San Francisco Municipal Railroad) and BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) with robust commuter rail service provided by CalTrain. Regional operators Golden Gate Transit and AC Transit also provide bus service into the city from points beyond. A number of ferry operators also provide commuter service across the bay into San Francisco proper. More than a dozen different operators and agencies also provide bus and rail service outside of the city to points around the bay.

MUNI - The city’s main transit provider runs a system of buses, trolleys, and cable cars.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Steve Morgan under CC-BY-SA license

BUSES – Buses run just about everywhere in the city and it seems like you’re never more than a block or two from a line. There are regular fuel powered buses along with overhead wire electrified trolley buses. All vehicles in the MUNI bus fleet are now accessible. Click the following link for a route map.

Bus fares are $3, $1.25 for disabled and seniors. Transfers are free and can be used for two more trip, including returning to your original destination as long as you do it before it expires (120 minutes from original issue).

TROLLEYS – The trolley system here (not to be confused with the cable cars) runs down Market Street underground and to points beyond above ground. Historic trolleys…using restored antique trolley cars from around the world…run above ground on Market Street continuing on to Fisherman’s Wharf. All stations along Market Street are wheelchair accessible, both above and below ground. The historic streetcars are mostly accessible and stops either have ramps or embedded lifts that will raise your wheelchair up to door level when the car approaches. The T line is completely accessible, the J, K, L, M, and N lines are wheelchair accessible at designated stops only. See this link for a list and compare with this route map to see if your destination is served. If it can’t be done by trolley, chances are you can do it via the bus system.

Trolley fares are the same as the bus fares.

CABLE CARS – These are rolling historical landmarks and are not wheelchair accessible. If you do want to ride one, you’ll need to leave your chair behind. If you can walk a little bit, you can probably board. The cost is $8.

Visitors can purchase 1, 3, and 7 day passes that are good for unlimited rides on the entire system, including cable cars. The costs are $24, $36, and $46 respectively and are sold at various outlets throughout the city and the airport. Click the link to find sales locations.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Jon 'ShakataGaNai' Davis under CC-BY-SA license

BART is a heavy-rail system that works as commuter rail from points in the East Bay and the airport. It runs as a subway under Market Street. All lines converge here from Millbrae and the airport in the south and Fremont, Dublin/Pleasanton, Pittsburgh, and Richmond in the East Bay. The complete system and all stations are wheelchair accessible. Fares are distance based and vary, you can check this calculator to see how much your ride will cost. All BART fares are now paid via a Clipper Card, a one-time fee of $3 is required to buy one.

One word of concern about MUNI and BART – our experience with several of their station employees and drivers were the worst encounters we’ve ever had from transit employees that included being yelled at for a) asking a question, b) going the wrong way, and c) not knowing the name of the stop we wanted to get off at. Be prepared, they may get you where you’re going but not always with a smile.

CALTRAIN is a commuter rail line that runs along the West Bay peninsula from San Jose, and Gilroy just a little bit, to the San Francisco station just a few blocks south of Market Street. There are stations along the way in places like Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Redwood City, San Mateo, and South San Francisco. The passenger cars are double-deckers with wheelchairs riding on the bottom level. Each station has a wheelchair ramp built into the platform, chair users should wait on top to board the train…the conductor will deploy a ramp to get you in. Fares are distance based from a low of $3.75 one-way for one zone to a high of $15 for six zones. A day pass is available for twice the amount of a one-way ticket, disabled and senior riders pay a little less than half price.

FERRIES are operated by several companies and cruise into the city from Alameda, Oakland, Vallejo, Tiburon, and Sausalito. Fares start at $5.75 and disabled fares start at $2.75. All are wheelchair accessible.

AC Transit runs buses from Oakland and the East Bay and Golden Gate Transit from Marin County. All buses are wheelchair accessible.

A multitude of agencies run buses, trains, and ferries to other parts of the bay area that don’t come into San Francisco. For complete information about these agencies, plus the ferries and commuter buses, go to transit.511.org for complete transit information for the area.

San Francisco is one of the world’s premiere travel destinations and is very easy to see in a wheelchair. Have fun.


-Darryl
Copyright 2010 – Darryl Musick

Crowds and Chowds: San Francisco

My wife is feeling better after a good night sleep. After yesterday's Giants game, she wasn't at her best. Today we're going back to San Francisco but we're leaving the car behind. 

We walk a lot so the mile from our hotel to the local BART station isn't a problem for us. A ride under the bay puts us at Market Street in downtown San Francisco. The wheelchair platform for the street level trolley stop is out of order so we have to walk a couple of blocks to the next one.

The trolley arrives. It's very crowded but somehow the operator wedges enough people out of the way so Tim and his wheelchair can get onboard (this was all before Covid so crowds weren't as big of a thing as they are now).

We go all the way to the end of the line, which is near Ghirardelli Square. After an Irish Coffee to calm our nerves and a sundae at the ice cream bar, we walk around the waterfront and Fisherman's Wharf.

I get some oysters and chowder for my wife and we wander down the Embarcadero to Pier 39. Again, the crowds are crushing.

I find a back way out so Tim doesn't have to fight his way back and we continue along the way.

Eventually we get back to Market Street. San Francisco is very crowded and just doesn't have the vibe for us today. Truthfully, it's disappointing today so we get back on BART and head back to Castro Valley.

Back on the other side of the bay, we take a quick look to see what's over here. I see that in very nearby Hayward, there's a Japanese Garden. With nothing left to do, we drive over to take a look.

Inside the Hayward Japanese Gardens, there are peaceful pagodas, raked rocks, and heavily curated plantings.

Paths wind through it all, maybe 90% accessible (a couple of connecting paths have steps or rocks in the way). A gardener is working away and happily explains some of the work he's doing.

A creek runs nearby, providing a peaceful contrast...and a few spots for the homeless to put up tents.

It's all very peaceful and provides a nice contrast to the hectic, busy, and crowded city on the other side of the bay. 

With that, we call it a day and prepare to make the drive back home after another night in the hotel.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2021 - All Rights Reserved

THE COCKTAIL HOUR: Live! Canadian Whiskey Taste Off

From our live tasting that was on Facebook, here's the video from today's live Canadian themed Whiskey Taste Off Cocktail Hour...

Watch the Video!

Darryl

Seeing San Francisco From the Other Side

Our options for Major League Baseball here in Northern California are limited to two choices...the absolutely miserable Oakland Coliseum - home of the A's - or Oracle Park, where the Giants play in San Francisco.

We took a day trip to see our Angels play the A's a few months ago that I may write up for another time. This trip, we extended to three nights so we could also spend a day in San Francisco besides going to the game.

One thing that's inevitably changed over the years is that the hotel prices in San Francisco are breathtaking...rates of $300, $300, $500 a night or more take my breath away. Heck, a night in a hostel with a shared bathroom is $150.  

We look at the east bay and the area around the airport for a little price relief and settle on the east bay city of Castro Valley at the Comfort Inn.

For around $150 per night...still more than I'd like to pay but way less than in city by the bay...we'll get a fairly quiet room with two queen size beds, a low tub with shower chair, full breakfast, kitchen, cable TV, about a mile from the nearest BART public transit station.

There are plenty of decent restaurants and stores within walking distance, too.

A night in the hotel, an ok but not spectacular breakfast, and it's time to go to the game. We drive over to the BART station. It is packed. Forget a handicapped spot, there is no parking available whatsoever. After driving around the lot a few times, around the surrounding blocks...and finding nothing...my wife says "lets just drive over."

I shiver at the thought. San Francisco is not a driver-friendly city. Traffic getting there is usually a nightmare, not to mention the heavy price of the toll bridges to cross the bay. Still, it's getting late and we have to get moving.

We drive.

It takes us 45 minutes just to creep up to the toll plaza of the Bay Bridge. We pay our six dollar toll and spend another half hour getting to the start of the bridge. Finally the jam starts to move and we make it over the nearly five mile long bridge.

Traffic again slows when we exit on the other side and crawl our way towards the stadium. We finally find a parking spot a block away and have to pay $40 for the privilege of leaving our van there.

A helpful usher spots us coming to the park and ushers us through security and into the side door where the elevator is. It's a quick zip up to the club level, where we have some good seats near the left field foul pole.

It's a good game and San Francisco has the best food of any major league stadium but it's expensive. Beers run between $12 and $20 but the stand near us has a "mystery beer" for $7. I go ahead and pop for one and it turns out to be Anchor Steam beer, which is a very good local brew.

We're enjoying the game but Letty is not. Maybe the stress of getting here or a bad night of sleep get to her and she's feeling nauseous and painful so we leave at the sixth inning.

Too bad because this is one of our favorite ballparks but driving here is really awful and should be avoided at all costs...we decide next time (for tomorrow), we'll walk the mile to the BART station instead.

It took us an hour and a half to drive the 23 miles to the stadium and it takes us another hour and half to get back.

We spend the rest of the afternoon resting until it's dinner time where we go to a nice, Japanese place a few doors down from the hotel.

It's time to put this day to bed, relax, get a good night's sleep and we'll try again tomorrow where we'll spend the day back in San Francisco...without driving, this time.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2020 - All Rights Reserved

Meal Replacements

I'll be honest. There's really very little I miss about living in Southern California. The traffic, the trash, the crowds, the crime, the grime...not one bit. A few things...family and friends, mostly...I do miss. 

One thing is the wide array of great food we had easy access to while living there I miss. I've made it my mission to find replacements of our favorite foods up here in Northern California.

Hamburgers are not a problem. In 'n Out was my favorite cheap hamburger and there are pleny of locations in our new neighborhood, too. Eureka! had my favorite burger, period. They just opened one up in Roseville. Each of those would take us a 30-45 minutes to drive to. 

A bit of a hurdle but not a major one.

There are also a lot of good burgers right here in our county that are very good, too...the whiskey burger at Hotel Sutter, Giant 88 Burgers, Helwig Winery, End of Nowhere (pictured)...so burgers are covered.

Phillipe's French dip is another story. They're very unique (they invented it) and not even in L.A. can I find something like it. We do have a lot of very good French dip sandwiches up here, almost every restaurant makes them and many of them are very good examples but just not the pre-dipped (or double-dipped) ones you get there with their proprietary, house-made hot mustard on every table.

I think this one is just too much of a one-of-a-kind to find but the wide variety of great dips here sure do their best to make up for it.

Our favorite pastrami sandwich was the pastrami dip at The Hat, which is a legendary one. The Capri Deli in Covina was just as good. We've come close with the Frosty Queen...which has locations in Sacramento and Manteca...but it's more like the Kosher Burrito style of pastrami, a really legendary greasy spoon joint in a wooden shack that was part of downtown L.A. before it was torn down and replaced with the CalTrans building.

I'm very happy to find this sandwich but still looking for one like The Hat.

I thought the hardest to replace was going to be the absolutely stunning array of Asian food we enjoyed. We lived in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley, which is probably the main location of the Asian immigrant population in America. We had Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Nepalese, Indian, Japanese cuisines and more. Hundreds of them, with some of the most delicious and spicy flavors you could imagine.

Well, I'm happy to say that...with a little research and patience...we're making great progress on that front. 

For a more traditional Chinese dinner...the kind we used to enjoy at Golden Dragon in Arcadia or Phoenix Garden in San Dimas (neither of which survived the pandemic)...Sacramento has the institution that in Frank Fats. It's very good, too. Their honey walnut shrimp is as good as any shrimp dish we've had back in L.A.

The xiao long bao (pork soup dumplings) at Din Tai Fung in Arcadia are world-famous, and justfiably so.

Luckily, the same dish at Journey to the Dumpling in Elk Grove is just as good.

Their honey walnut shrimp tastes just like Frank Fats, too.

For ramen, my favorite was the spicy tonkatsu ramen at Daikukoya. This Little Tokyo restaurant had another location in El Monte that my wife and I would frequent.

We've replaced that with several versions here, the best being at Yume in Lodi, which is just as good as Daikukoya, maybe even a bit better.

There was another very local, very good ramen place in Sutter Creek but they went under during the pandemic. We also found this version at Umai, in Sheldon (part of Elk Grove) that is like a corn chowder based ramen that was very different but very good tasting as well.

I really loved the been tendon noodle soup that we would have at 88 Noodle in Arcadia...

...and the pho that we'd have at Pho Lemon in Monrovia.

Just up the hill from us, we found a one-dish-for-all solution with the beef tendon pho at Vermicelli in Martell.

What I'm still looking for is a replacement for the outstanding dan dan soup with housemade and hand-pulled noodles, like they have at Noodle St. in Monrovia (Journey to the Dumpling has a version but nowhere near as good), a really good hot and sour soup, and a replacement for the Hollywood Noodle Thai soup that they have at Hollywood Noodle in Temple City.

Pizza is so subjective. There are all kinds and a lot of good options. Our favorites in Southern California were the thin-crust pies at Casa Bianca with their anise heavy housemade sausage in Eagle Rock, the pepperoni/sausage/bacon version at Red Devil in La Verne (photo at top of post)...

...and the deep-dish Chicago style pie at Tony's Little Italy in Placentia.

While we haven't found a Casa Bianca replacement, yet, the pizza at Chicago Fire...a small chain here in the area...

...and another great deep-dish pie at Chicago's Pizza with a Twist, an Indian pizza joint, in Folsom, replace Tony's version just fine.

While their style is just a little different than Red Devil, the pizza at Gold Dust Pizza in Sutter Creek is just as good. Especially when you can eat your slice with a cold beer on their patio along the banks of the town's namesake waterway.

Last, the prime rib at the Bull Pen, a dive bar in Redondo Beach, was the best in Southern California. I never thought I'd find one as good up here.

But I was wrong. Not only as good, but cheaper at Sportsman's Hall in Pollock Pines, Diamond Springs Hotel in Diamond Springs, and even at the greasy spoon environs of the Old Well Cafe in Drytown, who all make a very good prime rib dinner.

We're almost there with finding all our favorites up here, give us a little time and we'll not have anything to miss from our old home.

Darryl Musick

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