Other things I saw and learned in Cali

[LPTiger 5,531]

Last night, I was operating on only 2 hours of sleep thanks, in part, to Delta unilaterally changing our departure flight from 8:30 to 6:10.   And, the other thread has wondered off a little.   So here is a little more content.

1.  Our biggest donors love Auburn -- Bill and Connie Neville gave Auburn the largest sports donation ever (I can't remember the amount r/n).   Auburn rewarded them with the naming of Neville Arena.  Bill was at the TUF tailgate 3 hours before kickoff.   Bob Broadway and his wife gave Auburn a one-time gift of $3.4MM, and Auburn rewarded them with the naming of the Broadway Club.   Bob was seated three rows in front of us.   Point here -- this was a late, late game that was a long way away from home.   They could've easily watched it in the comfort of their home but they didn't.  

2. The Lead Trustee on our BOT Athletic committee is a great guy and dad -- I have known Tim since college.   Anyone who knows Tim will tell you how special of a person he is.   Despite al of his accomplishments, Tim is the most humble person you will ever meet.  Tim paid for 2 1st class tickets on that early 6:10AM flight.   Problem was, his daughter (a former War Eagle girl) also made the trip.   The solution was his daughter sat up front with her mom, and Tim sat --  in the back -- in a middle seat  -- in a suit.   If you know Tim, you know the Good Lord did not build Tim to fit in a middle seat.....

3. Apple in the house -- Tim Cook was at the game proudly sporting gear from his alma mater (hey Tim we could use a little NIL help....).

4. In and Out Burger -- This may be an example of me having unreasonable expectations... The double double is good, but it certainly is not great.  The fries were average, at best.  Everyone in our group said they preferred five Guys and/or Milo's.   

5. Give me Sweet Home Alabama over Berkeley --   I love to grill.   Literally, I grill at least 4 night a week.   My understanding is that in Berkeley you have to obtain a permit for an "open fire" and that includes grilling.   I can't imagine driving to city hall 4 times a week and waiting in line to get my permit...........

6. Put Napa on your bucket list -- This was my fourth trip to Napa County.   I enjoyed this one just as much as my 1st one.  Every single thing about the place is delightful -- the weather, the people, the mountain views, the vineyards that are literally everywhere including in the medians of roads.....  If you go, my favorite vineyard is Nickel & Nickel.   They restored a barn from New Hampshire that is 200 years old.   Even if you have zero interest in old things, architecture, construction or beams and posts you will love this barn.  Inside they have a map of the valley and while going over the map they provide you with numerous interesting details about the number of different "climates" that exist within the one valley, the different types of soils, etc. (as info, my son doesn't know it but he scored a graduation present for when he finishes at AU's VCOM medical school -- a double magnum 2012 Far Niente Cab -- Far Niente owns Nickel & Nickel). My second fav is Stags' Leap.   This is an interesting vineyard that has been around for over 100 hundred years.  But, it is not to be confused with Stag's Leap.   Yes, there are two of them with very similar names.  S apostrophe and apostrophe S are two different vineyards with two different owners.   How can you tell the difference -- the stag on a S apostrophe bottle is a true leaping stag whereas the stag on apostrophe s is standing on the ground....   Why the name -- the Indians used to encircle stags and push them toward the side of a mountain where they would leap to their deaths.

7. Asante has some dog in him.   I hope by now you have seen the post-game GIF of Asante's chest x-ray that 100% shows he has some dog in him....

8. The Cal halftime show was cool to see -- once -- it consisted of hundreds of computer controlled drones with lights on them that created various images in the sky.   I assume the stadium has the old mercury vapor type lights that take forever to generate maximum light and for that reason the drone show occurred on the east side of the stadium in a dark sky.   That is fine for the folks on the west side of the stadium but for the folks on the East side where the visitors seats are --- not so much....   It worked out fine for me as I spent 15 minutes waiting in line to use a porta potty that was -- as you might expect -- something we would not want our wives or daughters using....   The marching band got only 6 minutes....   Bless their hearts -- compared to our band it looked like they were a loose affiliation of friends who liked music and spent a good hour or so preparing for the show....  I can't critique their musical abilities because I couldn't hear them play.... I appreciate our band, how hard they train, how good they are and the sweat they pour out each Saturday so much more after having been to Cali.  From this point on, I will never again leave my seat in JHS while our band is on the field!  

9.  Traffic control -- unlike the Auburn after game situation where there are pylons, cones and cops everywhere, there was literally none of that after this game.   We saw a large, city owned passenger bus change lanes and side swipe a Toyota 4-runner and simply keep on going.    Another Auburn "thing" I didn't fully appreciate until Saturday night.

10.  Our pregame --   While most every one did stand for the National Anthem, several Cal band members took a knee.  Maybe America has hurt them in some way, I don't know.  There were no signs of a military presence or recognition that I saw.    I appreciate how we honor each branch of our military before each game.   I appreciate how our ROTC students show up for games.  I appreciate how we sing God Bless America before each game.  I also appreciate how our folks taught an Eagle to fly around a crazy loud stadium full of hundreds of thousands of distractions and land at mid-field....    Auburn ingenuity...  

Sorry this is so long.   War Eagle.

[CCTAU 3,634]

3 hours ago, LPTiger said:

The marching band got only 6 minutes....   Bless their hearts -- compared to our band it looked like they were a loose affiliation of friends who liked music and spent a good hour or so preparing for the show....  

This produced a loud guffaw! A whole hour you say...

[LPTiger 5,531]

1 hour ago, CCTAU said:

This produced a loud guffaw! A whole hour you say...

Probably closer to 45 minutes😀

[HAPvsOA 448]

5 hours ago, LPTiger said:

Last night, I was operating on only 2 hours of sleep thanks, in part, to Delta unilaterally changing our departure flight from 8:30 to 6:10.   And, the other thread has wondered off a little.   So here is a little more content.

1.  Our biggest donors love Auburn -- Bill and Connie Neville gave Auburn the largest sports donation ever (I can't remember the amount r/n).   Auburn rewarded them with the naming of Neville Arena.  Bill was at the TUF tailgate 3 hours before kickoff.   Bob Broadway and his wife gave Auburn a one-time gift of $3.4MM, and Auburn rewarded them with the naming of the Broadway Club.   Bob was seated three rows in front of us.   Point here -- this was a late, late game that was a long way away from home.   They could've easily watched it in the comfort of their home but they didn't.  

2. The Lead Trustee on our BOT Athletic committee is a great guy and dad -- I have known Tim since college.   Anyone who knows Tim will tell you how special of a person he is.   Despite al of his accomplishments, Tim is the most humble person you will ever meet.  Tim paid for 2 1st class tickets on that early 6:10AM flight.   Problem was, his daughter (a former War Eagle girl) also made the trip.   The solution was his daughter sat up front with her mom, and Tim sat --  in the back -- in a middle seat  -- in a suit.   If you know Tim, you know the Good Lord did not build Tim to fit in a middle seat.....

3. Apple in the house -- Tim Cook was at the game proudly sporting gear from his alma mater (hey Tim we could use a little NIL help....).

4. In and Out Burger -- This may be an example of me having unreasonable expectations... The double double is good, but it certainly is not great.  The fries were average, at best.  Everyone in our group said they preferred five Guys and/or Milo's.   

5. Give me Sweet Home Alabama over Berkeley --   I love to grill.   Literally, I grill at least 4 night a week.   My understanding is that in Berkeley you have to obtain a permit for an "open fire" and that includes grilling.   I can't imagine driving to city hall 4 times a week and waiting in line to get my permit...........

6. Put Napa on your bucket list -- This was my fourth trip to Napa County.   I enjoyed this one just as much as my 1st one.  Every single thing about the place is delightful -- the weather, the people, the mountain views, the vineyards that are literally everywhere including in the medians of roads.....  If you go, my favorite vineyard is Nickel & Nickel.   They restored a barn from New Hampshire that is 200 years old.   Even if you have zero interest in old things, architecture, construction or beams and posts you will love this barn.  Inside they have a map of the valley and while going over the map they provide you with numerous interesting details about the number of different "climates" that exist within the one valley, the different types of soils, etc. (as info, my son doesn't know it but he scored a graduation present for when he finishes at AU's VCOM medical school -- a double magnum 2012 Far Niente Cab -- Far Niente owns Nickel & Nickel). My second fav is Stags' Leap.   This is an interesting vineyard that has been around for over 100 hundred years.  But, it is not to be confused with Stag's Leap.   Yes, there are two of them with very similar names.  S apostrophe and apostrophe S are two different vineyards with two different owners.   How can you tell the difference -- the stag on a S apostrophe bottle is a true leaping stag whereas the stag on apostrophe s is standing on the ground....   Why the name -- the Indians used to encircle stags and push them toward the side of a mountain where they would leap to their deaths.

7. Asante has some dog in him.   I hope by now you have seen the post-game GIF of Asante's chest x-ray that 100% shows he has some dog in him....

8. The Cal halftime show was cool to see -- once -- it consisted of hundreds of computer controlled drones with lights on them that created various images in the sky.   I assume the stadium has the old mercury vapor type lights that take forever to generate maximum light and for that reason the drone show occurred on the east side of the stadium in a dark sky.   That is fine for the folks on the west side of the stadium but for the folks on the East side where the visitors seats are --- not so much....   It worked out fine for me as I spent 15 minutes waiting in line to use a porta potty that was -- as you might expect -- something we would not want our wives or daughters using....   The marching band got only 6 minutes....   Bless their hearts -- compared to our band it looked like they were a loose affiliation of friends who liked music and spent a good hour or so preparing for the show....  I can't critique their musical abilities because I couldn't hear them play.... I appreciate our band, how hard they train, how good they are and the sweat they pour out each Saturday so much more after having been to Cali.  From this point on, I will never again leave my seat in JHS while our band is on the field!  

9.  Traffic control -- unlike the Auburn after game situation where there are pylons, cones and cops everywhere, there was literally none of that after this game.   We saw a large, city owned passenger bus change lanes and side swipe a Toyota 4-runner and simply keep on going.    Another Auburn "thing" I didn't fully appreciate until Saturday night.

10.  Our pregame --   While most every one did stand for the National Anthem, several Cal band members took a knee.  Maybe America has hurt them in some way, I don't know.  There were no signs of a military presence or recognition that I saw.    I appreciate how we honor each branch of our military before each game.   I appreciate how our ROTC students show up for games.  I appreciate how we sing God Bless America before each game.  I also appreciate how our folks taught an Eagle to fly around a crazy loud stadium full of hundreds of thousands of distractions and land at mid-field....    Auburn ingenuity...  

Sorry this is so long.   War Eagle.

Yeah, I see how you could see it that way, but a few comments

4) You have to order off the secret menu and it's cheap. I'm not a huge In&Out fan, but it's hard to beat the price when you have kids. I can feed a family of 4 for less than $25 and us all be full. That's uncommon these days, especially in CA. The Double Double is not special even at that price, but the Double Double animal style is pretty good, especially when still piping hot. Without the special sauce and grilled onions inside the meat, it's just a fresher version of McDonalds. The fries also suck when not piping hot, but again you can't beat the freshness. It's the only chain that uses fresh potatoes cut minutes earlier, salt and oil. No "meat flavoring, etc." on frozen fries like most big chains use.

5)  that's just a game day thing. You can grill in your own yard any day, except in certain parts of the hills when the fire risk is high and the entire region asks for no wood burning on "Spare the Air days" that happen a few times of year when the wind currents keep all the smog within the hills

6) definitely, next time consider visiting the Sonoma coast out by Jenner. Besides the great wineries and bakeries along the Russian River, that part of the coast is amazing and enjoyable as long as you have a jacket.  

7) absolutely! he was by far the one that jumped out the most in person. 

9) Most locals don't drive to the game, so it's usually not like that. 

[LPTiger 5,531]

36 minutes ago, HAPvsOA said:

Yeah, I see how you could see it that way, but a few comments

4) You have to order off the secret menu and it's cheap. I'm not a huge In&Out fan, but it's hard to beat the price when you have kids. I can feed a family of 4 for less than $25 and us all be full. That's uncommon these days, especially in CA. The Double Double is not special even at that price, but the Double Double animal style is pretty good, especially when still piping hot. Without the special sauce and grilled onions inside the meat, it's just a fresher version of McDonalds. The fries also suck when not piping hot, but again you can't beat the freshness. It's the only chain that uses fresh potatoes cut minutes earlier, salt and oil. No "meat flavoring, etc." on frozen fries like most big chains use.

5)  that's just a game day thing. You can grill in your own yard any day, except in certain parts of the hills when the fire risk is high and the entire region asks for no wood burning on "Spare the Air days" that happen a few times of year when the wind currents keep all the smog within the hills

6) definitely, next time consider visiting the Sonoma coast out by Jenner. Besides the great wineries and bakeries along the Russian River, that part of the coast is amazing and enjoyable as long as you have a jacket.  

7) absolutely! he was by far the one that jumped out the most in person. 

9) Most locals don't drive to the game, so it's usually not like that. 

HAP, thanks for your comments.  4.  The problem with the fires was definitely that they had sat for a little while.  They were warm and limp.   I'm not sure how they had the time to sit because they were 20 cars easily in the drive thru and the sit down restaurant was jam packed.   I read about the off menu stuff, but was afraid to go there since we had 9 guys placing 18 orders and one guy on the bus who was not happy that I wanted to stop😀.   I was afraid a special order might delay things.  100% on the price.  I could have paid for everybody in the restaurant and the drive thru and still had 1 to 1.5K left for what I paid at French Laundry Wednesday night....

5.  So glad to hear it is a game day only thing.   I can't imagine not grilling...   Tonight I'm doing BBQ chicken.....   We stayed at the Estate in Yountsville.   I believe every room there has its own fireplace.  Our room had one but there was a sign in the FP that said management had voluntarily agreed to not allow fires...   The evidence of the 2020 fires is still too visible and still very sad...

6.  Thanks for this.   It is hard to imagine something as cool as Napa Valley (not referring to temp).   We did venture into the edge of Sonoma County and visited Amici.  One of the guys there had a 125 pound Black Labrador from Poland.  His name was Drake.   Drake loved me giving him a solid 10 minutes of undivided attention and made me miss my three dogs even more....  I think if Drake could talk he would have said "you are missing your dogs right now aren't you LP."

7.  So glad he is at Auburn.  With Keys out and Tolan gone, we are hurting at that position rn. 

[HAPvsOA 448]

5 minutes ago, LPTiger said:

HAP, thanks for your comments.  4.  The problem with the fires was definitely that they had sat for a little while.  They were warm and limp.   I'm not sure how they had the time to sit because they were 20 cars easily in the drive thru and the sit down restaurant was jam packed.   I read about the off menu stuff, but was afraid to go there since we had 9 guys placing 18 orders and one guy on the bus who was not happy that I wanted to stop😀.   I was afraid a special order might delay things.  100% on the price.  I could have paid for everybody in the restaurant and the drive thru and still had 1 to 1.5K left for what I paid at French Laundry Wednesday night....

5.  So glad to hear it is a game day only thing.   I can't imagine not grilling...   Tonight I'm doing BBQ chicken.....   We stayed at the Estate in Yountsville.   I believe every room there has its own fireplace.  Our room had one but there was a sign in the FP that said management had voluntarily agreed to not allow fires...   The evidence of the 2020 fires is still too visible and still very sad...

6.  Thanks for this.   It is hard to imagine something as cool as Napa Valley (not referring to temp).   We did venture into the edge of Sonoma County and visited Amici.  One of the guys there had a 125 pound Black Labrador from Poland.  His name was Drake.   Drake loved me giving him a solid 10 minutes of undivided attention and made me miss my three dogs even more....  I think if Drake could talk he would have said "you are missing your dogs right now aren't you LP."

7.  So glad he is at Auburn.  With Keys out and Tolan gone, we are hurting at that position rn. 

Ha ha, nice! If you ate at the French Laundry and stayed in Yountville, then you're operating in circles much higher than my pay grade, lol! You must have made reservations months in advance or know someone that knows someone. 

And glad that Asante stuck around after not playing much last year. We really need him and Nixon to stay healthy until Keys comes back and adds some more depth. I also though Steiner had a decent game Saturday. 

[LPTiger 5,531]

21 minutes ago, HAPvsOA said:

Ha ha, nice! If you ate at the French Laundry and stayed in Yountville, then you're operating in circles much higher than my pay grade, lol! You must have made reservations months in advance or know someone that knows someone. 

And glad that Asante stuck around after not playing much last year. We really need him and Nixon to stay healthy until Keys comes back and adds some more depth. I also though Steiner had a decent game Saturday. 

Keller did us a solid.  We got a tour of the kitchen -- I counted 25 employees there, a tour of the separate prep kitchen, a tour of the cellar (16,000 bottle capacity) and a private dining area with a 16' pocket door that opened to the courtyard.   He also autographed 10 menus that were dated that night 9/6/23.    Our meal was 15 courses.   Some were off the charts amazing.   All were very good.  Every presentation was unreal.   There is a reason he has so many Michelin stars.   So glad we did it and checked the box.   But it isn't something I would want to do every night even if the price was reasonable.   The staff at the Estate were amazing.   AU probably had 80% of the rooms...   

[HAPvsOA 448]

16 hours ago, LPTiger said:

Keller did us a solid.  We got a tour of the kitchen -- I counted 25 employees there, a tour of the separate prep kitchen, a tour of the cellar (16,000 bottle capacity) and a private dining area with a 16' pocket door that opened to the courtyard.   He also autographed 10 menus that were dated that night 9/6/23.    Our meal was 15 courses.   Some were off the charts amazing.   All were very good.  Every presentation was unreal.   There is a reason he has so many Michelin stars.   So glad we did it and checked the box.   But it isn't something I would want to do every night even if the price was reasonable.   The staff at the Estate were amazing.   AU probably had 80% of the rooms...   

Sounds amazing! 🔥 And no wonder our NIL is so strong. AU fans got disposable 💰💸.

[NoALtiger 4,068]

55 minutes ago, HAPvsOA said:

Sounds amazing! 🔥 And no wonder our NIL is so strong. AU fans got disposable 💰💸.

Work hard, play harder. It’s what we do lol  😎

[LPTiger 5,531]

5 hours ago, HAPvsOA said:

Sounds amazing! 🔥 And no wonder our NIL is so strong. AU fans got disposable 💰💸.

Our crew was really awesome.   2 former Alumni Association Presidents.  1 former Miss Auburn.  20 donors.   20 people who all love Auburn...