September 30, 1996: Atlanta, GA
(about Sacramento)

Hey Everybody, Russell here.

I've got to be honest, Sacramento has a lot gong for it, not the least of which is an almost ludicrous lack of clouds, but it doesn't quite cut the mustard! It just doesn't compare to Atlanta or San Francisco. I realize it is much smaller, but .. oh well this isn't suppose to be a critique of the city.

On Saturday I was able to roller blade around Sacramento State University. It was pretty cool. There is an enormous river park dedicated to bikers and pedestrians, unfortunately they want nothing to do with bladers.... :-(

I missed my flight on Delta and begged any other airline to send me home to my beloved Kristine. Finally, American Airlines took mercy on me and got me home before 12:00 midnight. All the other airlines could do was put me on a red-eye flight!

I did find some really good restaurants in Sac-Of-Tomatoes (as the CTG Internet Practice fearless leader Todd refers to it).

White Swan

This place is on Howe Ave, and its specialty is Mongolian BBQ. Now I have to admit that I was quite the Mongolian Neophyte when I arrived. A guy I met at work named Ashe (thats short for a long name ??) recommended it, and I figured ' when in Rome' and all....

It was fantastic. You go to a buffet style bar and pick out the vegetables and meats that you want. Pour some sauce and seasonings into the bowl and hand it to some very large mongul chefs that work there. The oven is actually a large round heating element that the chef walks around several times, dragging your food along for the ride until its done. Your chef scoops the food back into your bowl using a method that normal humans cannot hope to master.

Centro

This is a hip tex-mex restaurant somewhere in Sacramento's version of alphabet city. It's also the one of the hottest (non-club) night-life spots (as far as I could tell). They have the greatest burrito ever! Its has Potato, tomato, chili, cilantro, etc.. and it comes with black beans. I would recommendgetting the pinto beans if you are not a big black bean fan.

BTW - Sacramento is evidently the Tomato capital of the Northern Hemisphere! When you drive away from the airport the first thing that you see is tomatoes on the sides of Interstate 5 (they've fallen off very large trucks!)

Well, I'm going back to Sack-o-tomatoes next week, but next month the little woman and I are off to Auckland, New Zealand!!

You know Arthur, when evil is afoot and you don't have any arms, you gotta use your head. And when evil is ahead and you're behind you gotta do the legwork. But when you can't get a leg up, you gotta be hip...
- The Tick