June 2007                                                

The Matchbook Traveler                                                                                           by Jeffrey Williams

Saturday June 2, 2007, my wife and I flew to San Diego on the early morning flight that ended up leaving mid-morning. After arriving an hour-and-a-half late, then waiting 45 minutes in line at the Hertz rental counter, we were on our way to Orange County for our nephew’s wedding on Sunday. First stop was at the Poseidon Restaurant in Del Mar. It was a great lunch right on the beach. The weather was a bit chilly and windy at 65 degrees but that did not detract from the meal. And, yes, the Poseidon still has matches with its name which it shares with the Del Mar Motel next door.

On to the city of Orange where we stayed for the wedding. No matches to be found at our hotel and at various restaurants. The wedding went off nicely on Sunday and we headed out of Orange on Monday. After a stop at the Tucker Wild Bird Sanctuary in Modjeska (which happened to be closed on Mondays but a couple of trails were accessible), we headed to Riverside. Lunch at the Mission Inn was a real treat. At the end of the meal, when we asked for matchbooks, our waiter said the inn did not have matches with its name and has never seen any. While waiting for my wife in the lobby, I mentioned the lack of matches at the front desk. She said, “We have them right here.” And handed me two matchbooks. I found our waiter and let him know, good naturedly, that, hey, I found some. Two for two for the Web site. Zero for three on our own.

Now we headed to Big Bear Lake for two nights. Up the winding Route 18 we drove, with scenic vista after scenic vista. Traffic was heavy as, by now, it was rush hour (we lingered at the Mission Inn, plus there was a traffic jam on the freeway getting to Riverside) but it moved fast even around the curves. We made it to Big Bear Lake to stay at the Golden Bear Cottages. Quaint cottages amongst the pine trees complete with fireplaces and still has matchbooks with its name. For dinner, we tried the pub at the Robinhood Resort in the village. A nice meal but no matchbooks. I tried the front desk. The evening clerk said he has seen them but couldn’t find any, looking everywhere. (I even stopped the next morning but the day clerk looked and brusquely announced, “They’re gone,” and walked away.) For an after dinner drink, we stopped at Chad’s Place -- a must if you are in Big Bear Lake. Great bartender plus matchbooks with its name. Five for six for matchbookreview.com. Still zero for three on our own.

The next morning, we tried the Northwoods Resort in the village. Very nice breakfast plus friendly waitresses who gave us pointers for seeing the area. And, yes, it still has matchbooks with its name. We drove around the area, took pictures and ended up in Arrowbear for lunch. No matches here. For dinner, we tried one of the highly-touted restaurants in Big Bear Lake. No matches again. We missed taking our sunset pictures given our timing for dinner. But it was only around 50 degrees and windy. The term wind chill came to mind. But, given that my fish dinner was suffering from lemon overkill, I would rather have been freezing trying to take a sunset picture. My wife said her fish was prepared perfectly. We had to park a block away from the place we were going to have a drink. It was so cold, we turned back to the car and stopped along the way for donuts to take back to our cabin. Breakfast the next morning also found us without additional matches. Completing our stay at Big Bear Lake, it is six for seven for the Web site; zero for five on our own on the trip, so far.

The next morning we had an excellent breakfast but no matchbooks. Today it was the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up Mt. San Jacinto. For only $22 a piece, we got to ride in a rotating tram virtually straight up the mountain. At this time of year, it is not crowded so the viewing was fantastic. Great views from the mountain, too. We thought this was going to be a little too touristy but, no, it was much fun. The trip down was just as great. For lunch we decided on the Kaiser Grille in downtown Palm Springs. Though it wasn’t currently listed on the Web site, it had been in the past -- just not recently enough to still be listed. Lunch was excellent plus there were matchboxes with the six locations of the four Kaiser Group restaurants. In one of the parking lots behind the Kaiser Grille, the burros and the mule for the rides at the festival downtown (every Thursday) were getting bathed. More pictures and, yes, they were the cutest. At dinner, we got to walk Palm Canyon Drive and enjoy the booths, singers, magicians, etc., lining the street for the festival. And we saw the burros giving rides to kids. Time for a drink, so we stopped at the Matchbox. In response to what must be the usual question, “Does the Matchbox have matchboxes with its name?” the bartender said it did but was running out. He did find one used matchbox. A used one is better than none. For dinner, we went next door to The Falls, a good steakhouse with a large bar that also has matches with its name. Turning in for the night, we are now eleven for twelve for matchbookreview and zero for seven on our own.

Again, no matches at breakfast. Leaving Palm Springs on Friday, we stopped at the Agua Caliente Casino where we won back what we lost at its sister casino plus a little more. We also picked up a few more matchbooks -- same as at Spa Casino but no “Paradise Jackpots” matchbooks. Next stop was the Spotlight29 Casino also along I-10. It, too, was once listed in matchbookreview.com when it was managed by Trump. It now has a nice box and is worth a stop. Pushing on to the Salton Sea, we saw billboards advertising, I believe, the Red Earth Casino. All of a sudden, next to a convenience store at one of the exits, we saw a small building with a cloth banner “Casino Open.” Imagine opening a casino without signs letting travelers know it is at the next exit! We kept going rather than turn around and check it out. Finally, we found a place for lunch in Salton City. Pretty good food at a brand new place but no matches. The Salton Sea is huge and it appears from the local newspaper in Palm Springs that conservation steps are finally going to be taken to preserve it.

Driving inland to Borrego Springs, it is very scenic with badlands terrain. Borrego Springs is in the heart of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Too hot to do any significant hiking at this time of year, but awesome to drive through. No matches at our resort hotel or at a local restaurant. At this point in the matchbook count, we are now thirteen for fourteen for the Web site and zero for eleven on our own.

Time to head to the San Diego area. First stop is Casino Pauma in Pauma Valley. This is a smaller casino but it has a nice multi-color thirty-strike matchbook. Looking for a place to eat lunch, we arrived at Harrah’s Rincon north of Valley Center. Checking out the bar tv for the Belmont Stakes, we decided to eat at Harrah’s. Decent food, nice matchbooks (not the usual stock Harrah‘s), and a good horse race. Down the road in Valley Center is the Valley View Casino. We found nice matchboxes with the casino name on one side and the Black & Blue Steakhouse on the other. Enough fun, now the drive to Coronado for the final nights of our stay. Sorry to say, no matches at our motel or at the restaurant where we had a late dinner in Coronado. This makes it sixteen for seventeen for the Web site and zero for thirteen on our own.

Sunday in Coronado found us at McP’s for lunch. Great Irish pub food, matchbooks, and inexpensive, to boot. Some time around the motel pool, then a drive along Coronado Beach, then Silver Strand Beach to Imperial Beach. Our restaurant on the way back to the motel did not have matches with its name. Two expensive dinners two nights in a row and no matchbooks. Monday we had better luck. The Hotel del Coronado had matchbooks with its name. We asked at the restaurant if we had lunch there if we could get matches with the hotel’s name. The guy at the entrance said, “You might have better luck with the bartender.” So, we went across the way and the bartender was very accommodating with a book of matches. No need to pay at least $50 for lunch for two with a side of attitude. Next time we are in Coronado, we will stop at the Hotel Del for a drink. We did have a very good sundae and a milk shake at Moo Time in the Del. Dessert first on this day. We then stopped for lunch at an Italian restaurant that also did not have matchbooks.

In the afternoon we stopped at the UPS Store to ship our matchbooks and matchboxes home. This is what I recommend to people who do not want to take the matches out of the books before flying home. The box was $3+ and shipping was just shy of $10. This was Monday and the anticipated delivery date via UPS ground was Friday. (Matchbooks must go ground.) Sure enough, on Friday the UPS truck drove up and delivered our matchbooks/matchboxes. The system worked. After UPS, we headed to Balboa Park in San Diego. Lots of nice things to do there. We concentrated on the rose garden and the desert garden. We did not have time for the world-famous zoo on this trip. After Balboa Park, we drove to a restaurant called Fifth and Hawthorn noted on the Web site. It was out of business -- always a risk. Our backup was Red Sails Inn at Shelter Island near the airport. The food was good and the prices excellent and it had matchbooks with its name. Beat the two expensive places in Coronado. We later took the overnight flight to Philadelphia. A couple of matchbooks are allowed on flights. We were disappointed at our last breakfast stop, though. The Newton Diner in Oaklyn, New Jersey, no longer has matchbooks with its name.