I thought a few of you may be interested so here is my TR covering our 4-night stay in Reno/Sparks. We also visited San Francisco, Lassen National Park, Crater Lake National Park and the Oregon coast on this two week vacation.
07/23 Another breakfast @ our San Francisco hotel before departing for Sparks. We made the 4 plus hour trip with only one pit stop for defueling and a 99-cent 42-ounce coke @ Mickey Ds. We arrived @ John Ascuagas Nugget too early for check-in so we had lunch at the Silver Clubs Town Square Caf: Ms. Westie - BLT and coffee, Westie = grilled ham & cheese and water- (Entertainment coupon). We then purchased Listerine, a cooler, soda and water at a nearby Target. I stood in line at check-in for 15-20 minutes and was assigned room 840 in the West Tower overlooking the railroad yards. Big mistake our room was at least 7 miles from both the casino and covered parking lot. Dinner was @ the Silver Clubs Anna Marias using an Entertainment coupon. We had the nonsmoking section pretty much to ourselves and service was excellent. I chose osso bucco with risotto and asparagus a house specialty and now one of mine ($14) - yes that price is correct. My better half went with the evenings special, another wise decision fresh halibut in a sherry cream sauce with risotto and asparagus - $10.95 yes folks an evening special for under $20. The house salads baby greens, hearts of palm, sundried tomatoes, fresh mushrooms in a zinfandel vinaigrette at $2 each were a bargain as was the Woodbridge Zinfandel - Old Vines at $14. Surprisingly, but not mistakenly, our waiter deducted the most expensive meal from our bill after we tended our Entertainment coupon.
7/24 As soon as the slot club opened I dropped by to pick up my free buffet coupon for earning 10 points within 24 hours of sign-up. The breakfast @ Town Square Caf (Entertainment) included 3 eggs, toast, hash browns and ham/bacon. My poached eggs were overdone, but Ms. Westies easy over were as requested. No we didnt finish the meal. We spent the remainder of the day lounging in the hotel and/or playing video poker. Lunch at Gabes Deli, using comp points, was turkey on a roll (shared) dry as a bone. Ms. Westie picked up a free buffet coupon later in the day. The specialty night buffet on Sundays features king crab and prime rib. The buffet is relatively small, but still many (most) items suffered from sitting too long on the steam table. The crab could hardly be considered King perhaps Prince would be more appropriate. I would avoid this buffet in the future unless comped. We walked over to the Silver Club and sat in on one set by Louis Fontaine and the Rockets. Louis was fun, but the Rockets are misnamed perhaps the Burnouts would be more appropriate. We learned we were a week too early for the Hot August Nights celebration Rock NRoll and classic cars - damn!
07/25 I did a complete inventory of the Nuggets 9/6 JOB machines, submittied to the VPFree administrator, some of which are soooo old. How old you ask? They were so old a few arrived via Conestoga wagons. The Nugget has a card of the day promotion M-F. Naturally I could not seem to time my 4OAKS I got the 10s the day following, ditto for the 9s and double ditto for the 8s. Typical me a day late, a quad short. We drove downtown to the Silver Legacy for the breakfast buffet using a 2/1 coupon I received in a trade. This was a below average buffet with a limited selection of fruit and no cooked to order items. Next stop was a SAS store that did not carry Ms. Westies size (super narrow) in sandals. Since I accidentally packed a couple pairs of her socks, we also shopped at Macys which did not carry my regular brands so I went with a 3-pack of cheapo socks (i.e. one wash and toss). We then drove most of the East Coast of Lake Tahoe, which suffers from over development. The West Coast was more to our liking and we stopped to take a short hike to the shoreline. We also stopped at the beautiful Emerald Bay overlook where Ms. Westie purchased a one-of-a-kind necklace for the bargain basement price of $10 from a Native American boy did we take advantage of that guy. After returning to our hotel, we spent the remainder of the afternoon in the Jacuzzi and indoor cement pond.
We decided to dine at Caf Soleil using a restaurant.com gift certificate after getting lost using mapquest.com directions, we located the place only to find it is closed on Mondays grrrr! Our hastily formed back-up plan was Lexis-on-the- River in the Siena Casino. Our table overlooked the ever present Truckee River and we watched the cave swallows return to their nests as we waited for our meal. We both ordered the herb-crusted halibut on sauted spinach with crimini ravioli and white truffle beurre blanc I hope your drooling because it was delicious. A certified bargain using an Entertainment coupon.
07/26 Drove to the Reno Hilton for their breakfast buffet, which included a nice assortment of fresh fruit and cooked to order omelets (ACG). We stopped at the ever fashionable Baldinis casino in Sparks for a little 5 cent 8/5 bonus poker. They have a continuing promotion, for the past 5 years at least, where you get a six pack for each 4OAKS or better. Our haul after an hour of play was (2) 6-packs of water and (1) of Pepsi. Ms. hit a straight flush and made some money, my soda was a bit more expensive than charged at the local 7-11. The remainder of the day featured Jacuzzi, pool, bed and a book. We dined at Joes Oyster Bar using comp points. The service was atrocious and it was quite obvious the restaurant was understaffed a common problem at the Nugget based on our experience. Unlike pan roasts in Las Vegas, the combination roast was more like a broth and rice was not included just awful. A very modest gratuity was left.
07/27 Our last morning in Sparks so we needed to burn off some more points since they expire after 12 months. After about a half an hour wait, we were seated at the Farm Shop. Again, service was painfully slow because of understaffing. We each had the Big Bertha, aptly named after a now deceased elephant 2 pancakes, 2 strips of bacon and 2 sausages. We received a $5 off coupon at check-in, but they would not accept it with our points. I gave the coupon to another couple as we exited. The trip had now entered its eighth day so it was time to visit the local laundromat situated just a few blocks away. Last stop was to purchase 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, 2 desserts and a large potato salad at Gabes Deli using our remaining comp points. It occurred to me while I may have left my heart in San Francisco, my money remains in Sparks.
BTW We stopped on the way to Lassen N.P. to eat our sandwiches and potato salad. They were just plain awful. The desserts polished off later in the trip were excellent.
07/23 Another breakfast @ our San Francisco hotel before departing for Sparks. We made the 4 plus hour trip with only one pit stop for defueling and a 99-cent 42-ounce coke @ Mickey Ds. We arrived @ John Ascuagas Nugget too early for check-in so we had lunch at the Silver Clubs Town Square Caf: Ms. Westie - BLT and coffee, Westie = grilled ham & cheese and water- (Entertainment coupon). We then purchased Listerine, a cooler, soda and water at a nearby Target. I stood in line at check-in for 15-20 minutes and was assigned room 840 in the West Tower overlooking the railroad yards. Big mistake our room was at least 7 miles from both the casino and covered parking lot. Dinner was @ the Silver Clubs Anna Marias using an Entertainment coupon. We had the nonsmoking section pretty much to ourselves and service was excellent. I chose osso bucco with risotto and asparagus a house specialty and now one of mine ($14) - yes that price is correct. My better half went with the evenings special, another wise decision fresh halibut in a sherry cream sauce with risotto and asparagus - $10.95 yes folks an evening special for under $20. The house salads baby greens, hearts of palm, sundried tomatoes, fresh mushrooms in a zinfandel vinaigrette at $2 each were a bargain as was the Woodbridge Zinfandel - Old Vines at $14. Surprisingly, but not mistakenly, our waiter deducted the most expensive meal from our bill after we tended our Entertainment coupon.
7/24 As soon as the slot club opened I dropped by to pick up my free buffet coupon for earning 10 points within 24 hours of sign-up. The breakfast @ Town Square Caf (Entertainment) included 3 eggs, toast, hash browns and ham/bacon. My poached eggs were overdone, but Ms. Westies easy over were as requested. No we didnt finish the meal. We spent the remainder of the day lounging in the hotel and/or playing video poker. Lunch at Gabes Deli, using comp points, was turkey on a roll (shared) dry as a bone. Ms. Westie picked up a free buffet coupon later in the day. The specialty night buffet on Sundays features king crab and prime rib. The buffet is relatively small, but still many (most) items suffered from sitting too long on the steam table. The crab could hardly be considered King perhaps Prince would be more appropriate. I would avoid this buffet in the future unless comped. We walked over to the Silver Club and sat in on one set by Louis Fontaine and the Rockets. Louis was fun, but the Rockets are misnamed perhaps the Burnouts would be more appropriate. We learned we were a week too early for the Hot August Nights celebration Rock NRoll and classic cars - damn!
07/25 I did a complete inventory of the Nuggets 9/6 JOB machines, submittied to the VPFree administrator, some of which are soooo old. How old you ask? They were so old a few arrived via Conestoga wagons. The Nugget has a card of the day promotion M-F. Naturally I could not seem to time my 4OAKS I got the 10s the day following, ditto for the 9s and double ditto for the 8s. Typical me a day late, a quad short. We drove downtown to the Silver Legacy for the breakfast buffet using a 2/1 coupon I received in a trade. This was a below average buffet with a limited selection of fruit and no cooked to order items. Next stop was a SAS store that did not carry Ms. Westies size (super narrow) in sandals. Since I accidentally packed a couple pairs of her socks, we also shopped at Macys which did not carry my regular brands so I went with a 3-pack of cheapo socks (i.e. one wash and toss). We then drove most of the East Coast of Lake Tahoe, which suffers from over development. The West Coast was more to our liking and we stopped to take a short hike to the shoreline. We also stopped at the beautiful Emerald Bay overlook where Ms. Westie purchased a one-of-a-kind necklace for the bargain basement price of $10 from a Native American boy did we take advantage of that guy. After returning to our hotel, we spent the remainder of the afternoon in the Jacuzzi and indoor cement pond.
We decided to dine at Caf Soleil using a restaurant.com gift certificate after getting lost using mapquest.com directions, we located the place only to find it is closed on Mondays grrrr! Our hastily formed back-up plan was Lexis-on-the- River in the Siena Casino. Our table overlooked the ever present Truckee River and we watched the cave swallows return to their nests as we waited for our meal. We both ordered the herb-crusted halibut on sauted spinach with crimini ravioli and white truffle beurre blanc I hope your drooling because it was delicious. A certified bargain using an Entertainment coupon.
07/26 Drove to the Reno Hilton for their breakfast buffet, which included a nice assortment of fresh fruit and cooked to order omelets (ACG). We stopped at the ever fashionable Baldinis casino in Sparks for a little 5 cent 8/5 bonus poker. They have a continuing promotion, for the past 5 years at least, where you get a six pack for each 4OAKS or better. Our haul after an hour of play was (2) 6-packs of water and (1) of Pepsi. Ms. hit a straight flush and made some money, my soda was a bit more expensive than charged at the local 7-11. The remainder of the day featured Jacuzzi, pool, bed and a book. We dined at Joes Oyster Bar using comp points. The service was atrocious and it was quite obvious the restaurant was understaffed a common problem at the Nugget based on our experience. Unlike pan roasts in Las Vegas, the combination roast was more like a broth and rice was not included just awful. A very modest gratuity was left.
07/27 Our last morning in Sparks so we needed to burn off some more points since they expire after 12 months. After about a half an hour wait, we were seated at the Farm Shop. Again, service was painfully slow because of understaffing. We each had the Big Bertha, aptly named after a now deceased elephant 2 pancakes, 2 strips of bacon and 2 sausages. We received a $5 off coupon at check-in, but they would not accept it with our points. I gave the coupon to another couple as we exited. The trip had now entered its eighth day so it was time to visit the local laundromat situated just a few blocks away. Last stop was to purchase 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, 2 desserts and a large potato salad at Gabes Deli using our remaining comp points. It occurred to me while I may have left my heart in San Francisco, my money remains in Sparks.
BTW We stopped on the way to Lassen N.P. to eat our sandwiches and potato salad. They were just plain awful. The desserts polished off later in the trip were excellent.
