Category: Travel

“The Beatnik, Ocean Springs – Happy 60th Anne!”

I treated Diana to Happy Hour oysters at Superior Seafood on Tuesday.  We sat at the bar and first saw Fred enter with a guy who was assessing him for his psychiatry accreditation (we didn’t blow it for him), and then our neighbors Britney, Tony and little Auggie, Britney telling Diana that she and Tony met at Superior years ago – she was his waitress.  Me thinks a bit more investigation of that story is needed.

I attended Dat Dog trivia after oysters and we had a mediocre fifth place win – my contribution was also mediocre.  We need to pick up our game!  Anne and Kara joined for the second half and might have been a bit of a disruptive distraction, depending on one’s point of view.

Anne’s sixtieth birthday was a couple of months ago, and Denny had presented her with a certificate for a beach getaway.  We picked up Kenny and Kara, made the ninety minute drive to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and rendezvoused with Fred and Kelly to surprise Anne at the Beatnik.

This is a motel with four units, a pool, firepit and nice seating areas.  Denny rented out the whole shebang for Thursday and Friday night.  The ladies put together a beautiful array of charcuterie, dips and fruits, and I think Anne was genuinely surprised on arrival – she thought it was just going to be her and Denny.  Smart idea from Kelly to move our cars over to the dive bar across the street so as not to blow the surprise.

Here’s a map to orient you on Ocean Springs location:

We walked across the street to Sweets Lounge in the evening and had good fun playing various different pool games.

I had Diana challenge the amount of the bill when we left – “It can’t possibly be that inexpensive.”  The bartender explained that drinks were reduced when a Saints game was showing – even before that they were prices from 15 years ago.

 

I walked across the street to the Lazy Oak for breakfast on Friday morning.  McD joined me after her run around town and ate the fruit that I had pushed to the side of the plate.  Then we had a nice time hanging out in the pool for a couple of hours.

We wandered around downtown Ocean Springs in the afternoon.  What a nice and eclectic little town.

Glory Bound provided us with a yummy Greek dinner.

We hung out around the firepit in the evening, with Kenny participating in a pool tournament at Sweets, and as is typical, making friends with a number of the locals.

We drove back via the coastal road on Saturday, meeting up with Kenny’s long time friend, Chris, for lunch at a marina side taco joint in Bay St. Louis.

Diana had texted Amy, also a resident of Bay St. Louis, to see what the chances of swinging by for a boat ride looked like.  The timing worked out well and we drove to Captain Randy and Amy’s place after lunch.  We were soon out on the water and enjoying the Jourdan river trail.

I had planned on watching the Cowboys and 49ers game on Sunday night – wrong weekend – the Cowboys are on a bye week and that’s next week.  Probably good for the Boys to rest up before that challenging game.

My book this week was “The Radleys” by Matt Haig.  I had enjoyed another of his books, “The Midnight Library”, and this one sounded good, except that I totally missed it was a story about vampires trying for abstinence from vampire activities.  Here’s an online review:

“Just about everyone knows a family like the Radleys. Many of us grew up next door to one. They are a modern family, averagely content, averagely dysfunctional, living in a staid and quiet suburban English town. Peter is an overworked doctor whose wife, Helen, has become increasingly remote and uncommunicative. Rowan, their teenage son, is being bullied at school, and their anemic daughter, Clara, has recently become a vegan. They are typical, that is, save for one devastating exception: Peter and Helen are vampires and have—for seventeen years—been abstaining by choice from a life of chasing blood in the hope that their children could live normal lives.”

Given the silly subject matter, I did still find this tale well written and entertaining.  I’m sure it’s not for everyone.

A very good cover:

And an even better cover – I love this one a lot:

And finally, some great 70s feel:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and compassion for all!

 

 

“Return to Roatan”

It was a very early start on Monday – in an Uber to the airport at 4:30am.  We caught a 6am flight to Miami, “enjoyed” a couple of hours layover, and then took the next short flight to Roatan, Honduras.  A very bumpy thirty minute ride over an often washed out road and we arrived at the Kimpton Grand Roatan Resort.  The resort was purchased by Kimpton since we visited two years ago, and they have made many improvements, upgrades, and expansions.  While quite luxurious, with new restaurants and amenities, we missed some of the character of the old set up.

Here’s a map that shows the location of Roatan island:

After some lengthy negotiations, we secured a beach front condo with a wonderful view.

The trip is to honour the top performing employees from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador – there were about forty of them in attendance.  We had a reception for them on Monday night, and the girls enjoyed dinner on their own – a wonderful paella topped with lobster.

Tuesday was a full day of presentations and discussions.  I participated in a panel discussion on “mindset” that seemed to be well received.  My very favourite segment was a presentation by Andrea Cardona, the first Latin American woman to summit Everest.  This was the best business talk that I’ve heard – beautifully linked back to the topic of the day, and presented with a complete lack of ego.  The answers that Andrea gave to the audience questions were excellent.

Andrea has asthma and it was fascinating to hear all the approaches that she deployed to counteract the impacts at the highest elevations.

Here’s a video of a short segment of Andrea’s presentation:

She said that she had a whole special speech planned for the summit, but just couldn’t get enough air to do it:

Meanwhile, the girls were enjoying some quality beach time.  The weather was not perfect – quite windy – but they made the best of it.

They did pick up an extra member of  the “girls” group – Lee, Belinda’s husband:

There was a fancy reception with dinner and dancing on Tuesday night, starting with a group picture on the beach:

Here’s the leadership team subset:

The dinner was good, and the fun really began with the dancing.

Unlike two years ago, when Lisa and Diana had to get the party started, the group was raring to get the dance floor up and going.  Of course Diana took full advantage of the opportunity to show her moves:

It wouldn’t be a real party without a conga line:

There were meetings again on Wednesday afternoon, and then free time in the afternoon.  The group enjoyed the ocean and sunset pictures.

That’s Diana, Jorge, and Sofie waving to me.

A small group of us enjoyed dinner in the Mediterranean restaurant on Wednesday evening, and then Blair arranged for the very talented guitar player in the restaurant to give us a private outdoor concert :

 

 

 

Some dancers joined in:

The guitar player went in to get a capo, so Jorge took over – is there no limit to this man’s talents?

Most of the group left on Thursday morning, and so Diana and I enjoyed some quiet time by the pool, followed by a relaxing meal in the Mediterranean restaurant.  Diana had some more of the excellent octopus, while I enjoyed some more of the squid ink linguini with shrimp, mussels and clams.  We had shared those with the table the previous night, and were happy to repeat the highlights.

We did take advantage of the “social hour” on the upstairs restaurant balcony before dinner – what an amazing view:

We snapped a quick selfie and then took a shuttle to the airport for our long day of travel back home.  The four hour layover in Miami really was a bit too long, getting us home shortly before midnight.

 

The Kingpin had a band called “The Been Around Band” on Saturday afternoon.  Most of the Krewe (minus Denny and Anne – in Alabama) assembled and enjoyed the music – quite a different kind of band than normal.

The Blues and BBQ festival is an annual event put on by the Jazz and Heritage Festival folks – so the sound and timing are always impeccable.  Here’s the lineup for Sunday:

We arrived in time to see Billy Iuso at noon.  The event was very quiet due to the Saints game at the same time.

We humoured a Jazz and Heritage employee who was taking pictures and videos with signs:

Iuso played a great set of covers and originals.

That was followed by Mitch Woods and his Rocket 88s, with John Fohl on guitar – he really can play any style of music.  Here’s the song I hear every morning as Diana’s alarm clock:

We finished up with a wonderful sounding Eric Lindell band:

What a wonderful free day of music!

We headed back home to watch the Cowboys game and should have stayed at the festival – a pathetic performance all around.

 

I finished up “Tell Me Everything” by the amazing Elizabeth Strout.  What an excellent book – weaving together the characters from all her previous novels into a new set of tales.

 

The characters are some of my favourites in all of my reading.   Highly recommended.

 

Some of that great 70s feel from Candi Staton:

A great sounding song from the Allman Bros offspring:

And finally, a deep cut from Tom Petty:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

“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!

 

“Mermaid Parade”

We flew home from San Diego on Monday afternoon.  I could tell Diana was uncomfortable for most all of the almost four hour flight.  Walking through New Orleans airport, I asked her how miserable the flight was for her on a scale of 1 to 10.  “About a 12.”  We’ve got to get our backs healthy again soon.

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.

This was another great experience – a new place for all of us, recently opened, with great service and a creative menu.  We shared ceviche and arepas appetizers and then I chose the mahi mahi for my main.  All delicious.

Here’s an article with more information about this hidden gem:

https://nola.eater.com/2024/4/22/24135036/origen-venezuelan-new-restaurant-open-new-orleans-bywater-brunch-julio-machado

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.

We had a fun pool tournament, with Kenny and I winning 3-2 over Thom and Alex.  But who was keeping score?

We didn’t decide on the September luncheon location.  I suspect Kenny’s repeat recommendation of the “Messina’s Runway Cafe” inside the restored art deco building at the Lakefront airport may win.

Our next entertainment came on Saturday, after a couple of quiet days.  Thom suggested we meet at Cooter Brown’s for lunch and college football.  Diana joined us, as well as Fred and Kenny, and later Peggy.  I take pictures of the “Hey Dude” shoes that Campbell gave me from random locations.  Here they are from Cooter’s:

Kenny and Kara picked us up in the evening, drove us to the Firehouse for parking, and then the 2nd annual Mermaid Parade.

MermaiD was anxious to join in on the action.  She can enter next year!

The parade was short and fun, with some excellent throws:

It was still early and Kara suggested Bouligny Tavern for a snack.  Who’s going to argue with the driver.  We enjoyed some delicious snacks and drinks.

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.

Two new albums were released this week by artists that I enjoy.  First, Uncle Lucius with a great sounding live album:

Next, Nick Cave:

And finally, something I came across that reminded me of an amazing Lucky Peterson concert in Dallas:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

“Flying around – Austin and San Diego”

My travel experience to Austin early on Monday morning was surprisingly quiet and easy.  No wait at the security checkpoint and lots of open seats on the flight.  The walk to the Uber line in Austin is always annoying in 105 degree heat.  It must be at least a half mile hike.

The Carpenter Hotel was accommodating and let me check in at 10:30am.  Very helpful.  I was able drop my bag, get some medications from the wonderful Thom’s Market (they have some of everything you need) for my sore back, and meet Neffie for lunch downtown.

Neffie chose the Peacock Mediterranean Grill for our lunch meeting – prep for a large group session on Tuesday.  The Mezze plate with falafel, hummus, baba, and pita was right up my alley, along with a side of latkes with smoked trout roe and dill labneh.  I could eat this stuff several times a week.

Neffie offered to drop me in the office for my afternoon meetings.  Seemed like a good plan until I tried to get into her little BMW.  I got in and then my sore back would not permit me to lean out and close the door.  Good grief.

After a long afternoon of work, I was not in any mood to go out for sushi with the guys.  Instead I chose an early dinner by myself at the Carpenter Hall.

I only do Yelp reviews when things are either really good or really bad.  You can see from the above review that I had a very nice experience at the Carpenter Hall.  And it allowed me to be in bed early.

After a long and frustrating day of meetings, dinner on Tuesday night was hosted by our applications development partners at Perry’s steakhouse.  The seafood tower appetizer was full of yummy things, and that was followed with a well-cooked sea bass with creamy corn and a red pepper coulis.

My martini was served with a side of accoutrements – an oyster, a lemon twist and blue cheese stuffed olives.  What a choice.

The dinner went on for several hours, I enjoyed the discussion and was back in my hotel room in time to watch some of Michele Obama’s speech.  Her husband had a hard time following her.

My flight back to New Orleans was smooth and I was able to plop into my spot for a relaxing evening.

Meanwhile, the Ogans and Kirsches had rendezvoused in New York to watch some of the US Open tennis tournament.  Here they are at brunch:

And then taking in a Bansky exhibit:

The last one is a post Katrina mural from New Orleans.  I like the Ziggy Stardust Queen one.

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.

They had a special light show that you can see in these videos – first time I’ve seen anything that fancy at this venue.

Friday had me back on a plane – this time to San Diego to meet up with Diana’s “California girlfriends” and spouses.  We were celebrating Donna’s 60th birthday.  I met up with Diana at the San Diego airport (she arrived a bit before me from San Francisco), we rode the long shuttle to the rental car facility, and then the relatively short drive to Encinitas and the Airbnb.  After settling in, the group made a very short drive to Kris and Cat’s home.

We shouldn’t forget Idris, the cat.  This is the one that Molly babysat when Kris and Cat came to visit.  He loves catching lizards and trying to take them inside the house.

We finished the night back at the Airbnb around the firepit.

Jeff and I enjoyed empanadas for breakfast at Bump Coffee on the main strip, after dropping Diana for a run along the beach road.

Then it was back over to Kris and Cat’s for a birthday pool party and dinner.

Sunday began with a casual breakfast at Nectarine Grove.  The food and outside seating were very good.  After that, things started to get a bit “over engineered” as they can with a large group – let’s do the art walk, then park at the beach and listen to the concert, and maybe get some lunch in there somewhere, then back to the house to change for dinner at 7pm.  I could tell that was too much and was going to get frustrating, so hung out at the house, played the piano, read my book, and watched some TV – a much more relaxing afternoon than Diana reported.

I joined up with the group again for dinner at Le Papagayo.  They had pleasant live music, good drinks and yummy food.  Very enjoyable.

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.

Victoria had a very challenging life and it is very well described throughout the book.  I was happy for the resolution in the last few pages, otherwise things would have been very depressing.

Here’s an online summary:

“Seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash runs the household on her family’s peach farm in the small ranch town of Iola, Colorado—the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Wilson Moon is a young drifter with a mysterious past, displaced from his tribal land and determined to live as he chooses.

Victoria encounters Wil by chance on a street corner, a meeting that profoundly alters both of their young lives, igniting as much passion as danger. When tragedy strikes, Victoria leaves the only life she has ever known, fleeing into the surrounding mountains, where she struggles to survive in the wilderness with no clear notion of what her future will bring. As the seasons change, she also charts the changes in herself, finding in the beautiful but harsh landscape the meaning and strength to move forward and rebuild all that she has lost, even as the Gunnison River threatens to submerge her homeland—its ranches, farms, and the beloved peach orchard that has been in her family for generations.

Inspired by true events surrounding the destruction of the town of Iola in the 1960s, Go as a River is a story of deeply held love in the face of hardship and loss, but also of finding courage, resilience, friendship, and, finally, home—where least expected. This stunning debut explores what it means to lead your life as if it were a river—gathering and flowing, finding a way forward even when a river is dammed.”

Here’s a lovely mellow tune that was playing in the Carpenter restaurant when I enjoyed dinner.  I found out later that this was played through a vintage McIntosh amplifier with four tubes – no wonder it sounded so good.

An interesting song from a collection by Gilles Peterson, “Gilles Peterson Digs America”:

There’s a lot of interesting and deep variety on this collection.

One of my favourite moments from the Democratic convention was Bill Clinton comparing his party’s “We the people” to the opposition’s “Me Myself and I.”

Coexist peacefully, with patience and kindness for all!

 

 

“Gator warning!”

This was a relatively calm week after all the activity in Scotland last 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.

Overdue for a haircut, I made a visit to Aidan Gill on Wednesday.  Aidan’s wife is back at work after suffering a stroke.  We made a drive over to Angelo Brocato’s to pickup some of her favourite treats – cannolis.  I think I made a friend for life on delivering those.

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.

 

We shopped for food and drinks for our Sunday dinner party in the afternoon.  Diana remarked that I was the most patient ever as we were struggling to find things in Whole Foods – must be part of the aging process.

Fred and Kelly joined us for dinner on Sunday.  Chef D prepared her delicious Chilean sea bass and mini stuffed peppers.  The first in our planned dinner party series was a big success – thanks Diana!

I continued my slow read through “Southern Man” by Greg Iles – I really need to stay focused and finish this one up.

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.

 

 

 

I heard this on WWOZ radio and really enjoyed it:

A pleasant guitar sound from Al Stewart in a really deep track:

And finally, a fun cover of a J.J. Cale classic:

Coexist peacefully, with patience and kindness for all!

“Great to see you after 40 years!”

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.

The Riccarton Inn hosted our reunion.  Diana enjoyed our historical stories quite a bit.  Bobby is a very good musician – playing both the standup and electric basses and he had a lot of good tales about his travels with bands and the albums that he’s made.  One fun story involved the old Mountbatten building in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket area – this was the home of the Heriot Watt Electrical Engineering department for the final years of our degrees.  It’s now a hotel and Bobby had played a wedding gig there.  He said the reception was in one of our old lecture halls and it still had the terraced slope – he was having interesting flashbacks.  That got us off thinking about presentations we had to do in that lecture hall.  We remembered Andy’s troubled talk about the Free Masons that made us realize we should take this assignment seriously.  Bobby gave a talk about a band recording that had won an award, playing the recording to occupy the final five minutes of his required talk time.  Then he reminded me of Euan’s grave digging talk – I had completely forgotten that.   Euan had that as a summer job and it was certainly the most unique presentation.

We were intrigued by the way the dry/sweet and boldness of wines were indicated on the menu.  Why don’t we have this?

We enjoyed this sign outside the Inn, “Good Banter”:

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 thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Kirsty, and were treated to their granddaughter, Cassie, when she was woken up from her nap.  Cassie quickly warmed up to Diana and enjoyed her reading of the “Wonky Donkey”, a hilarious children’s’ book.

Bobby had told us about “walking football” which he really enjoyed due to his bum ankle.  What he didn’t tell us was that his team had won the competition – as evidenced by the huge trophy in his entryway.

I remember Bobby played forward for the Heriot Watt team and knew he had played semi-professionally for a short while.  Makes me seem very lazy – he holds down a full time job (until recent early retirement), plays many musical gigs every week, and participates in a busy sports agenda.

Here’s an explanation from the official walking football website about what makes it different:

“The biggest difference, as the name suggests, is there is no running. Walking football is played at walking pace, with players not allowed to run. This includes with the ball or off the ball, and includes jogging. You can ‘walk’ as fast as you want and walking as described in the rules is “one foot must be in contact with the ground at all times.”

One other big difference to association or 5-a-side football is that it’s classed as non-contact sport. Although tackling is allowed, this must be done with no contact.”

Our drive to and from Currie on the “wrong” side of the road was uneventful until it wasn’t.  Close to home, several long PVC looking pipes broke loose from a van in front of us.  They were headed straight for the windshield.  Fortunately there wasn’t a vehicle in the inside lane and I was able to swerve and avoid any damage.  Arriving home, I found the next door neighours out front watering my Mum’s garden – apparently they had been quite worried about my ability to drive through to Edinburgh and back given all the changes in the roads.  Sometimes I wonder how I get by, between Kenny’s concern about my driving in New Orleans and now this concern in Scotland.

I’m so happy that we made the effort to connect with Bobby – such a nice day.

Tuesday began with another walk and run along Kilwinning road.  This time Diana reported that the “mountains” were back to being “normal hills” – she’s adjusted to the undulating terrain.

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.

They were just back from holiday in Norway and had told us a bit about that.  Most of the stories were about their ever expanding family.  We had a very enjoyable lunch for several hours and laughed at the banter.

We also laughed at the “mini meringues” desert:

And of course Diana got all the pictures that she wanted:

The flights home on Wednesday were very pleasant, albeit the 10 hour leg from London to New Orleans certainly feeling quite long.  Diana was pleased when champagne was served before takeoff and I appreciated that drinks and food service started about 30 minutes after takeoff.  Much improved over our night flight over to London.

I really enjoyed the cheese plate for desert – with fancy oatcake presentation:

The “Gentlemen Out At Lunch” club (Thom, Alex, Dennis and Kenny) convened our inaugural meeting at Plume in Algiers on Thursday.  The food and service were excellent and we got to try a decent selection of the menu by sharing food among five of us.  This is the young couple that operates the restaurant with the help of their son:

The food is certainly not typical of the Indian food you find in the U.S., with light and flavorful sauces.

We voted on logos for the group.  My submission:

The name was tweaked to replace the “To” with “At” in order to create a nice acronym (GOAL).  The picture was deemed too “fancy” and “stuffy”, and so I’ve now come up with version 2.0:

I had the original displayed on a small easel for the krewe to review.  The owner noticed and asked if we would sign it and leave it for her to display on the wall – we were happy to oblige.  I’ll have to return and take a picture of that.  I was chastised for not taking any pictures – we were chatting and having too much fun.

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).

As if we hadn’t had enough wonderful food for the week, we met a colleague of mine, Fred, who retired a couple of years ago, for lunch at Commander’s Palace on Friday.  Fred grew up in the New Orleans area and has lived in the Dallas area for the last 20 years – he makes regular visits to New Orleans to enjoy the food and drink.  The food and service were exemplary as usual during our 3 hour lunch.  It’s always good to catch up with Fred.

This is the time of year when we can expect heavy thunder storms most days.  We were able to get our walks in around the downpours on Saturday and Sunday, with some of the loudest thunder claps I’ve ever heard on Sunday.

I finished up “All the Colors of the Dark” by Chris Whitaker on the flight home.  The subject matter is certainly dark, as the title would indicate, and I enjoyed this read quite a bit.  Great characters and twists that weren’t the typical incredible nonsense.  I recommend this one.

I’m still plugging away at “Southern Man” by Greg Iles and should finish that monster in the next week or two.

I‘m also reading Ann Patchett’s “These Precious Days”, a collection of her essays published in 2021.  Some of these appeal to me more than others and the writing is as excellent as always.  The first essay about Patchett’s three Dads is my favourite so far.  The one about her husband’s flying obsession a close second.  The one about knitting- not so much.

 

Slash, guitarist for Guns ‘n Roses, has a new album – here he teams up with Chris Stapleton for a good cover of a classic:

The sublime original:

And finally, an old classic that popped up on a playlist:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

 

 

“Happy Birthday, Mum”

Diana and Anne enjoyed some fancy pool time at Merry Lee’s pool and cabanas on Monday.  I say it’s fancy because of the ability to reserve a luxury cabana with a fridge and TV.  I dropped Diana off, Anne joined her shortly thereafter and brought her home later in the day.

Kara invited Diana for oysters at Superior Seafood on Monday.  She just wanted to get together before we left town.  We’ll only be gone for a week, but very sweet all the same.  They had a good time for several hours.  Quite the fun Monday for McD.

Kenny, Kara and Diana had a walk and run in the park on Wednesday morning since yoga was cancelled.  I finished up work and joined them for a late breakfast at La Boulangerie.  This was Diana’s first visit and it’s a long time since I was there – the food and drinks are all very good and it’s nearby.  We should visit more often.

The 10:30pm British Airways flight took us to London Heathrow on Wednesday night.  We had a long layover and arrived in Stewarton on Thursday evening.  I’m always very impressed with the service on the less than an hour flight to Glasgow.  We were served drinks, high tea, and coffee all in much less time that it took to get a drink on the long flight from New Orleans.  Here’s a view coming into land in Glasgow, including the island of Ailsa Craig where curling stones hail from:

Mum’s birthday was on Friday.  The day started with a walk (Keith) and run (Diana) out Kilwinning Road into the country.  The views of Ailsa Craig and Arran were excellent.  On returning home, Diana complained about the incline and length of the “hills” – not something she’s used to in New Orleans.  In the afternoon we ran some errands in Stewarton – “paid the papers”, filled up with petrol, and had a delicious lunch at a local café.

Saturday began with a walk and run on what was hoped to be flatter ground in Lainshaw Woods.  Diana reported that the “mountains” killed her on this run.  I think her altimeter must be wonky as there were really only a few small inclines.  Her sore legs said otherwise.

Mum’s house became very busy on Saturday afternoon.  Elspeth, David and Bramble (dog) arrived at almost the same time as Heather, Michael, and Mila (dog), soon to be followed by Struan, Emily, and Bonnie (dog).  Nine adults and three dogs in a small living room was quite chaotic.  Struan had shorn off almost all of Bonnie’s coat, creating a strange looking dog that really was not happy with him.

We loaded into a couple of cars and headed off to dinner at Seamill Hydro in West Kilbride.  Bramble and Bonnie were left behind at Mum’s house – more on that later.  Seamill Hydro is a lovely hotel that hosts many weddings (Elspeth and David’s several years ago).  The coastal setting with a view over to Arran is beautiful:

We were seated in a quiet area and enjoyed a lovely meal.  The Hydro was chosen as it has a robust vegetarian and vegan menu.  I had haggis and potato croquettes as my starter and then cauliflower gnocchi (from the veggie menu) for my main – both were quite yummy.  Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals and the setting allowed us to have some fun banter and conversation – we even learned about Struan’s new IT job.  Several times during the evening I found myself thinking how much Struan’s mannerisms and facial expressions reminded me of Campbell.  Elspeth told me they actually think he reminds them of me.  Here’s Mum with her surprise birthday desert:

Diana couldn’t resist the pavlova:

After that it was time for some fresh air before the drive home.  Here we are with the island of Arran behind us:

On arrival home, we were greeted by the next door neighbours who had responded to the house alarm going off.  Apparently the dogs had managed to “escape” the kitchen and trigger the alarm.

David and Elspeth spent the night at Mum’s and we started Sunday with a walk up the road to the Kennedy farm, Meikle Corsehill, with David and Bramble.  David was channeling Rex Harrison in his Dr. Doolittle role on the walk:

Bramble didn’t want to be left out:

A dog at Meikle Corsehill was having a good bark at Bramble, causing it’s owner to come out and investigate the disturbance.  The owner, Ian, happened to be a previous employee of David’s and they had a good catch up chat.  I reminisced about taking in the hay on the farm, feeding the cows in the milking barn, and playing in the hay barn with Willie Kennedy and others.

After the walk we settled in to watch the Wimbledon men’s final – a bit one-sided, although not as much as the score indicated, in my opinion.  We enjoyed a yummy lunch and then said goodbye to Elspeth and David, who needed to make the long drive home before it got too late.

What a wonderful couple of days with family!

The ESPN Espy awards ceremony happened during the week.  Steve Gleason received the Arthur Ashe courage award and delivered an excellent speech using his computer aided voice.  His son, River, joined him onstage for support.  Here’s the video:

I had to take a break from “Southern Man” this week as it’s way too heavy for travel.  I switched to “All the Colors of the Dark” by Chris Whitaker, which I have online and have almost finished.

Here’s an online summary:

“Late one summer, the town of Monta Clare is shattered by the abduction of teenager Joseph ‘Patch’ Macauley. Nobody more so than Saint Brown, who will risk everything to find her best friend.

But when she does: it will break her heart.

Patch lies alone in a pitch-black room – until he feels a hand in his. Her name is Grace and, though they cannot see each other, she lights their world with her words.

But when he escapes: there is no sign she ever even existed.

Left with only her voice and her name, he paints her from broken memories – and charts an epic search to find her.

As years turn to decades, and hope becomes obsession, Saint will shadow his journey – on a darker path to hunt down the man who took them – and set free the only boy she ever loved.

Even if finding the truth means losing each other forever…”

This has been a very enjoyable book so far, one that I have read in the wee hours when I was suffering from jetlag.

Some passages that I enjoyed:

A unique simile:

“was a steady drip from a leaking faucet, like a metronome that scaled up the tension.”

An interesting new word for me:

“The low hum of a generator buried beneath the baldachin of nature. They’d find him dead. Of course. And they’d catch the guy, but..”

Some other new information to me:

“Days were named after the planets of Hellenistic astrology. Saturn, Sun, and Moon. Saturday, Sunday,… Moonday.”

On the strained relationship between Saint and her new husband, Jimmy:

““He treats you well?” Patch said. She wanted to tell him that Jimmy said there wasn’t room for her piano. That sometimes she fixed his dinner and he forgot to thank her. That he was not silly in any of the good ways. She wanted to tell Patch that Jimmy did not like her being a cop. That he wanted to have children right away, and that when they did he expected her to step out of her life and into a mother’s. Most of all she wanted to tell him that she was scared. She was a cop who had done so many brave things. But she was scared.”

““He never made me laugh. And I knew, before I met him. I knew love and laughter and how sweet life could be.” “You still married him.” She looked at Patch like he was a child, like he did not know how the world kept turning. “Sometimes people reserve so much of themselves. It’s like saving a fine wine for an occasion that never materializes.””

A great song by Martin Sexton (not related to Charlie Sexton at all – a misconception that I’ve had for a number of years):

A really interesting song from Thievery Corporation:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

 

” Marco!”

We flew to Dallas on Monday for our Cooper Clinic visit on Tuesday.  This is where we get our full day annual preventive physical.  I have to say that, driving up to Frisco to meet Finn for dinner, I don’t miss the massive highways and Dallas layouts at all.  We had a lovely dinner with Finn at TruFire in Frisco – an excellent Mediterranean restaurant.  I loved my falafel platter – such perfectly cooked little nuggets.

Finn was right on time and all dressed up for the evening.  He had a lot of good stories to tell about his work.  Two “older ladies” that fight constantly – he had to put them on non-overlapping shifts to separate them.  He’s talking about finding a less labour intensive job – something in management.  So good to hear him with ambition and desire for the future.  He also talked about visiting the Dallas Arboretum with Holly to see the spring blooms – nice to hear him taking some time off from work.  So nice to see Finn doing so well.

Our Cooper Clinic day started at 7am – thankfully we stayed at the onsite hotel and just had to roll out of bed and walk over for our initial appointments.  The stress test is always the highlight of the day.  This time they had us do a cognitive test while strapped into all the EKG equipment.  Remember these five words “Face Velvet Church Daisy Red” – we’ll ask you about them later.  I said them to myself after every individual test.  Thankfully we both aced the cognitive test – “You guys are like neuroscientists.”  No – we know a neuroscientist (Laura) and we are nothing like her.  All the test results were good, and we’re set for another year.

On Wednesday afternoon, Denny recommended that we visit the Broadside to see the Tin Men in the new  indoor theater.  Sure.  We met at the Bayou Beer Garden for snacks – the crab Rangoon dip was excellent – and then headed over to the Broadside for the show.  Diana and Anne had a nice visit while us boys chatted.

Denny suggested Habana Café as an after concert dinner spot.  This place had been trying to open for over a decade and finally did recently.

The food was great and the service equally good.

There is a piece of Bansky street art by the kitchen – very rare and worth a fortune.

Here are some other pictures from this excellent restaurant:

We met for Happy Hour on Friday at the Parkview Historic Hotel.  The group really enjoyed the outdoor setting on such a perfect spring day.  Even the guys got into the swing with Aperol Spritzes on the patio.

We really enjoy this porch on the side of Audubon park and with great bartenders.

Denny was working on us to attend the Yacht Rock (mellow classic rock from the 70s and 80s) at the Kingpin at 9pm on Friday.  Most of us were resisting.  Denny kept needling away on me until I succumbed.  We had a great time.

Those ladies are dancing on a wooden cover for the foosball table.

We are glad we rallied and made the show with Denny, Anne and Thom.

Denny was working on me again to attend the Hogs for a Cause festival on Saturday.  This time we held strong and rested up for all the festivals ahead.  We did go and watch James Andrews at the Kingpin with Alex, Laura, and a brief appearance by Anne.

The band was very good, if not a little overly hyped up by James.

 

James doesn’t have the same natural showmanship as his younger brother, Trombone Shorty, but he tries.  I got a kick out of the dancing from one of his younger family members:

You know a tuba solo is always close to my heart:

We started Sunday with a walk down the streetcar track on St. Charles.  Then we tracked Marco on his Hawaiian triathlon.  He did an amazing job, so soon after all his surgeries.

Less than 2 hours to finish.  And he was 38th out of 750 competitors coming out of the initial swim.  So proud of my brother in law for bouncing back with so much indomitable energy.

We just watched the Iowa ladies lose the NCAA Women’s championship – Campbell’s relatives will be so disappointed.  Caitlin Clark was amazing throughout the tournament, and should certainly be picked number one in the NBA draft.

My book this week was “What the What?” by the wonderful Dave Eggers.  It’s a huge subject, but I had a hard time sticking with it.  Not quite as well done as Zeitoun, which resonated more closely with me.  If you’re interested in learning about the history of the Lost Boys of Sudan, this is your book.  It was just a bit too much removed for me.  Here’s an online set of summaries:

 “The epic novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who, along with thousands of other children —the so-called Lost Boys—was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals, crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom.

When he finally is resettled in the United States, he finds a life full of promise, but also heartache and myriad new challenges. Moving, suspenseful, and unexpectedly funny, What Is the What is an astonishing novel that illuminates the lives of millions through one extraordinary man.

“A testament to the triumph of hope over experience, human resilience over tragedy and disaster.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“An absolute classic…. Compelling, important, and vital to the understanding of the politics and emotional consequences of oppression.” —People”

Kurt Vile played New Orleans last week.  Several of my friends attended and reported a very good show:

Something great from another band that played here recently.  Yo La Tengo means “I’ve go this”, like an outfielder running to catch a ball:

And here’s one from our Kingpin buddy yesterday, James Andrews, as we get ready for another festival season:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all.