Waldo

Trouble Breathing
2004-02-24 07:57:18 (UTC)

Beach bumming, good food and stress relief

Ahhh...how nice it is to just relax once in awhile.

Reg and I took off Friday for Malibu. A room right on the
beach (and I mean RIGHT ON THE BEACH)....with
nothing to
do, nowhere to be....awesome!

Here's the recap:

Friday -- leave work at about noon and on the road by
12:30
or so. Reg and I play slug bug all the way down to the
LA
area. I dominated!...though, I have to say, she is
presenting much more of a challenge. The only thing
that
really saved me was that I saw a slug bug being
towed...5
points.

If you don't know the rules of slug bug...here they are:

any single slug bug (new or old) = 1 point
any slug bug with corporate decoration = 2 points
slug bug being towed (tow truck, camper, etc.) = 5
points
slug bug broken down or stalled = 5 points
slug bug pulled over = 5 points
slug bug in an basic accident = 10 points
slug bug overturned = 15 points
slug bug on fire = 20 points
you witness a slug bug get into an accident = 25 points
slug bug in a high speed chase = 50 points
a slug bug towing another slug bug = 100 points

Anyway, once we get to Malibu, we check into out
beachside
hotel, the Casa Malibu Inn....amazing. Our room
(though
quite expensive) had a nice fireplace, fridge, DVD, TV,
nice big bed, and a balcony in which the waves crash
no
less than 15 feet away. It was awesome! We also felt a
small earthquake. Nothing big. After staring at the
ocean
and feeling at peace for a good hour or so, we decided
to
get some food.

Allegria, an Italian restaurant just up the street had
decent atmosphere, but our waitress was kind of bitchy.
I
did eat the BEST lobster tortellini in my life. Reg's
chicken pasta wasn't as good. But the wine was pretty
nice.

We went and bought some brandy for me later and I
proceeded
to get saucy drunk and we fooled around a bit. So nice!

Saturday -- We awoke and walked along the beach in
the
rain, which was really cool. We collected a ton of
seashells and then went to a pretty decent Chinese
restaurant for lunch. Later, around 5PM, we went to the
Malibu Health Spa, where we each got hour long
massages. I
wound up getting Barbara, who the front desk
recommended
(and we had tried to call earlier). She was excellent,
working out all my knots with deep tissue and she gave
me
an extra 20 minutes or so. Reg said her therapist was
good
as well, finishing up with some Asian relaxation
techniques.

In the locker room and steam room, I ran into Johnny
Galecki (Ira from Suicide Kings...he also played Rusty
in
Christmas Vacation and was the boyfriend on
"Roseanne"). We
chatted for a bit.

Later, Reg and I went to Beau Rivage (a French
restuarant--
not the casino). It was amazing! I had escargot and sea
bass. Reg had Chicken Roulade and a really good goat
cheese
salad. We also got free champagne!

It was raining pretty hard outside, so we decided to just
buy a couple of movies and veg in the room, with the
waves
outside as soothing background. We got "Just Married,"
which was cute and had some funny parts, but overall
just
an OK movie. We also bought the "Italian Job," directed
by
F. Gary Gray ("The Negotiator") and despite all my fears
of
how well a remake would be...the movie more than
lived up
to its hype, and was a white-knuckle thrill ride in the
spirit of "The Negotiator." It has a chance to crack my
Top
200 list...but I'll think about that for a bit.

More foolin around, then off to bed, listening to the
storm
and waves crashing outside.

Sunday -- We woke up late (so nice!) and noticed that
our
private beach was no longer a beach. The storm had
wiped
away the sand retaining wall and the waves were now
sweeping UNDER our hotel room. Awesome! If you
stood on the
balcony, it felt like you were on the ocean!

We walked on the beach again (where we could) and
collected
even more neat shells. Then we got some McDonalds
and
passed out in the room for a nap. We woke up around
7:30
and went immediately for Dukes, which the front desk
had
recommended for seafood. Once there, I was a little
concerned because I wanted lobster and I didn't see it
on
the menu. Most of the menu was Hawaiian (with a lot of
tree
nuts, which I'm deathly allergic to). But I asked the
waiter and he said it was one of the restaurant's
specialties. I wound up with a SEVEN POUND
LOBSTER TAIL...I
almost couldn't finish it all, but it was so, so good! Reg
even got brave and tried the sea bass, which she
liked...a
lot! She even tried some of my lobster! I will get her to
like seafood yet...just you wait!

After dinner, we retired to the room and watched the
Italian Job (which I talked about earlier) and I got saucy
drunk again. I watched the waves a lot that night and felt
really at peace.

But as we had to get up early in the morning to drive to
Temecula, we retired semi-early...ok, so it was 2AM!

Monday--We woke at 7AM and packed quickly as we
had to be on
the road. We had a 10:30 appointment so that Reg
could take
pictures of California Nations Indian Gaming
Association
Chairman Anthony Miranda for our cover of Casino
Journal.
(It's nice to be able to throw her some work!) The ride
started out crappy as we got stuck in morning rush hour
traffic on the I-10, but it cleared by downtown L.A. On the
radio, we heard about a high-speed chase that
originated in
Malibu (right where we were) and ended in Santa
Monica with
the cops shooting the guy to death. Interesting.

Once at the Pechanga Casino, Reg went to work and
Anthony
gave us a detailed tour of the property. It's really nice
for an Indian Casino and compares to some of the
better
smaller properties in Las Vegas. (Think of a slightly
larger Green Valley Ranch, or maybe the Palms). Once
finished, we shopped at some antique stores in
downtown
Temecula, which is really rustic and charming. We
bought a
keepsake box for our seashells.

We ate at Wendy's (hey, we already spent a couple of
grand)
and hit the road. Reg and I were neck and neck at slug
bug
until I finally took the lead for good!

Reg had to take over driving near Baker as I was getting
sleepy, but we made it back to Vegas in once piece. We
went
out to Olive Garden tonight and watched "Godzilla" (the
90s
version) with Zeb before finally heading upstairs. Now
we're going to take a bath and I have a busy day at work
tomorrow.

A wonderful trip indeed!




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