More walking, more eating in Reno. May Trip to Reno, Part 11; May 15-16, 2014

On my second day wandering the streets of Reno, I stopped by the Amtrak station hopeful for a last minute upgrade from coach to sleeper to Salt Lake City. The difference was close to $200 when I made the original ticket purchase, but sometimes the price will drop just before travel date. In this instance I was able to upgrade for only $55.

Later in the morning I perused the selection of antiques and collectables for sale at Junkee Clothing Exchange on S. Virginia.

At Junkee, from left: Bullshit repellant; The 'clown' is creepy; I had this Padme Amidala figure once.

At Junkee, from left: Awesome artwork by Reno artist Joe C. Rock; Bearcats band uniform; PEZ Hulk.

Meeting up with Yvonne for lunch at The Cheese Board, Yvonne ordered the Tri Plate – cream of asparagus soup, a grilled cheese sandwich, and salad; I tried the Cheese Plate with fruit, grapes, almonds, ancho chili jam, crackers, and a balsamic reduction drizzle. The food was decent enough, but places that require me to read a not-so-obvious sign to explain “how-to-order and take-a-seat” rather piss me off.

At The Cheese Board in Reno, from left: The Tri Plate, and the Cheese Plate.

I finished off the afternoon with cocktails at my favorite Reno watering hole, The Patio.

The next morning I walked into town instead of hitching a ride with Yvonne. Needing a pick-me-up along the way I scored a bacon, egg and cheese taquito at the sleepy 7-Eleven on Geiger Grade. Mmm, good taquito.

The walk to the nearest bus stop took about an hour. The route, hoofing down the shoulders of several busy highways, as sidewalks were infrequent, wasn’t exactly ideal. Even then it took a bus transfer at Meadowood Mall to get downtown.

I settled into the Little Nugget for some video poker and some comped liquid breakfast, i.e. a pair of Bloody Marys. Later at Val's Midtown Lounge I swill down a Budweiser with a yellow-tinged pickled egg.

From left: Liquid breakfast at The Little Nugget; signage outside Val's Midtown Lounge; a pickled egg at Val's.

Lunch at Brickie’s Tavern was a solid affair with a Big Brickie 1/2 lb. burger with The Works – Ortega chile, bacon, and choice of cheese. A side of housemade potato salad was chunky, flavorful, and awe-inspiring. Worth falling off the low-carb wagon. The burger would have been pretty darn good if I had not asked for it well done. It sported an excessive amount of char. If I had said nothing I'm sure it would have been fine otherwise.

At Brickie's Tavern in Reno: I love these plate rests that lie across the elbow rest; a Big Brickie 1/2 lb. burger with The Works plus a side of housemade potato salad.

For dinner, Yvonne and I want to Daughter's Cafe for a Gold Rush themed lecture and dinner featuring steak, a Hangtown fry (eggs scrambled with bacon and oysters), smashed potatoes, salad, and apple pie with whipped cream and berries. The lecture was a less successful affair, bespoiled with too much backstory on the history of gold, and the personal history of the presenter not related to the subject matter. It ran quite late into the evening, and not worth revisiting even for such a unique repast.

Gold Rush themed dinner at Daughter's Cafe.