Day 27 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”
The Casino at Avalon…
The Casino at Avalon…
Wednesday. 9/23/20
8:00 - 8:30 - I get up and post the prompt that I wrote on the Discussion Board two days earlier for my highschoolers and my college students for College No. 2. Today’s itinerary: Lecture.
I deploy the lecture and class begins.
8:30 - 9:30 - There’s a coffee pot in the hotel room so I make coffee and take it in the shower with me. Dress in Covid-19 attire and light make-up.
Class rolls on. I check on it and respond to emails from two students.
10:00 - 12:30 - Class is over and B. and I leave so we can redeem our meal credit for breakfast at the Bistro at The Attwater Hotel. We walk several blocks but can’t find it so we pop in at the Naughty Fox, a small cafe/restaurant, and ask the waitress. She says go back the way we came and “turn right at the giant ice cream cone.” I remember seeing something like that so we head back and there’s the ice cream cone, only it’s really a life-size Sundae. There’s no signage anywhere, but we see the hotel halfway down the street. We check in with the concierge and she says the Bistro is down the hall and around the corner, but it closed at 11:00 a.m. Hmmm…how convenient. It’s 11:05.
B. and I return to the cafe where we were just at and inform the nice waitress that we’re back. I end up having an excellent brunch! - grilled tapas fish tacos - and B. has a lobster sandwich. The customer service is wonderful and the waitress takes our picture, even suggesting a more scenic area where we can stand. We linger at our table for awhile, looking out at the harbor and the beach - it’s so beautiful here.
12:30 - After brunch, we walk back to our hotel and tell the concierge that we’re ready for the glass-bottom boat tour that B. scored when he negotiated the previous package deal. The concierge says that the boat tours must be scheduled in advance and there are no openings for the rest of the day. Hmmm…how convenient. So far we have been unable to redeem both our food credits and the boat tour. We make a reservation for 12:30 tomorrow, find two chaise lounges under a banana palm, and settle in with our books. I must remind you that the hotel grounds are like a tropical paradise. I start In Order to Live, a referral from L. about a young girl who defected from North Korea. I might assign it next semester for Specialty Class No. 1. After awhile, I decide to take a nap on the chaise lounge.
2:00 - B. wakes me up and says he’s not sure what we’ll do the rest of the day. I suggest a bike ride, so he goes to the concierge and asks if we can reserve two bikes [free through the hotel]. The concierge says the bikes will be available at 4:00.
I continue reading and enjoying the sun, then fall back asleep.
3:30 - B. wakes me and asks if I’m ready, so we return to our room and I put on my biking attire. I grab my bicycle helmet and we pick up the bikes from the concierge.
4:00-6:00 - We ride around the island and find The Buffalo Nickle and the Coney Island restaurants. Since we’re on an island, it’s a very scenic route because the entire bike route features and overlooks the ocean. I wear a light athletic mask when there are people around, but throughout most of the bike ride, I’m not masking. Eventually, we come across the Beach Club, the second restaurant where we can redeem B.’s food credit, only to find out that they’re closed. Hmmm…how convenient. Their hours are from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. - it’s 6:00 p.m.
We bike past The Casino at Avalon, which used to give tours, but is now closed due to Covid-19. The casino is massive, ornate, and beautiful, at least from the outside - they used to gamble on the island in the 1920s - and I really wish we could have gone in. We ride our bikes back to the hotel then walk around looking for a restaurant since the Beach Club was closed.
We find a steak-and-seafood place who have moved every last table they have outside to the beach. I order one of the specials - sea bass and a baked potato - and B. orders a steak. We add a round of drinks to the order. The food arrives on fake plates - at first glance, they look expensive and elegant, but when you pick them up, they’re paper thin and disposable. The glasses and utensils are also plastic - everything, in fact, is plastic, as a result of Covid-19. I’m struck by the disparity between the cafe we ate at this morning, where food was served on normal dishes, and this restaurant. BUT, the food is incredible and I have one of the best fresh-fish meals I think I’ve ever had. “Night falls” and we sit at our table, watch the sun set, and look out at the harbor.
9:00 - 10:00 - We walk 20 steps back to the hotel and return to our room. B. watches local news and I read.
10:00 - 11:00 - We strategize our day for tomorrow. I watch a little bit of I’m Thinking About Ending Things on my Ipad, but pause it a short time later. Bed.