“New Orleans Residency Week 2 – Tim and Dee”
We enjoyed a real musical treat on Monday evening. Stanton Moore, drummer for Galactic and one of my very favourites, is hosting music at the Columns on Mondays. Kenny, Kara, Denny and Anne joined us for an evening of excellent jazz musicianship. All in a room the size of a living room, and for a reasonable price.
I think David Torkanowsky is the best pianist in New Orleans. Yes, I put him ahead of Joe Krown and Jon Cleary. Unfortunately, Jason Marsalis on vibraphone was a special guest and somewhat drowned out the piano. It was still an amazing show.
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.
Feeling adventurous, we did another run on Wednesday morning. You guessed it, Week 5 Day 2. We walked down to The Daily Beet for lunch (it feels healthy but is also yummy.) After lunch, we picked up some macaroons from Sucre as a treat for Tim and Dee’s room. I drove out to the airport to pick them up around 6pm.
We had a special surprise in store for their arrival – a celebrity chef cooking dinner at the condo. Denny had agreed to help Diana prepare some jambalaya for the welcome meal. It was delicious.
So fun to have Tim and Dee in town, and to have Denny and Anne join us to make them feel welcome in New Orleans.
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:
After lunch, I led a walking tour of the fancy homes in the Garden District. The architecture is so very unique. I probably didn’t keep up with some of the other guided tours that we ran into, but I think everyone enjoyed the ramble around.
Theo’s pizza, downstairs from the apartment, was a very easy dinner solution. I love their pizza and Greek salad.
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.
I love this picture of the group celebrating with Denny. The couple you may not recognize on the left are Tod and Lori, friends of Denny and Anne from Boulder, CO.
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.
Here’s the group passing the legendary Preservation Hall en route to the fest:
Alex McMurray hit the stage right on schedule at 2:20pm and played an excellent set with his band (not Tin Men – that’s a different band.)
We were fortunate to meet Kenny’s brother, Andrew, in town from New York, and clearly a Kirsch.
Tim snapped these pictures of Denny and me enjoying the music – front and back views.
My back was hurting from standing still (more on that next week), and it was getting hot, so we took Tim and Dee for a tour of some classic French Quarter spots – Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith bar and the Hotel Monteleone Carousel bar. The girls did some quality shopping in between. A healthy debate about Lafitte’s claim to be the oldest bar in America was led by Tim. His thought was that McSorley’s in New York was older than 1722. Later research by Dee showed neither correct. The oldest bar is in Rhode Island, dating from the 160os.
We made it back to the condo at a reasonable hour, after fighting downtown 5 o’clock traffic. Later, a dance party broke out on the balcony. I laughed when some strangers passing on the street below joined in on “Dancing Queen.”
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.
After those delicious treats, we had a pleasant stroll through the sculpture garden – one of the beautiful free attractions. Here are some pictures:
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.
Now it was time for lunch at Cafe Degas. Such a unique location with the tree growing through the middle of the restaurant. Kenzie was an awesome waitress – full of recommendations and banter. Turns out she lived in Austin and Sydney previously – two of Diana’s favourites. They became fast buddies. Cemented by their mutual appreciation for this wine.
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.
The Ogans were finishing up at the fest just as we were driving back from the City Park area, and so we arranged for a quick stop at the Columns.
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.)
Regular readers may remember that we’ve seen Kevin Galloway several times over the years – mostly at small venues in Austin. Uncle Lucius is the band he was in prior to going solo. What a good show they presented at the Toulouse.
Kenny and Kara joined us briefly after dinner and enjoyed a new band to them.
I was pleased that it wasn’t too busy at all at the show – plenty of room to move around. I’m sure the band would have liked a few more people.
On Sunday, we convinced Tim to try a new food type – Israeli Mediterranean. He ended up really enjoying Shaya. The wonderful mushroom hummus was not something he tried.
The falafel sandwich was my entree – wonderful – and I had half leftover for later.
Tim and Dee’s departure was delayed from 5ish to 7:50pm. Some good time for them to hang out some more and enjoy Jordan Spieth almost winning a golf tournament, but a late arrival for them back in Newark and then Pennsylvania.
Another excellent week in New Orleans with great friends. Tim’s summary, “just and absolutely awesome visit.”
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.
I’m about half way through the story, and things are really starting to heat up with Isabelle working for the resistance in Paris. Here’s the online summary:
“France, 1939 – In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France … but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.
Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can … completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.
With courage, grace, and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France―a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.”
I’ve really enjoyed the detail on what it was like for women and families in rural France to endure the German occupation. I look forward to the resistance stories that I’m expecting to develop in the second half.
I was playing a Chet Baker album on the balcony one afternoon, and particularly enjoyed this song:
Here’s our favourite Uncle Lucius song – so poignant:
And finally, The Tin Men featuring Alex McMurray, with our wedding classic:
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!