“Miami Beach Strategery”
We flew to Miami on Monday afternoon, checked into the Lifehouse hotel, and met up with Chickie (our majority shareholder’s son) for Happy Hour at the South Pointe tavern.
This is what the hotel website says about the history of the hotel:
“In the 1920s, Miami Beach’s first commercial strip, Española Way, became an artists’ colony. Creative types seeking life by the sea moved to the city in droves, including an artist who discovered a unique Tudor home in the South of the Fifth neighborhood. We transformed their eclectic beach cottage, now a landmark, into a House that’s only steps from the ocean, yet far enough away from the noise of South Beach tourists.”
We had been skeptical about the hotel and our “Writer’s Suite”, but everything worked out very well.
After Happy Hour, Chickie had us booked in for an impossible table at Carbone. Probably one of the best Italian meals that I’ve ever enjoyed. Wonderful, old school service and every single dish an amazing treat.
Tuna tartare, beef carpaccio, various salads, amazing pastas, steaks, and on and on. Just a wonderful meal and experience all around. I would love to do it again. We are so spoiled at these company events.
Tuesday began with breakfast at the Patio at the Continuum, our majority shareholder, Phil’s, residence community. Everything was delicious, as always.
We migrated form there to Phil’s condo and began our strategic discussions. Those lasted a few hours, and then it was time for lunch, back at the Patio. Everything went very well with the strategery, which led to a lot of fun at lunch and dinner.
The fig and prosciutto sourdough pizza that we shared was ridiculous. As was the truffle carpaccio.
Meanwhile, a little further up the beach, Lisa and Diana were enjoying their pool and beach time.
I’m very pleased that they had so much time together while we pretended to work a bit.
The girls joined us for drinks before dinner on Phil and Maria’s fourth floor terrace. It’s entertaining to view the size of the cruise ships that roll past the terrace. Oh, and I do enjoy a work environment where shorts and flip flops are perfectly acceptable.
Blair called an audible for dinner on Tuesday night – he really wanted to sit on the waterfront at Smith and Wollensky. This is a very popular place and so Chickie was deployed to negotiate a last minute prime table. Of course he was successful as you can see below:
The views out onto the water and over to the lights of downtown Miami were quite something. I enjoyed the custom martini glass:
How many senior executives does it take to order wine, and how long will they ponder? At least two and what seemed like ten minutes or more:
We slept in on Wednesday morning and opted for a walk along the beach front road rather than breakfast. I enjoy the art deco style hotels and the vintage cars parked in front of them. Kenny got a kick out of the old “Fire Dept” vehicle.
We had a coffee and then found a Cuban restaurant (they seem to be on every corner) for lunch. I chose this one based on the positive reviews of their octopus dish.
The octopus did not disappoint – completely fresh and delicious. We really couldn’t face another heavy meal, passing on the Cubano sandwich that I would typically have ordered.
Travel home to New Orleans on Wednesday evening was smooth. I knew Diana was tired and not at all hungry on Thursday evening when she passed up an invitation for oysters with Anne.
We had planned on an outdoor concert at the Broadside on Friday evening but the weather was a bit bleak and dreary and we were still tired from our travels. I was sorry to miss the event and there will be plenty more in the near future as the weather warms up.
I convinced Diana to attend the NOLA Gold rugby match on Saturday afternoon. I had made the mistake of having her watch some of the Six Nations series on Netflix. “It’s a very violent sport, not something I’m sure I want to go and watch.”
McD reported enjoying the event a lot more than she expected to. The entertainment around the game was well done – kind of like attending a minor league baseball game. Big Sam’s Funky Nation performed before the game and at halftime. He marched up and down the roof of the baseball dugout (the field used to be the home of the local baseball team.)
There were a lot of kids in attendance and they enjoyed interacting with King Creole.
We had great seats and they were quite affordable – $25 for two. The first half was pretty boring, and things picked up in the second with two tries from NOLA Gold to win.
I forgot to mention that the opposition was Old Glory from Washington, DC. Here’s the upcoming schedule. This was the kickoff game for the season.
Our neighbor, Hugh, is an investor in NOLA Gold, and had told me that the commentator would briefly explain the reasons for penalties and other rules, so that folks unfamiliar with rugby could learn and follow along better. The overall goal being to encourage return customers. The commentator did a good job of that, while not talking over the play.
This was a good afternoon of entertainment and I look forward to doing it again in the future.
We watched a good film on Saturday night, “Dreamin’ Wild” is based on the true story of Donnie and Joe Emerson, who released an album when they were 16 and 17 years old. It didn’t generate much interest at the time, and then was found 30 years later by a company that finds hidden gems and re-releases them.
Donnie wrote the music, played the majority of the instruments, and produced the record, all in a small shack that his father built on his farm. The real album is available on Spotify:
Casey Affleck plays the older Donnie, and gives a typically nuanced performance. I recommend this movie to any music lovers.
We’re just back from a walk and run in Audubon park – the weather is so nice today. It is not forecast to be so pleasant over the next couple of days – rain storms coming.
Most of the guys from the local krewe are skiing and snowboarding in Colorado today. I’m waiting for video of Thom taking his first snowboarding lesson. I would have liked to join them, but it would have been too much on the heels of the Miami trip.
I started “Come and Get It” by Kiley Reid on the short flights to Miami and back. I loved “Such a Fun Age” and am enjoying this one so far. I haven’t reached the key part of the story yet. Here’s the online summary:
“From the celebrated New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age comes a fresh and provocative story about a residential assistant and her messy entanglement with a professor and three unruly students.
It’s 2017 at the University of Arkansas. Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant, wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house. So when Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer, offers Millie an easy yet unusual opportunity, she jumps at the chance. But Millie’s starry-eyed hustle becomes jeopardized by odd new friends, vengeful dorm pranks, and illicit intrigue.
A fresh and intimate portrait of desire, consumption, and reckless abandon, Come and Get It is a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior—and the highly anticipated new novel by acclaimed and award-winning author Kiley Reid.”
Here’s a song from the large band that we missed on Friday night:
Something from the excellent new Julian Lage album:
Something from our local hero:
And finally some 70s cool (12 minutes of it):
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!
As a thank you, I drove Denny, Anne and Thom over to Hammond for the state soccer final on Thursday night. Jack is an assistant coach for the Willow school – he and Mason won the state championship a few years ago at that school (called Lusher at the time.)
Saturday was a gorgeous day – 74 degrees and no humidity. Perfect for the kickoff of the Kingpin bar Saturday music series. This is a local bar that showcases music out front and encourages folks to bring chairs to set up in the small park out front. This week was the Bessarabia brass band:
For the first time, I got the blue ribbon across the table to indicate “regular patrons.” The roaming jazz band was very good and took a lot of requests. Here’s a video:
A week or two ago, it seemed like a good idea to make a reservation at a local restaurant for Valentine’s dinner. We stuck to it and enjoyed an early meal at Beggar’s Banquet – just down the street on Prytania. The mushroom toast was amazing, and the rest of the offerings were “fine.” That’ll teach me to be an amateur and go out to eat on the actual Valentine’s day.
I walked down to District for breakfast on Saturday morning – they have really excellent breakfast biscuits – not sure if I prefer them to Gracious bakery or not. The ambience is a lot nicer.
Kenny and Kara joined me for brunch at Mister Mao’s on Sunday. Diana thinks the food there is too spicy, and so I decided to give it a try while she was out of town. The food was very good, the San Francisco garlic noodles were my favourite, and nothing was overly spicy this time.
Diana and I met Gary, one of our Board members, at Commanders Palace briefly on the engagement evening. They invited us to join for dinner, but there’s only so many times in a short period that you can eat there, and we had all the parade excitement to return to.
are appropriately decorated. Next week I’ll share a picture of the Mardi Gras flag and decorations that we have on the front of the house. Right when we arrived at Jefferson Ave., about 1.5 miles from home, the heavens opened. I had just a t-shirt and jeans on and got completely drenched very quickly. We ducked under the library porch and waited for the heaviest rain to pass. I was hoping to jump a streetcar back to Washington Ave., but none came. Oh well, let’s make the 1.5 mile trek home in the drizzle and light rain. I did check the forecast and radar minutes before our walk – how can a huge downpour be missed like that?
I was reading some New Orleans history – particularly about some of the great writers who have lived here. Most notably, Tennessee Williams, who wrote “A Streetcar Named Desire” while living here and remained until his death. And of course, Anne Rice and her vampire novels, written in a house just around the corner from us. I was taken with an explanation of where the title, “A Confederacy of Dunces” , came from. This is the title of a well known New Orleans based book by John Kennedy Toole. The book’s title comes from
I really didn’t love “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.” I tried, given so many number one best of the year reviews. Way too many insignificant and underdeveloped characters – I almost had to make a chart to keep up with them all. The main characters in a story like this need to be more fully developed. I almost felt like McBride was trying to appeal to every ethnic and religious group. Did any of you really enjoy this book?
I sampled a decent amount of “Let Us Descend” by Jesmyn Ward. Really not my scene at all.
I walked over to Aidan Gill’s for a haircut on Friday, and followed that by stopping in to try the Latin American restaurant across the street. Maya’s is a small place that I see each time I’m down on that part of Magazine, but had never tried. Their empanadas were good, and the large plates that other folks were having looked great.
Carnival/Mardi Gras season started on Saturday evening (Twelfth Night.) The first event is the Phunny Phorty Phellows and the Funky Uptown Crew riding streetcars and celebrating. We walked the 100 feet down to St. Charles and enjoyed the revelry. Some neighbors had hired a brass band to celebrate with the Krewes. Here are some videos.
I’m almost finished with “Wellness.” Here are some passages that I enjoyed so far. This is funny because Diana has some different features in each ear:
The gift exchange was entertaining. Gianluca is getting concerned about his appearance and totally owned the “Bro Glo” self tanning cream that we selected from his list.
The Italian shop was classic old school. Very friendly and helpful folks, with what appeared to be an excellent sandwich counter. The lady kindly helped me carry the trays out to the car. All of the food was excellent and well received by the Krewe.
I watched some of the Sugar Bowl parade in the afternoon and was amazed that those guys were brave enough to march Bevo, the longhorn mascot, through such large and boisterous crowds. He didn’t seem phased at all.
We had a bit of an “oopsy” with the birthday cake. I joked to McD that she should blow it out. She did, with sparks flying towards my shirt. The waiter was quite concerned. No damage done and the Chief didn’t need to take any action.
After all that excitement, we proceeded to open Christmas stockings and gifts. I had been telling Kara, at dinner, about the silly high-end Italian oven that doesn’t even tell you the temperature it has reached or alert you when it gets to the right temperature. She suggested I get one of the thermometers that hang in the oven – great idea. An hour or so later and Santa had taken care of it for me.
We loved these Scottish pillows from my Mum. They’ll be fun for visitors to try to interpret. Mum also couldn’t resist another penguin friend for BP.
I “helped” Adamo assemble Frankie’s bike on Christmas Eve.
I had a haircut at Aidan Gill on Tuesday morning. I always like to pop next door to Juan’s Flying Burrito for lunch afterwards. I asked Diana if she’d like to join me, and she walked over. I forgot to mention that Aidan Gill’s was about a fifteen minute walk for me. It’s so nice to be able to walk to so many things. Juan’s is Timmy’s favourite place to eat and so we tortured him with pictures of our food and drinks.
We had been looking forward to trying Dakar NOLA for dinner on Saturday night. This West African and Senegalese restaurant serves a seven course tasting menu in one seating per night at 7pm. The chef and restaurant have won many awards over the last year or so:
Sunday was Kenny’s (The Chief) birthday. We celebrated by attending James Booker fest at the Maple Leaf. What a great group of New Orleans piano players paying tribute to the legendary guy who, along with Professor Longhair, started it all.
Some pretty flowers have emerged on the side of our house. Not sure what kind they are.
This was an excellent week of reading. “The Guncle” by Steven Rowley is one of my favourites in a long, long time. Alternating between laugh out loud humour and tear jerking sadness from one paragraph to the next, this is a writer at the very top of his game. I loved this book. I didn’t carry the hardback with me and so don’t have the quotations that I wanted to share. Here’s the online summary:
