I went down a couple of days early, cause I had never been there before. And, I planned to stay a day later. It rained the entire stay. The downtown restaurants were closed on the weekend, or not worth going to. And, the Casino Barge was down for maintenance.

The best part of the trip was the drive back to San Antonio to catch a flight home. I arrived early, and went to see the Alamo, after I checked my baggage and balls at the airport.

I got on my flight, and came home, only to find my luggage and balls were not on the flight. They caught another, so it wasn't a loss. Just 3 hours waiting for my stuff to arrive.

The town was depressing. Closed store fronts, boarded up windows.

The most excitement I had was that was the weekend was that VP Cheney shot his friend while hunting, and he was taken to the Hospital right down the street. Secret Service and Police blocked the streets, while he was being transferred in. Loved being holed up in the Holiday Inn, on the water, while it was raining. The Hotel was empty. The food terrible. And, it was dull and dreary the whole trip.

I'm sorry you had a bad time, I wouldn't blame the town because it rained the whole time.

I stayed on Padre island on the water and had a great time, the food was great, some of the best seafood I have had, sun was out the whole time, I had the opposite time that you had.

I can't say that I had a bad time at any of the places I've been to. This year me and my wife lost close to a grand in the casino. But she also had an unknown atr the time stress fraqcture on her heal so we were not able to walk around like we wanted to at night. The last last time it was in Reno, I won enought to buy a new ball and a 4 ball bag. I'm not much on really going out and drinking since I don't drink so the bars and clubs aren't places I'd go to. I do look to see if there are any concerts going on near where I am.

I do the same thing, last year we went and saw Dane Cook, the year before we saw Bob Saget.

I'm probably not going this year unless a miracle happens and I can bowl again.

If it is ever held in Vegas again, I WILL NOT go. Outrageously expensive and oppresively hot. It was in the 120s when we were there which made it miserable to go anywhere whether by car or foot.

Its difficult to find a venue that can provide the space for the length of time Nationals needs it.

Erin

I know what you mean, I bowled in the mega buck tournaments one summer, it was 136 in the parking lot, I could feel myself cooking.

Corpus for my group was a blast. We rented a townhome on Padre. We had a 3 bedroom place for 4 of us (2 full baths). We were 20 minutes from the bowl. We were right by a marina. Other friends of ours were less than 5 minutes away. We partied between our places. The other place was right on the beach. On the last full day there, we bowled the 7am D/S squad. When we were done, we went to the dog track. Had an absolute blast. Then went out for a great seafood dinner.

Vegas for me was fun but I would do things differently if I went there again. We had a free hotel off of the strip. Taking the shuttle was a pain and by the time I was getting back to the hotel, I was taking a cab most nights (I should say mornings). On top of that, one of the guys I bowled with got married out there. We were busy doing wedding stuff a good portion of time.

Bowling and the heat were a different story. I had a real hard time getting my fingers/thumb in my equipment. Before we bowled D/S, I had my hand in a bucket of ice on and off for an hour. I about used easy slide on my hand. That is how bad it was. The bowl wasn't that hot but my body was not taking well to the heat.

I guess my party was the only one to not have fun in Corpus. See, there just wasn't anything to do if you don't drink. And few of us do.

With the Casino barge being down for the weekend, the place was dead.

If you can get a date in the spring, that's much better. I walked around downtown, and even from the Golden Nugget where I stayed to the Convention Center, and it was very comfortable. I can understand it being hotter in the summer, but springtime was great.

It would be nice if it were ever to come within half a country of the north east.