Back from Lake Tahoe after a fairly quick trip with Pete and Vicki Morrison, my Underwriting Manager and his wife. I had mentioned to him a couple of weeks ago that Darla and I were planning a trip up to Lake Tahoe to see Kim Wilson and The Fabulous Thunderbirds band. Pete was immediately in although I tell it that I never did invite him to join us. We drove up after golf on Saturday and got in to the Lakeside Inn about 6:30 after I sat and watched the third day of The Masters on television. Pete kept texting me on the way up, haranguing me that "The party has started, get up here!" among others. We got checked in and met Pete and Vicki up at the Timbers Restaurant bar for a quick drink before dinner. At least Darla and I had a quick drink. They were late getting to the bar after all of the harassment. Darla had a mango margarita and I enjoyed a Canadian and Ginger Ale. We got seated when they arrived and all enjoyed the Steak and Lobster special. It was as good as advertised, although the vegetables (carrots and broccoli) were cooked in a cinnamon and coconut glaze and it was definitely an acquired taste. Thankfully the baked potato was huge and the 6 ounce lobster and 10 ounce steak was plenty, especially with a healthy serving of fresh baked bread as well.
We went from there over to the Mont Blue resort, which was formerly the Caesar's Tahoe. We played some nickel poker and then went into the show. The table that I reserved for us was a 8 person tabletop and there were 4 person round tables one level up that faced the stage. All the tickets were the same price, but those seats were so much better. We decided to move to an empty table, but Pete was intercepted by an usher while I was still gathering our drinks. Suddenly, the usher came over and helped me carry the drinks to the new spot. It turns out that Pete had palmed him a $20 bill and suddenly we were VIPs. The show was awesome as usual highlighted by a 20 minute harmonica solo by Kim Wilson that defies belief. I would be laying on the stage in convulsions after 2 minutes of straight harmonica playing.
We went back to the Lakeside Inn afterward and Darla and I played nickel poker until about 1:15 AM. We played $100 in $5 bills and would cash out with each four-of-a-kind that we had. We cashed out our tickets for $92.25 after all of our playing. It was fun and we drank enough Bailey's on the rocks to more than break even.
We met with Pete and Vicki for breakfast at the break of 9:30 this morning and enjoyed the $4.99 specials at The Timbers. Both couples really enjoyed the trip and I can see us traveling more with Pete and Vicki in the future because they are a lot of fun to travel with. They had to get on the road and we had plans that day so said our goodbyes at 10:30.
Last week Travelzoo had a Tahoe Queen offer for $23 per ticket for the regular $49 fare and I asked Darla if she wanted to go on Sunday and she was in. We met the ship at noon today after stopping and picking up a Subway sandwich. Unfortunately, the owners of the cruise company will not allow outside food or drink on their ship. They had a notice up that made it sound like the Coast Guard wouldn't allow it, but the Coast Guard only requires each passenger to consent to having their possessions searched. We brought the sandwich on board, but didn't eat it and saved it for a picnic for the trip home. I bought us a large bowl of clam chowder on board to keep the cold out. The weather was nice on Saturday and okay on Sunday. It was sunny, but there was a cold wind that threatened to chill you from the inside out.
We found a spot inside at one of the tables by the window, but did move upstairs when we got close to Emerald Bay and got some pictures, some of which are above. It was a fun 90 minutes. Unfortunately, the trip was two and a half hours. The trip back was a little long and uneventful. The trip in and around Emerald Bay and past the Vikingsholm Castle and the island offshore where the owner had a medieval looking tea room built was worth the full 2 and a half hours. We have seen the Vikingsholm several times from the vista overlook on Highway 89 and I was happy to finally get a chance to see it up close and in person.
We drove back around the east side of Lake Tahoe on Highway 28 and through Incline Village. We stopped at the overlook on Highway 28, but the bathrooms were closed for the season(??!!), so we drove on to Incline Village and a softball park with bathrooms. We also ate our sandwiches and chips there. We were home by 5:30 tonight.
Golf this past week was good and bad. I joined the guys on Tuesday at Diamond Oaks and in spite of the fairly freshly aerated greens, I shot an 81 and made a few bucks from my friends. Saturday was our Master's tournament and Steve and I played as partners in the two man best ball qualifier. We played with two of my favorite people, Boyd who is 74 and his partner, Andy, who is 78. Both are freaks of nature with muscle tone and good golf ability. Boyd shot 70 and Andy shot 78, both shooting their age or better and shooting a 57 as a team to qualify for the event. Steve and I struggled all day. I shot 88 and Steve shot 86 and our team score was 66. I was afraid that we would have to hang around for a playoff, but we played so poorly it wasn't an issue. Oh well.
Friday night was poker and I ended up winning another $50 from my friends. I do enjoy fleecing my buddies on a regular basis. John had fixed a roast beef that he cooked in garlic, onions and peppers all day. He served those on French rolls and it was a hit. I was up over $100 about halfway through the evening, but lost late and gave back half my winnings.
This was the start of the" make up" that I am doing for Darla's 50th birthday. We have our Vegas trip coming up in mid May and then our trip to Mexico over Memorial Day. Don't make the mistake of taking your wife to a golf weekend with twins also turning 40 the same weekend. I will live it down, but I will have to work hard to get out from under this one. We had a ball this weekend. I hope you are all well and ready for the celebration of Jesus dying in our place that comes up all of this week. Happy Easter!! Ciao.
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