Our guest post comes from Howard Hian, who writes at Travels with Hian. Howard is a regular contributor to The Military Press, a California semi-monthly journal. His travel features can also be found online monthly at Travel Savvy News. Additionally, he is a regular guest commentator at On Tour with Dave and Carmel broadcasting from Sacramento, CA.
We had to plan our escape carefully. We started by wandering through the hotel for ideas. Since poker is a passion, the card room was a logical stop. Fortunately, there was a Hold ‘em tournament just beginning and a chair was open. It was a $30 buy-in, there were nine tables and the participants were a mixture of hotel guests and regulars. Free coffee, water and soft drinks were available for the players, as well as a platter of donuts. The game began promptly and after a good start, including quad queens, by noon I was short-stacked. I shoved all-in with an ace-jack suited, but lost when the hand didn’t pair up. I finished out of the money (missed the final table by one) but it was an excellent start to the day.
We decided that a visit to the spa would be the perfect way to end our adventure. In 2010, the Spa at Atlantis was listed in the SpaFinders Reader’s Choice awards. Upon entering, we were transported to a zone of tranquility. We “took the waters” at the Aqua Lounge, then rested in the Laconium Relaxation area and finished with a superb hot-stone massage. Now we understand why the Spa won its award.
Reluctantly, we realized it was time to end our getaway and head back to the conference’s closing ceremony. But I was content knowing that, in the course of our day playing hooky, we discovered Atlantis.