“A Quick Austin Visit”
We flew to Austin on Monday afternoon, arriving in time to check into the Carpenter hotel, and then for me to attend a reception in downtown for successors to the Executive Committee members with our Board of Directors. The reception was very nicely done and thankfully didn’t last too long.
We had our three year strategic plan presentation with the Board on Tuesday morning. That went well and our budget was approved. We retired to the Soho House (a private club that our CEO, Lachie, belongs to) for lunch. I had been there once before and while the space is beautiful, was not impressed with the service. The food was very good, and again the service was slow and spotty. Such a shame they can’t get it all together at such a fancy place.
Meanwhile, Lisa and Diana relaxed at the Carpenter pool. They always have such a good time hanging out.
We had planned to be finished with the afternoon event and Blair and I were going to meet Diana and Lisa at the Odd Duck for dinner. The best plans! The group was still going strong at the time of our dinner reservation. Lots of frustrating back and forth ensued on what to do. The Odd Duck didn’t have room for our extras, so Lisa and Diana enjoyed a very yummy dinner there, while the rest of us visited the crazy Tiki bar across the street.
Odd Duck is one of my very favourite Austin spots – so creative and different. Here are some of the pictures that the girls taunted us with as they worked through the menu:
We had some snacks and crazy Tiki drinks:
We met Damon at June’s All Day, our typical last stop in Austin on the way to the airport, for lunch and were home early Wednesday evening.
My excitement on Thursday was getting my teeth cleaned – all looks good – whew! Patience is required for a full set of x-rays.
Diana joined the Krewe for Happy Hour and tacos on Friday night. I was worn out from the Austin trip and took a pass for an early night.
Saturday was a relatively busy day. We started with a visit to NOAC – I had a pleasant swim (timing after the aqua aerobic ladies) and an even more pleasant visit to the steam room.
Diana picked our after workout brunch spot – Paladar 511 in the Marigny. She was pleasantly surprised that I quickly agreed with her first pick. It’s close to eight years since we last ate here, and it’s still very good. Diana had a crab and corn Benedict – the corn cake base was phenomenal, the corn very fresh and the sauce delicious – a wonderful brunch. I had the huevos rancheros – also delicious. I’m going to have to think about my choice for the next place – Paladar will be hard to beat.
After lunch we got our COVID and flu shots. Diana was going to get the shingles shot as well, but they were out of stock – probably a good thing as I had a bad reaction to it and she was looking forward to Greg and Colleen’s pool party on Sunday.
We enjoyed watching the Saints game on Greg’s new outdoor TV by his pool. He cooked burgers and a sweet potato dish – always a very good chef and host. Trey, Lynn, Danny, Chris Peet and Tyler, Claire and Ollie (Greg and Colleen’s one year old grandson) were additions to the normal krewe. Unfortunately both the Saints and Cowboys lost this week. But it’s not about winning – it’s about spending time with friends!
I started Ann Patchett’s “The Patron Saint of Liars” this week. Kindle says I’m only 22% complete – busy week of travel and meetings. This was Patchett’s first novel and I’m enjoying it so far. She will be visiting the Garden District Book Store, across the street, next week. Maybe I’ll pop over and meet her. Here’s the online summary:
“Acclaimed author Ann Patchett’s debut novel, hailed as “beautifully written . . . a first novel that second- and third-time novelists would envy for its grace, insight, and compassion” (Boston Herald)
St. Elizabeth’s, a home for unwed mothers in Habit, Kentucky, usually harbors its residents for only a little while. Not so Rose Clinton, a beautiful, mysterious woman who comes to the home pregnant but not unwed, and stays. She plans to give up her child, thinking she cannot be the mother it needs. But when Cecilia is born, Rose makes a place for herself and her daughter amid St. Elizabeth’s extended family of nuns and an ever-changing collection of pregnant teenage girls. Rose’s past won’t be kept away, though, even by St. Elizabeth’s; she cannot remain untouched by what she has left behind, even as she cannot change who she has become in the leaving.”
Such a great funky feel:
A deep discovery that I love:
I saw Jesse Malin on a morning show this weekend and found this collaboration with the Boss:
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!
I was tracking Hurricane Francine and hoping it wasn’t going to disrupt their plans. They were fortunate as it changed paths to come directly over New Orleans. Our new generator was online and ready to respond to any power outages – we were much luckier than most and didn’t have any issues.
My lucky Cowboys jacket did not serve a good purpose, with the game quickly turning into a blowout for the Saints. You can imagine how much fun it is to be the only Cowboys fan in a house full of Saints fans with a huge lead.
We went for our visit to the NOAC on Saturday morning. I enjoyed a swim (before being ousted by the water aerobics ladies – got to pay attention to the schedule). I treated Diana to brunch at Elizabeth’s in the Bywater area after our visit. This is an excellent brunch restaurant – we loved our “pig candy” (praline bacon) and Florentine benedict with fried oysters.
The “Gentlemen Out At Lunch” club met at Origen Venezuelan Bistro on Tuesday. Denny wasn’t able to join but the rest of the group assembled at the restaurant on St. Claude avenue in the Bywater. Origen was Denny’s suggestion and he insisted that we go ahead without him.
We followed lunch with a visit to BJ’s lounge – just down the street. Oops – getting ahead of myself again. Kenny gave me a quick driving tour on the way. The house he group up in with his eight siblings was three houses down from the restaurant – I got a drive by of that as well as the local schools, including the one where his Dad taught mathematics and French. The tour was really enjoyable. Kenny really has missed his calling. I need to revisit getting him certified to give walking tours of the Garden District.
I tried something new this week – picking up “It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover. This is a romance style novel that Diana had on the kitchen counter to finish. Goodness – I hope all her romances aren’t this dark. The topics are marital and emotional abuse – apparently based on Hoover’s childhood. The writing and characters are so good that I had to finish the book. Certainly not for everyone, although it appears to have topped bestseller lists for several years, and is now a movie.
My martini was served with a side of accoutrements – an oyster, a lemon twist and blue cheese stuffed olives. What a choice.
There was a special memorial show for Nick Daniels III (Dumpstaphunk bass player) at Tipitina’s on Thursday evening. Trombone Shorty and members of Galactic joined the band. Advertised start time was 7pm. I showed up at 7:30 and planned to stay for an hour or so – yeah right! The music started at 9pm and was very good for the short while I lasted. I did have some interesting conversations while we waited – Logan the molecular biologist was one of the more engaging characters.
My book this week was “Go as a River” by Shelley Read. I hadn’t planned on this book and just grabbed it from the kitchen counter as I was leaving for my Austin flight. While this is definitely more of a McD type plot, I really enjoyed the outdoor descriptions and understanding the tragedy of destroying the village.
I didn’t do much until a special event at the Prytania theater on Sunday afternoon. This is a neighbourhood movie theater with just one screen and a ton of old school character. Bruce Spizer is a local Beatles historian who has published several books about their albums and movies. This talk was about “A Hard Day’s Night.” Spizer delivered a multimedia talk for about an hour and then we watched the movie. What a fund way to pass a few hours on a hot afternoon.
My book this week was “The Uptown Local – Joy, Death and Joan Didion” – by Cory Leadbetter.
Diana and Anne had a pool day planned at Merry Lee’s place on Monday. They invited me to join them for lunch at Tacos del Cartel beforehand. This was a wonderful meal in a very pretty restaurant. We started with a delicious ceviche and then I had the birria tacos on the clothesline, while Anne had soft shell crab tacos and Diana some yummy mushroom tacos. All three were fantastic.
After lunch, I was on my own to get home. I thought I’d try the streetcar but couldn’t figure out where the stop was. I did chuckle as the stop was somewhere near Herbsaint restaurant – apparently quite the power lunch spot as there were dueling Ferraris outside.
McD was talked into a quick jazz outing to Dos Jefes on Thursday night. The Mark Coleman band was playing – Mark is our friend Chris Henry’s (tennis coach) piano teacher. John Fohl sat in on guitar.
A guy came to the door on Friday to tell me that Entergy (local energy company) was going to be trimming trees away from the electric lines and did I know who the parked cars belonged to. I had no idea. Turns out a raft of trucks from all over were involved in this operation, with no clear leader. We saw trucks from Texas and other locations – quite disorganized. Would have been good to have some advance warning before we went out shopping and then couldn’t get back into the street. I watched the tree chipper burn up and then we waited on the replacement to roll in. All was cleared up before Denny picked us up for Anne’s birthday dinner. We had a card and gift for Anne to open before everything got busy:
And what a wonderful birthday dinner Denny had organized. Acamaya (Spanish for crawfish) was excellent. Ana Castro has previously had excellent Mexican restaurants in New Orleans – Lingua Madre was her high end tasting menu at what is now Wild South. 
My book this week was “The Women” by Kristin Hannah. This was a quick and easy read. The reaction to Vietnam heroes returning from war took me by surprise. Can Americans be so callous? Here’s the online synopsis:
Diana had two options for Happy Hour on Friday – The Bower or The Library, both new places for us. She opted for The Bower. Kenny joined us initially with Anne and then Kara joining later. We enjoyed the drinks and Happy Hour snacks very much, and had a great private seating area in the front window.
The Bower was followed with a quick stop into Pete’s bar (just down the street). They always have some fun games to entertain us – this time a basketball thing that took some skill.
On Saturday we made a visit to the Alker distillery on Oak street. It was the grand opening event and the distiller is the son of Peggy’s college roommate. We picked up Anne and met Peg there. The girls reported that their cosmopolitans were the best they have had. It will be interesting to see how this place does.
I finally finished the massive, 950 page book that is “Southern Man” this week.
A trip to Austin on Tuesday brought my first visit to the office in a while. Really wanting to accomplish this in a day trip, I left the house early and arrived home very late – an overnight hotel might have been a better idea. I enjoyed my favourite breakfast taco from Taco Deli on arrival in Austin airport, and then a negroni and snack from Juliet Italian restaurant on the way to the airport in the evening. Lunch wasn’t such a successful endeavour – something just didn’t sit right in my tummy.
Trey invited us to meet his new “hound”, Scout, on Wednesday night at Picnic restaurant. This was a new experience for us, having driven past many times. Trey’s friend, Nina, provided some lovely musical accompaniment. Picnic has a very reasonable Happy Hour and also some more healthy snacks than their well known fried chicken.
The clubhouse at the golf course in Audubon park was recently acquired by the Brennan restaurant group, and we had been talking about trying it. Happy Hour on Friday seemed like a good opportunity. The krewe was quickly assembled – Thom, Kenny, Fred and Kelly. Unfortunately the kitchen closed early on Fridays and the bar was only open until 5pm – poor research on our part. No problem – it was a short drive to the wonderful Happy Hour at Chaise Delachaise. Our table was only available for a short while, so we met Kara and Nina at the Kirsch home and had an enjoyable visit.
Diana joined Kara for yoga in the City Park sculpture garden on Saturday morning, while Kenny and I had a walk around. There’s always something to be learned when you go on a walk with Kenny – he retains so much historical information. McD was a bit disturbed to notice this gator swimming under a bridge they used in the garden.
A treat was earned after the “gator fright” and so we visited Leo’s bakery – new to us and tucked off where we would never have found it. That’s one of the beautiful things about New Orleans – all these little gems hidden away in neighbourhoods. The croissants were amazing.
More time was spent on the short essays in Ann Patchett’s “These Precious Days.” Last week, I found the essays of mixed enjoyment and this week I’ve enjoyed every one that I read quite a bit – maybe I’m just in a better mood? I recommend this collection a lot.
On Monday we drove through to Currie (just outside of Edinburgh and next to the Heriot Watt University campus where I spent the first year of my university career) to meet up with Bobby, a classmate and part of the small group that hung out together so many years ago. It’s close to 40 years since I last saw Bobby.
After a lovely lunch, Bobby invited us back to his home to meet his wife, Kirsty. She is also a musician and teaches violin in the Currie and Balerno school systems.
We had invited Mum to lunch at the Laird’s Table restaurant outside of Fenwick and asked if she would like to include a friend or two. She decided on the Dunlops and we were very happy to include them – always entertaining.
After lunch we made a quick stop at the Crown and Anchor before sitting for way too long in traffic on the bridge over the Mississippi. One final stop at the Milan Lounge to play along with Jeopardy on their TV (it’s a regular thing there every day).
