We are now in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the wedding of my best friend from high school, Molly, whom you have already met. The wedding will take place tomorrow afternoon at the local Greek Orthodox Church. During our time in the desert, we are staying at the Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino for my grandmother, who despite the mathematical probabilities, gets enormous joy out of playing slot machines (as long-term readers should know by now because of this, this, this, and this … she goes and gambles, I spend my time reading books in the buffet as I sip coffee; it makes her happy so I like doing it for her).
We all booked here for her, out of love, so she could run down to the floor at play to her heart’s content, even if it is at three in the morning. With grandma occupied, that means my mom and Aaron will be my sidekicks for this leg of the journey. I’m sure we’ll find something interesting to do.
[mainbodyad]Bottom line: The Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino is nice. It’s just not me. That is not good or bad, it is just different. I’m normally not the type of guy who likes a place where chain-smoking elderly patrons who are 300 pounds overweight shove food onto plastic plates with giant serving spoons, and I hate Southwestern architecture and decor. I’d like to own a place like this, sure. Maybe someday I will. But for my own tastes, I’d rather be at a modern, clean beach resort in Southern California, a mahogany-panelled traditional skyscraper in New York, a log-cabin resort in the mountains during the winter, or a small bed-and-breakfast in New England in the autumn. My idea of a casino is the one in Monaco or the Bellagio in Las Vegas. It’s just a personal thing, like some people prefer fish and others prefer beef.
There is nothing to complain about because I’m staying in a suite on the top floor with two bathrooms, a living room, two fireplaces, and two balconies. It’s nice. It really is. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression. It’s just not me. The downside is that I am almost convinced the property is using a cell phone jamming device, which I thought was against the law. I have no proof of this hunch, but the symptoms are just too similar and the radius around the property too suspect. I hope I’m wrong. I can’t imagine any business being that stupid, but stranger things have happened. I can’t even get my phone to upload a picture to Google docs. It consistently fails until I am right off the property grounds, at which point it miraculously works. It seems shady.
Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort Santa Fe New Mexico … the view from the living room balcony of my suite.
I had hoped to work on the MacBook for a few hours in the living room, but I am going to have to wait until I can find better Internet somewhere. At this point, a McDonald’s with free WiFi would probably have a better connection. I’m going to save my work and post it whenever I reach wired civilization.
The bedroom in my suite at the Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort Santa Fe, New Mexico …
The master bathroom was nice. I’m not big on Southwest themes but it was well done for what it was.
You could tell we were in the desert. The water pressure was not fantastic.
Update: I do have to say, the food sucks here. We tried to grab dinner at the buffet, and it was horrible. I would have received more satisfaction from taking $70 and burning it in the middle of the table. That isn’t an exaggeration. It was as if the chef were a smoker; nothing had any flavor, whatsoever. Nothing. The chicken, the cookies, all bland. Unless it came pre-packaged, such as the desserts that are frozen and then served in restaurants after being warmed, there wasn’t any taste. I don’t know how someone who invests this kind of money in a property can accept that. Maybe it is because most of the casino patrons are smokers, so they can’t tell the difference. In any event, it’s not good enough. I wouldn’t let my business be run that terribly.
As a result, we said screw it, left the buffet and instead went to a different restaurant on the property to order desserts. If the food sucks, I’d rather just skip a meal. The desserts at the second restaurant were fantastic. Tomorrow night, we’ll just order room service.
The next restaurant we tried, after abandoning ship at the buffet despite paying, was much better. We skipped dinner and had dessert, instead.
I had an Apple Tart Tin with almonds, caramel, fruit, and some sort of seeds. It was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my entire life.
Aaron had the Key Lime pie. He loved it.
My mom had the flowerless chocolate cake. It was reportedly good, too.
I’m sure grandma will be up from the casino sometime before the sun comes up over the horizon. Otherwise, we’ll prop her up during the wedding or put dark sunglasses on her. She hardly gets a chance to get away and enjoy herself like this so we’ll figure it out.
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