We got to spend some time with this adorable baby in Las Vegas in 2018
during the Holidays. My nephew is so cute.
My parents threw a luncheon in Las Vegas at Mint Bistro before
Christmas to welcome my nephew to the community per Indian
tradition. Joy and I are happy to be there.
The proud grandpa is holding Akash.
Joy and I had dinner at Nobu on our first day in Las Vegas during this
trip. We went to his restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel since the
one at Caesar's Palace was booked solid!
The food was amazing at Nobu. The sushi was delicious! Nobu
is a very highly rated restaurant.
The grilled octopus was the best octopus I ever had!
The dessert was even very artistic not to mention so tasty! This
looked like a cappuccino, but it was a multiple layer decadent treat
for the taste buds!
The next night, Joy and I had a pre-Christmas Eve dinner at Mon Ami
Gabi at Paris.
We had a great view of the water show at Bellagio from our table.
I had the beef wellington. This tasty dish did not disappoint.
Our dessert was a profiterole with ice cream and chocolate sauce!
My nephew is thrilled with his Sophie The Giraffe toy on Christmas
morning. It was one of his gifts.
When I got back home from Las Vegas, I saw that Maker's Mark sent me
socks since I am an Ambassador and have a barrel with my name on it
maturing in one of their rickhouses in Kentucky.
We departed a few days after getting back from Las Vegas for Texas to
ring in the New Year in San Antonio! I had my usual Wild Turkey
& Ginger on the plane with my many drink coupons that Southwest
sends me.
After arriving in San Antonio, we had a choice between a Cadillac CTS
or Mustang Convertible for the rental car since the SUV we reserved was
not available. We took the Caddy.
The next morning, we went out to Austin to tour the attractions there
including the Texas State Capitol Building.
The rotunda of the State Capitol in Texas is actually larger than the
US Capitol Rotunda.
Joy and I posed for a picture next to the official portrait of Governor
George W. Bush who went on to become our 43rd President!
This painting of the Battle of San Jacinto hangs in the Senate chambers
at the Capitol. Texas won her independence at this famous battle
where Sam Houston defeated Mexican President Santa Ana.
This monument outside the Capitol Building is dedicated to the Heroes
of the Alamo.
This is the Governor's Mansion of Texas. Governor Greg Abbott (R)
was the occupant during this trip.
I remembered the back gate to the Texas Governor's Mansion from 2000
since I saw a photo of it in a newspaper when the Secret Service
delivered a limo to President-Elect George W. Bush here after he won
the election.
We had a great BBQ dinner at Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in
downtown Austin that night. The food was amazing.
We loved the cobbler as well at Cooper's.
We checked out the Austin music scene as well on 6th Street. This
bar had live music as did a few other venues.
This is the way to watch football on Sundays! Twin Peaks had the
Cowboys game on one TV, and the Texans game was on another right next
to it. Let's Go Cowboys! We beat the Giants that day!
Joy is enjoying her time at Twin Peaks also. The waitresses were
very attractive at the South Austin location too.
We visited the Texas State History Museum in Austin also. It was
like I relived my 7th grade Texas History class from when I was in
Middle School back in Plano, Texas!
This is a famous flag and scene from when the Texas independence
movement started. Mexicans wanted to steal a cannon from the
residents of Goliad, Texas. The men in the town defended it!
One has to have a section on oil in a Texas State History Museum!
After getting back to San Antonio, we went to a famous 24 hour Mexican
cafe and bakery called Mi Tierra. The place was packed!
They had a bakery in the lobby where Joy and I got some treats to hold
us over until our table was ready.
Mi Tierra had beautiful murals all over the restaurant.
The food was amazing at Mi Tierra!
I requested "El Jaribe Tapatio" or the "Mexican hat dance song" from
the strolling guitarists at Mi Tierra.
The waffle bar at the Hampton Inn in San Antonio featured a Texas
shaped waffle! I could not resist! I made sure to pour
strawberry syrup on it since we need to keep Texas "red."
We started our stroll on the beautiful River Walk at the River Center
Mall.
They have boat tours on the river as well.
This is a famous statue of the patron saint of San Antonio.
The River Walk has restaurants that line both sides.
We visited the Alamo next. It was smaller than it looks on TV,
but it was nice to give our respects to the brave Texans who gave their
lives for the independence of Texas here.
This fountain is dedicated to the four commanders at the Alamo who lost
their lives in the fight.
They had a reenactment on the grounds of the Alamo as well.
We had lunch at Boudro's Texas Bistro on the River Walk. They
offered table side guacamole!
We stopped in at Coyote Ugly on the River Walk to grab a drink and
catch the "show" as well.
The Tower of the Americas in the background was once the tallest
observation structure in the US until the Stratosphere was built in Las
Vegas.
We took our boat tour on the River Walk in the afternoon on New Year's
Eve.
We stayed at a Tru by Hilton property for the first time on this
trip. Tru is a new Hilton brand, and this location was built in a
historic building. It was really cool.
The River Walk is beautiful at night as well especially during the
Holidays when the trees are all lit up with string lights.
We had dinner at San Antonio's premier fine dining establishment, Biga
On The Banks.
Our multi course meal started off with an amuse.
Our 2nd course was lobster spring rolls and scallop.
The next course included duck and endives.
This lobster salad was delicious!
I could not resist taking a "James Bond" pose picture in the restroom
at Biga. LOL. I looked so good!
I had the venison and quail for my main course.
The dessert was amazing at this James Beard award winning restaurant!
Our meal included a champagne toast as well as live music. It was
almost $300 for the two of us.
We were able to watch the fireworks near our hotel. They did a
great job to commerate the city's 300 year anniversary.
We went back to the mall in downtown the next day so I could get a
Cowboys flag for my car at the Cowboys Pro Shop there.
We toured some of the other San Antonio Missions the next day including
Mission San Jose.
This is one of the entrances to Mission San Jose. It is still a
working church today.
Mission San Juan Capistrano was smaller, but it had cool architecture
as well.
I wrapped up a great
year professionally and personally in 2018 during the Holiday
Season. Joy and I finally tied the note in Cabo San Lucas,
Mexico, and we started off our marriage very well with our honeymoon to
Turks & Caicos. Both of us enjoy traveling so we should have
a happy life together! At work, I was exceeding my goals for each
quarter, and I was in the running for another Extreme Rewards
Award. Life was just great!
My last day at work for 2018 was on December
21st. After work, Joy and I flew out to Las Vegas to spend
Christmas with my parents and brother's family. I was so excited
to see my adorable nephew again. He was such a happy baby, and he
loved dancing around and smiling when I held him. My parents
threw a luncheon on the next day to welcome him to the community at
large per Indian tradition. Also, my dad fed him his first "solid
food" which is usually rice pudding.
That evening, Joy and I had a culinary treat as we
dined at Nobu's restaurant at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. We
started off the evening by walking around the Grand Canal Shoppes at
the Venetian and buying Honolulu Cookie Company treats for ourselves as
well as for family. Nobu was amazing! Their selection of
Japanese whiskey as out of this world! We started off with some
great sushi rolls before getting a grilled octopus. The dessert
was delicious as well. Nobu is defintely worth a visit when in
Las Vegas.
We had a great pre-Christmas Eve dinner the next
night at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris. Joy had to go back to Sacramento
that night to be with her family for Christmas so we enjoyed dinner at
Mon Ami Gabi before I dropped her off at the airport. We were
able to watch the Bellagio Water Show from our table.
The next few days were spent hanging out as a family
at my brother's place and playing with my nephew. It was so cool
to have a baby around during the Holidays. My brother and I had
Christmas Eve dinner at a sushi place as the others wanted to chill at
home. On Christmas morning, it was fun opening the presents for
my nephew. He loved his Sophie the Giraffe. We got him a
cute Christmas outfit too from Janie and Jack. Joy got me a drone
for Christmas, and I already opened it before we came out to
Vegas. LOL. I let her open her diamond earrings as well.
I flew back to Sacramento for a few days before we
took off for San Antonio again. Since I had so much vacation, I
took that whole week between Christmas and New Year's off. Joy
and I flew out to San Antonio on the Friday before the New Year's
week. Although we had to be routed through another connecting
city due to our original flight being delayed, we made it to San
Antonio at about the same time we were going to arrive
originally. The rental car place did not have the SUV I booked so
we were given a choice to get a Cadillac or Mustang Convertible.
Since we are "old married folks" now, we took the Caddy.
LOL. It was very chilly too that weekend in the area so a
convertible was not a good choice. Our Hilton hotel was close by
the airport in San Antonio.
The next morning, we drove to Austin to begin our
Texas tour. I always wanted to tour the famous Texas State
Capitol which was made from pink granite from the XIT Ranch in
Texas. OK, I did not expect you to know that. I had to take
Texas History in 7th grade so I knew that little known fact.
LOL. The Texas State Capitol was amazing, and the grounds were
cool too with lots of nice monuments. I love how Republicans
control the Texas government!
We ended up staying at a Hyatt Place property in
Austin since I already had my Diamond status for 2019 through HHonors,
and I also had a promotion to work towards for my World of Hyatt
account. Hyatt is my backup choice in hotels after Hilton
properties. Their rooms are well appointed with great
sheets. I need soft sheets to sleep! OK, I admit it!
I am spoiled, but we sleep on very expensive high thread count sheets
at home.
Joy and I enjoyed dinner at Cooper's Old Pit BBQ in
downtown Austin before checking out a few bars on 6th Street with live
music. Austin was really cool! It was very safe to walk
around downtown at night too unlike the shitty Sacramento downtown!
We went to Twin Peaks for the "scenery" and to watch
the Cowboys-Giants game the next morning. Well, I went for the
"scenery." LOL. Hey! There is nothing wrong with a
married man "looking," and Texas women are hot! I think my wife
is cute too, and she does not mind when I do admire other women.
LOL. We watched the first half of the game since this game did
not mean anything to use since we already made it to the
playoffs. The game did get exciting in the 2nd half, and I was
able to monitor it via the NFL App on my phone at the Texas State
History Museum. The Texas State History Museum was awesome.
I loved recalling what I learned in Texas History and sharing it with
Joy since Texas is my favorite state in the union! We stopped at
UT Austin on the way back to San Antonio to check out their football
stadium and campus.
After getting back to San Antonio, we went to Mi
Tierra for dinner. It is a famous 24 hour Mexican restaurant and
bakery. The place was packed even though it was so large!
The Market Square area in downtown looked really neat also with the
colorful decorations. The food was excellent at Mi Tierra, and we
enjoyed the strolling guitarists also. Joy and I were like we can
not eat Mexican food again in California after tasting this amazing
salsa in San Antonio!
The next morning, I enjoyed a Texas shaped waffle at
the Hampton Inn by Hilton in San Antonio before venturing out to
downtown. We walked along the River Walk to get up to the
Alamo. I always wanted to see the Alamo since it represents so
much for the Texas Independence Movement. The Mexican dictator
Antonio de Lopes Santa Ana killed everyone who was defending the
Alamo. This provided the inspiration for the Texans to keep
fighting and eventually defeat Santa Ana at the Battle of San Jacinto
under the command of General Sam Houston! I remember my 7th grade
teacher acting out that battle too like it was yesterday. She
wore a coon skin cap like Davy Crockett would have worn, and she
brought in a rifle too. Yeah, a rifle! I love Texas.
Screw the gun control lobby! She said when Santa Ana was caught
hiding in woman's clothing like the coward that he was, Sam Houston
said, "these men want to hang you for what you did to those men at the
Alamo, but if you give us our independence and go back to Mexico, I
will let you live."
After we toured the Alamo, Joy and I enjoyed lunch
at Boudro's Texas Bistro on the River Walk. The tableside
guacamole was delicious! We stopped at Coyote Ugly for a drink
and some "eye candy" as well. The female bartenders dance on the
bar there like at the other Coyote Ugly locations. We did our
boat tour on the River Walk after that. We got a good history of
the River Walk. Apparently, that area was all man made, and the
water can be drained for cleaning. It is illegal to jump in the
water around the River Walk in the downtown area too.
We checked into our historic hotel after the boat
tour. The Tru by Hilton in downtown San Antonio by the River Walk
was built in an old car dealership from the 1930s. The Tru brand
by Hilton is designed for Millenials. It is fairly new.
They have smaller rooms which are loaded with technology such as the
digital keys on the app to open the rooms and lots of charging ports in
the room. The hotel also has large common areas by the lobby so
people can hang out and play pool or foos ball. They had valet
parking since it was located in an urban area.
For New Year's Eve, I got all dressed up in a tuxedo
dinner jacket along with some nice jeans, and Joy had a nice
dress. We had reservations at 8:00 PM at Biga On The Banks.
Biga is probably the best fine dining establishment in San
Antonio. They had a nice package for New Year's Eve with a five
course meal, champagne toast, and party favors. We enjoyed each
course, and I loved my venison and quail. Our table was by the
window so we saw all the boats go by on the River Walk. It was a
beautiful site. The live music was cool too. We just were
able to catch the fireworks that were set off from the Tower of the
Americas when we got back to our hotel. The valet took the car,
and we ran out to the street to watch them.
San Antonio has other missions besides the
Alamo. We toured two more of them the next day, but it was so
COLD that we decided to warm up with some BBQ before our flight back to
Sacramento instead of seeing the other two. Overall, we loved our
Lone Star adventure!