Journal

Wednesday

So I woke up again...way way early. So I again played the same game as before, and ended going to the Solvang Restaurant which apprently is famous for their Aebleskivers (Best described as round pancake balls, they are a fun alternative to the traditional pancake breakfast. Served with raspberry jam and powdered sugar (the traditional way) or create your own version, using butter and syrup, topped with apple sauce, or fresh berrys.). So I had a few, and also an egg, some bacon and some danish style pancakes...which is pretty much pancakes that are fairly thin (not super) and folded over into thirds. It was ok, nothing too spectacular. The syrup was served in little sealed single serving containers, rather then being warmed. The Aebleskivers however, were pretty good, certainly worth a try. The jam was warm and yummy and the combination with the powdered sugar, just made for a good experience. And since I saw that it opened at 6:AM, but default it was going to be my meal on the last day too.

Then it was off to more developers conference. I took notes and emailed my group back home. Pretty much like before, some good, some not so good.

So for lunch it was Taco Roco. They picked up a whole little meal for us and we all headed out to Kalyra Winery. I sampled quite a few wines and ended up buying a couple of dessert wines (2004 Kalyra Black Muscat, 20 Year Old Aussie Tawny Port).

The land around this place, wasn't as nice as Bridlewood, but it did have some good wines there, so it was still worth a visit. And they did use this in the movie Sideways. I think it'd be nice to go and visit all the places they hit in the movie.

Taco Roco is actuall pretty good, good and tasty.

And it was back for more class.

We were running behind, and I need to get some time out so I could actually get out and buy Shannon a present. Since I'd usually head in before shops open up and get done after they closed. So I tried to keep things going along quickly.

We moved on and when it got done, bam I was like we gotta go! So I had spotted a shop that I wanted to buy from and headed there. the main present I bought was 30% off and the person there also gave me an additional 10% off (friends price) cause she had just gotten her condo, and cause of the amount that I spent, I got an aditional apple candle for free.

So I headed back to the hotel, chatted with Shannon for a bit, and then headed down to the Chumash Casino. We ate at the buffet. It was apprently seafood night, but that's always a troublesome thing, so I stuck to more standard fare. It was ok, nothing spectacular. The mashed potatoes were more soupy then mashed, which was kinda silly. The cakes and desserts where great either, cake was dry, just nothing really stuck out as amazing.

So we headed down to the casino floor. I plugged a few dollars into a couple of slot machines, and then sat down at a 3 card poker table. After getting the hang of it, I went up and down and ended up losing about $30. The guy next to me (Ben from FL), did pretty well and ended up quite a bit up, one time for a total of 15 bucks he won 120$ So...that's not to bad I guess.

After a bit, we all headed to the Maverick Saloon. Drinks were on medseek, and I quickly found out that they had Jack Daniels Single Barrel. Once on the suggestion of Johnnie Walker Black. It was ok, but I pretty much spent the rest of the night drinking the Single Barrel.

Now this is my third trip to California, but this was first time I had ever saw a star, and to my surprise, I saw two. First I saw, John Corbett (My Big Fat Greek wedding, or etc) and Bo Derek (Yes, THE Bo Derek). It was kidna cool. I got a few pictures (not with me in it). Apprently John Corbett was there to shoot a video for his new album. So they were closing up production (4 days) and they went ahead and played a show. It was actually kinda rock + a little bit of Country. It was pretty good. Which for me is pretty suprising, since of that vein of music, I own almost nothing from it, cause I mostly find country to be obnoxious. I may just have to investigate if I want to buy that album.

After they closed their show, we headed back to the hotel and I quickly packed up a few things, leaving out just the things I needed for the over night (CPAP machine, clothes) and tried to fit the rest into my suitcase. I then went to bed.