“NOLA Residency Week 3 – Chief Kenny Retires”
Monday was a quiet day of chilling out after all the activities of the Harvey visit.
Activity levels picked up on Tuesday morning. Diana joined the tennis clinic, winning a lottery ticket for some kind of competition. We went for a walk in the park after the clinic, and McD was quite animated, telling me about a great shot she made, and all about the drills. Unfortunately she stopped quickly on that great shot and hurt her quad a bit – seems to be recovered now.
I asked Denny and Fred who I should see about my back hurting. “You need the tiny German, next to the coffee shop on Oak Street.” Fortunately Dr. Beaumont was able to see me as soon as I finished my lap of Audubon park. The tiny German is shorter and smaller than Diana, but was able to move me around very effectively, providing immediate relief. I was quite impressed with her – chiropractic adjustments, needling, and pulsing electrodes – all in the same visit.
We started to watch a new show on Tuesday evening – “The Last Thing He Told Me” is based in Sausalito in the houseboat community, and is off to a good start in the first few episodes.
Wednesday also started with a walk in the park. I think Diana did a 3 or 4 mile run while I walked. She’s really hugely back into running again. My back was almost pain free. We ran into Kara doing a workout in the park with Josh on her day off. She came over to sunbathe with Diana after all that exercise.
I stopped by Cherry Espresso while they sunbathed – great coffee and a very cool converted fire house building.
Tim and Dee were raving about Oofos flip flops during their visit – “super comfy and therapeutic”. I had to order some up and try them out. They arrived on Wednesday afternoon. Not quite the right fit for McD.
Kenny and Kara came over in the early evening. We wanted to give the Chief his retirement gifts before walking to Osteria Lupo for dinner. He was quite delighted with the gifts.
Denny and Anne joined for dinner. Osteria Lupo is a restaurant by the Costera folks (Spanish tapas place that we went to for dinner one New Year’s Eve) that opened a couple of weeks ago and is a short walk from the condo. The food was amazing and the restaurant very modern and nicely outfitted. Black truffle arancini, crab pasta, and some great wine.
What a great meal with good friends! There might have been a wee sing along session on the balcony after dinner.
Thursday began as usual with a walk and run in the park. Then we both went to the chiropractor – yes, I was so impressed that Diana decided to try and get her aches and pains treated too. Dr. Beaumont said that I was a lot easier to deal with than Diana. Apparently one leg is an inch shorter than the other and the pelvis has adjusted to compensate for that. I think she gave Diana some pain relief.
After our sessions, we walked down to Seafood Sally’s and met Kenny and Denny for Happy Hour. $1 oysters for Diana – such a deal compared to anywhere in Texas or California.
Kenny ran through his potential stand up comedy routine for his retirement party on Friday evening. We gave some helpful input on which jokes might not work with a large audience, and which should be earlier and later in the set. Hilarious stuff. The patio at Seafood Sally’s was really pleasant on a warm, sunny afternoon.
After Happy Hour we walked down to Jacques Imo’s to say hello to Debra. Kenny has been on a mission to organize an annual “Bookerfest” at the Maple Leaf next door. James Booker is a famous piano player from New Orleans that we all love – he passed away many years ago. He asked Debra for Hank’s (the owner of the Maple Leaf) phone number. “He’s right here at the bar – I’ll introduce you.” We enjoyed the entertainment of Kenny pitching his idea to Hank. I believe it was well received.
Friday was the day of the big retirement party. Diana and I walked over to the Columns for a pre-party drink and enjoyed the lovely porch.
The party was in the back room of Monkey Hill – so named because it’s close to the Monkey Hill at Audubon Zoo – the highest point in the city of New Orleans. Denny and Anne did a great job of organizing things – banners, food that Debra donated from Crabby Jack’s (Jacques Imo’s catering business), hats, and musical entertainment. Diana took these pictures before the festivities cranked up.
First up was Valerie Sassyfras. I had watched her performance on America’s Got Talent and thought this was going to be ridiculously silly. This picture is Kenny, in Booker shirt, explaining something to Valerie. Live and in person it was actually quite entertaining. Here’s a video with the girls joining Valerie for “Girl’s Night Out.”
After all that silliness, The Tin Men arrived to play some straight forward great New Orleans music. I loved their set. Here they are with “Such a Night.”
I enjoyed getting to see a few folks that I don’t see very often – Greg and Colleen (pictured here), Randy and Amy, Paul and Michelle, Tres and Party Phil. Greg has the perfect New Orleans accent and is a true Southern gentleman.
A highlight of the evening was Kenny and Kara’s kids, Ian and Nina, giving speeches for their Dad. Such great offspring.
Kenny had an absolute blast at his party. Mission accomplished.
I met Alex at Peaches for record store day on Saturday morning. This is an annual event where independent record stores release one of a kind and rare recordings until they sell out. I was greeted at the door with an offer of a beer and pizza – umm, not at 9am, thanks. I picked up a Status Quo album that Mum and Dad gave me as a Christmas gift many years ago. Who knows where that original version is now. Not familiar with Status Quo? They are a classic power trio, and were the openers for Live Aid in 1985 – my first day working for Gearhart. I still remember being invited to my boss, Howard Dunn’s, house for the festivities. Here’s the performance:
Alex, on the other hand, must have bought twenty albums – quite the large box that he toted out of there.
Some fun people watching was available from our balcony after record store day. The Buffalo Exchange was having a sidewalk sale for Earth Day. All items were $1 and the proceeds went to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. So funny to watch a hundred folks dig into boxes full of used clothes.
Alex invited us over on Saturday afternoon for a bourbon and scotch tasting event on his patio. We also sampled some of those twenty new albums. He subscribes to something called Flaviar, which sends 3 test tube samples of bourbon or scotch along with detailed tasting notes.
Denny, Anne, and Gary joined us for the tasting. I suggested that, after each trio of tastings, we all discuss what we liked about each whisky. That went really well until Denny complained that it was getting too much like a book club. “But I like book club,” I complained. We continued with the discussions and I think everyone really enjoyed the event. Thanks for sharing all those Alex!
After the tastings we enjoyed some yummy po-boys at Bourree around the corner. Our buffalo cauliflower was delicious.
On Sunday, we enjoyed a quiet brunch at Justine in the French Quarter. This is the sister restaurant of the wonderful La Petite Grocery, next to the condo. My shrimp and grits were delicious – the mushrooms adding a nice extra flavour. Diana enjoyed her steak tartare and would have liked a bit more seasoning.
After lunch we walked to the “Mostly Rock and Roll Gallery.” This is owned by a friend of Andy and Jude’s. They are Clorinda’s perfect neighbours in Pacifica. Steve also lived in Pacifica for many years. He was visiting New Orleans a year or so ago, met Ben Jaffe of the Preservation Hall Band, and moved shortly after.
His photographs are excellent. Many of them are from Live Aid – closing the circle on my earlier discussion about Status Quo. We had a lovely chat with Steve – he gifted Diana some pictures he had taken in Pacifica – including a gorgeous sunset. Here he is with Diana in his shop:
We stopped by Kenny and Kara’s home on the way home. Kenny showed us the spot where he plans to hang his plaque – we approve. We always have such a good time chatting with those guys.
And another perfect New Orleans week is in the books.
Speaking of books – I made very little progress on “The Nightingale” this week. We’ll pick that up again next week – maybe.
Here’s a local band that I discovered this week. Hoping to see them at Jazzfest:
And now a lovely voice that Allison Moorer recommended on her blog:
And finally, the Joe Krown song that he played to finish off his set at the Maple Leaf:
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!
Diana and I made a brief stop at the Milan bar on our walk home. I really appreciate the little neighbourhood bars in New Orleans.
Tuesday began with a run in Audubon park – Week 5 Day 1 for me. Later in the day, Diana met the girls for oyster Happy Hour at Superior Seafood. I love that Diana has a group of girls to get together with here. I invited Kenny and Alex over for a drink and we enjoyed some good banter on the balcony.
We shared Audubon park with the Harveys on Thursday morning, enjoying a nice leisurely lap. Lunch was at Juan’s Flying Burrito – one of Tim’s favourites. It’s easy to get meat and potatoes style dishes without vegetables. Our margarita pourer, however, needed a tiny bit more training:
I forgot to mention a special stop after our walk in the park – the prettiest pothole I’ve found. It’s located at the corner of Laurel and Webster streets, and the locals have planted some pretty flowers. Those are the same locals that hosted the wonderful porch concerts on our last visit – we should consider that neighbourhood.
Denny turned 55 on Friday! Still such a kid. We celebrated his birthday in the gorgeous patio at Bayona in the French Quarter. This is a pretty famous place that Susan Spicer opened many years ago. She’s one of the best known female chefs.
The food was delicious. McD and I split a fried oyster salad, followed by a steak sandwich. After lunch we wandered over to Jackson Square to take in some of French Quarter Fest, a free music festival with stages throughout the Quarter.
One of the few things on Dee’s list of things she would like to do on the visit was to try beignets. We checked that off the list on Saturday morning, meeting Kenny and Kara after they finished yoga in City Park. That location is much less busy than the French Quarter location. I think the beignets were a big hit with everyone.
There were some lovely wildflowers as we took a driving tour of City Park. After that, we stopped by Liuzza’s for some classic pre-jazzfest style Bloody Mary’s before lunch.
The crepe du crab that Kenzie recommended for me was delicious. Unfortunately, the heavens opened right as we were finishing lunch. No problem for McD – another bottle of that perfect Sancerre. I finally got antsy and got soaked retrieving the car.
There was some debate about whether we should rally off the couch to see Uncle Lucius on Saturday night. I had bought tickets early, but they were not expensive. We made a good decision and grabbed an Uber back to the Quarter for the show at the Toulouse Theater (previously One Eyed Jacks.)
Kenny and Kara joined us briefly after dinner and enjoyed a new band to them.
My book this week (and last) was “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah. Kenny leant me the book and he loved it. I previously really enjoyed “The Great Alone” – I’ll need to share that one with Kenny.
In the evening, Denny and Anne picked us up early for our N7 dinner reservation. Denny thought it would be a good idea to catch a few songs from The Tin Men at DBA before our meal. Great idea Denny!
N7 was even better than we remembered. Just a lovely setting in the yard of a small house.
Britney Chauntae and band treated us (there were only a couple of other folks there) to some wonderful jazz and RnB singing, while MardiClaw (interesting name) took care of us at the bar.
After work on Friday, I met the guys at The Other Bar on Freret Street for Happy Hour. We were treated to a short stand-up comedy performance from Kenny. He’s been working on a “tight 10 minute set” in his retirement. Some of the krewe attended the Pelicans basketball game and were treated to a halftime performance by Shammar Allen – “The Weekend Dance.”
I completed week 4 of Couch to 5K on Sunday morning. That was my exercise ahead of a delicious Easter brunch at Atchafalaya – a short walk from the condo. The food was excellent and the service was, let’s see, spotty is the kindest word I can find. Diana chatted with the owner and we were treated to a blue cheese flan and some nice drinks. We were also able to secure a return reservation whenever we wanted – although everything was booked up online. Nicely handed by Rachel, the owner.
We were on the road by 8:30am on Saturday as planned. I wore my San Diego State University Aztecs shirt with pride, they played in the final four on Saturday afternoon.
We were quick to enjoy the lovely front balcony. Then Denny and Anne came over with food and a pretty plant to welcome us.
