Well, here's all that happened:
Hotel: The Sands
For some reason, and thankfully, we were only charged $49/night; parking was free. The room was clean (call housekeeping for an iron and board), the bed was not that comfortable, the hotel was hosting a Shriners Clown convention, and the casino seemed full over losers. The lady working the check-in counter could only move slower if she was dead. However, she was nice enough. The desk staff other times of day were nice and helpful. Also, the shuttle service was great and the drivers were polite to us. Lisa at the gym/spa gives decent massage and is really nice; it's by reservation and CASH only.
The NY strip steak buffet was decent in terms of meat and the others items were okay. Make sure you use your half-off coupon you should receive at check-in. Also, if you didn't use USBC Travel, do go by the help desk by the elevators to get your USBC coupon package. The Arby's was consistent was any other.
Mel's Diner was great! Thanks for those who recommended it. You can bill to you room including tips. The Vegetarian Omlette with avocado rules!!! They're busy, but worth it. I can't say I'd stay there again, but it wasn't horrific.
As for the bowling, I did worse than Baton Rouge by four pins because dummy here couldn't make easy spares during team (shot 504, but could have been 570 easily). I did shoot 609 in doubles and 567 in singles with consistent games. They lanes are extremely playable for the condition and I had the most success with my SR300 out of box 4000 grit, pin in ring finger. The Black Widow also worked well. Visionary and Ebonite had the best ball deals. It was cool meeting Jason Guest (bruns4life) at the Brunswick booth.
Take time to see a few spots if you're new to Reno. My wife and I went to the Car Museum which is well worth it if you like cars or really want to see an original Batmobile and a gold-plated Delorean.
Check out the Peppermill for a decent looking casino that feels more like Vegas.
THIS IS A MUST: Go to the
"Fireside Lounge" while at the Peppermill. You may have seen the one Anthony Bourdain featured on his "No Reservations" Las Vegas show (on the Travel Channel). It's quite the spot to hang out, chill and is "target rich" for the single person. While not the cheapest of bars, it's a great place to relax and have a good single malt or a huge 60 oz. girly drink. The waitresses were pretty hot, too.
We also ate at Dolce which is a restuarant chain partially owned by Ashton Kutcher, Wilmer Valderama, and a few others, but primarily by real business folks. It's at the Grand Sierra Resort and pretty decent, but not cheap. The GSR is a neat location away from the downtown area.
--------------------
Texas is neither southern nor western. Texas is Texas - Senator William Blakley
http://www.myspace.com/lefthandedhammerpridehttp://members.bowl.com/FindAMember/memberView.aspx?mp=418&ms=2006&s=2006-2007Edited on 5/21/2007 9:59 AM
Edited on 5/21/2007 12:03 PM
