Global Entry vs. the real thing: even with the rather long
line, it made 5, maybe 10 minutes difference. lili and I
were supposed to meet at the restrooms at the end of the
bag claim, so I went straight on there. I waited for 5 or so
when someone informed me that the ladies' room was out of
service. So I wandered around and eventually went outside
to see if she had left. The door guard guy understandably
wouldn't let me back in but let me stay just outside and
peer in. At some point, getting tired of this, I collared a
UA employee whose badge had the promising word "Beer" on it
to go inside and check the vicinity of the ladies' room -
she came back reporting negative, so, not having much better
to do, I stayed put. 15 minutes later I saw lili pacing just
inside the secured area as I was pacing outside, and after a
joyful reunion we went on to the Hilton, where I got what
was called a junior suite: actually a huge and featureless
room with the ordinary furniture spread out on the edges, an
architectural and interior decorative enigma. Despite the
size of the living area, it had a smallish bathroom.
We were supposed to meet my friend the Dodger for dinner at
six; he was quite late, but that didn't detract from the
pleasure of seeing him. As we were on that side of the hotel
and kind of tired of Andiamo (which I persist in calling
Andale), we headed for the Gaslight Club, which is less
crowded and has better food. A throwback to the days when
men went to man caves for their steaks and Bourbon and
cigars, this is one of the last bastions of a genre that was
epitomized by the Playboy Club in the '60s and '70s.
Our waitress was appropriately buxom and scantily clad, the
Russian bartenders or managers or whatever appropriately
adding just a touch of thuglike menace the way a shake of
hot sauce adds to an omelet.
lili had the filet, which was done as ordered, tasty, and
tender. To test my hypothesis that Wiener Schnitzel is
better the farther you are from Vienna, I had one: it was
pretty good. The Dodger deemed the duck breast excellent.
The bill was not too huge, even with various drinks at the
usual absurd markups.