It's been two years since the last big road trip. It's also been almost a year since the great poker/gamble adventure I came to term The Art of Losing.
Yet again, I've saved up lots of vacation, and the lure of the highway and the prospect of going for another gamble calls me.
So, I've been considering possible places to visit while I'm on the road, and I'm slightly torn between several themes. In one camp, I'd like to visit the places I missed the last time out...
- Albuquerque, NM
- Meteor Crater National Park, AZ
- The california coast, from Santa Barbara to San Francisco
- A Bowl Game (preferrably, the Rose Bowl)
Alternately, I'll just camp out in Las Vegas and open a third chapter in the Art of Losing. Supporting this notion are:
- I've returned to the bar tournaments, winning one and punting twice from way early and over the halfway mark. The latter punts were from 30 and 60 chips, respectively (courtesy some disgusting bad luck and misplays). So, my reads of people and hands are working ok.
- This year has sucked, so I really just want to camp out somewhere and not give a damn for a while.
These aren't quite exactly opposed, as all of those locations are in the West. What is opposed is the third option, which is to stay home and putter around, and the fourth option: Florida coastal tour. This trip would involve:
- Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center. I mean, duh.
- Some bar between Cape and Miami, on recommendation from a bartender.
- Marathon Key, on recommendation from a sibling.
- Key West, just because.
- Fort Meyers, something I missed from the Tampa trip in '03.
- Fishing trip, on either coast.
- 80 degrees for Christmas? Oh, yeah.
- I'd have to stop by Vandy's (in Statesboro) on the way out.
Potentially, there's casino action to be found in Florida, but my only glimpse of a Florida casino was that of more slot-farm than anything else. Oh well.
This has all been in consideration lately. You'd think I'd just pack the car and go, but I have to sweat it out a bit, first. Oh, well. |
