It is May 2009 and time to visit our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter who recently moved to the San Diego area. Our first stop was the Poseidon in Del Mar. It has been listed for several years as having matchbooks with its name. No more. Major disappointment. Fortunately, we got a few on a previous trip to San Diego. We headed on to Oceanside to visit the Mission San Luis Rey, which has been beautifully restored. From there, it was on to Escondido where we stayed at the Motel Mediteran. It has been fully renovated and is a nice place to stay. Dinner with family in Ramona brought no matches.
For Monday, we stopped at the Mission San Antonio de Pala. Although it was closed on Monday, we had a nice exterior tour. Nearby is Pala Casino. As we entered, there were two patrons also coming in -- both with H1N1 flu masks. A little unnerving but we were rewarded with matchbooks plus losing a few dollars at the slots. At Temecula, we stopped for a good lunch in Old Town, but no matches. The Pechanga Casino, a showplace hotel and casino, rewarded us with a nice multicolor 30-strike matchbook, which we paid for with a few dollars at the slots. Again, no matches at dinner.
On Tuesday, we went to the Niki de Sainte Phalle sculpture garden in Escondido -- the only one in North America. Then a stop at the Mission Santa Ysabel followed by lunch at the Santa Ysabel Casino. It has a nice view from its dining room if you sit near the windows and, more importantly, matchbooks with its name. After a quick stop at the Chapel of St. Francis in Warner Springs, it was on to Anza for the Cahuilla Casino. It is small and looks like a tent from the outside. We broke even on the slots while sipping complementary sodas. The matchbooks come in more than one color. In our destination of Idyllwild, we stayed at the Silver Pines Lodge -- rustic yet quite nice. What one expects in Idyllwild. A coyote was strolling through a nearby neighborhood. No matches at dinner that night nor the next morning.
Our first stop was at the pictographs -- an unmarked county park. We also had a great view of Taquitz from there. Next stop was at the Hemet Maze Stone. Interesting but a little too far to walk in the heat (but I did). In San Jacinto, the Soboba Casino did not have matches, so we applied our "no matches -- no gambling or eating" rule amd headed to Cabazon to the Morongo Casino. This is another showplace casino with a multicolor 30-strike matchbook. In Riverside, we stayed at one of our favorite places, the Mission Inn. The only disappointment was that its premier restaurant, Duane's, no longer has matches with its name.
After pool time on Thursday morning, we headed for San Manuel Casino in Highlands. Another nice casino property with a multicolor 30-strike matchbook. After a couple of snap-and-goes in Redlands (Kimberly Crest was particularly impressive), we were on our way to Santa Monica. No matches at the Bayside Hotel -- another disappointment as it used to be listed as having matches with its name. No matches at dinner nor at breakfast Friday morning. A late lunch ended up being at happy hour -- the Viceroy is a top hotel with the best happy hour I have ever been to, plus a lipstick matchbox as the final reward.
We started the day Saturday with breakfast at Loew's Santa Monica Beach Hotel. They had a generic Loew's Hotels box. Hope this isn't a trend for Loew's like other chains have done. In the afternoon, it was on to Laguna Beach. No matches at lunch nor at our hotel that night. Dinner at The Cliff brought another disappointment matchbook-wise. Another place that used to be listed as having matches with its name. We stopped at El Callejon for margaritas but asked first if they still had matches. The bartender could only find one box. The basket at the bar and at the hostess desk had been emptied by closing time. A mild disappointment but it does show that people still pick up matchbooks/matchboxes when available. As we always say, good, inexpensive advertising.
For Sunday lunch, we tried Hennesey's Tavern. Good Irish pub food and it still has matches. Next door is a shop called Areo, which carries a number of oversize matchboxes by HomArt -- similar to what Joe DeGennaro reported in a recent RMS bulletin. They can be purchased online at AREOhome.com with a 10% discount (coupon code AREO10) through August 31, 2009. The store price is $2.90. We picked up several while we were there. From here, we headed to San Diego. For dinner, we took family to the Gaslamp Quarter. First to RA for sushi appetizers. They had generic RA matchbooks but none of their famous condom matchbooks were available on our visit. Folks were lined up to get in when we left. Dinner ended up at Mary Jane's Coffeshop at the Hard Rock Hotel. Its matchbooks come in more than one color.
On Monday, Memorial Day, we went to the Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Great way to spend a couple of hours. At the gift shop, some HomArt matchboxes were for sale, including a couple with sea urchin and coral designs.
This was the end of matchbooks in California. We took the train across country from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. Hour+ stops at Albuquerque, Chicago, and Washington ( a particular disappointment as B. Smith's had been listed for several years) brought no additional matches. At least when we arrived home, dinner at Pike's Pub in Southampton, Pennsylvania, in Bucks County found matchbooks. A good way to end.