“A Busy Month”
Did you think I had given up on blogging? I know, it’s been forever since I posted. Moving into our new home, a wedding, music festivals, and several other events and activities have kept me busy. As of today, I should be back into the weekly posting routine.
We’re settling into our new home very nicely. All the major things are organized and functional. There are a lot of boxes in the third floor still to be organized – all in good time. I was just sitting on our front porch watching all the tourists go past. It’s finally cool weather here and we’re entering into the busy tourist season. They all come past our house as they meet up with Garden District walking tours, or walk from the streetcar to Commander’s Palace for lunch.
I’ll attempt to share some of the highlights from the last month in reverse chronological order.
Yesterday, Diana hosted a birthday lunch for Laura and Libby at Café Degas. Kara joined also. This is our favourite casual French bistro in town. I played chauffeur and plotted a route to pick up all three girls and drop the group off. I also returned to do all the drop offs. They seem to have had a lovely time, and the crab and mushroom crepe leftovers were delicious.
We hung out with Kara, Kenny and Ian for a bit at their home, and then regrouped at home prior to the Blues and BBQ festival in Lafayette Square. This is a free event hosted by the Jazzfest organization and it’s always a lot of fun. Here’s Samantha Fish closing out the day:
Lurrie Bell treated us to some classic Chicago blues prior to Samantha:
The food options at this festival are always excellent. Diana brought back a delicious shrimp pupusa – a corn cake stuffed with cheese and topped with shrimp.
We’re deciding whether we should make it out again tonight for Shemeika Copeland.
On Thursday, one of my partners who does our development in India, visited New Orleans and took us to Commander’s Palace for lunch. What a great time! Manish scored big points for showing up with flowers for Diana. My quail stuffed with boudin was ridiculously good.
We visited Austin for a wedding from Sunday through Wednesday. Our friends Neffie and Shaun were married in Dripping Springs (30 minutes outside Austin) on Monday afternoon in a gorgeous venue.
The rehearsal dinner was at Fixe in downtown Austin on Sunday night. That allowed me to miss most of the beating that the San Francisco 49ers put on the Cowboys. The food and company were excellent.
I had originally been drafted to walk Neffie down the aisle, but one of the groomsmen was sick and I walked her sister, Myra, instead. Her pastor and her son ultimately escorted Neffie to the altar.
This is what Anne is calling our “prom picture”:
We took advantage of being back in Austin to visit some of our favourite locations. We enjoyed a walk along the river trail followed by a lunch snack in the garden at Opa. Dinner was at the Odd Duck – maybe my top restaurant in Austin. Tristan, the valet parker, always has good recommendations. The Thai melon salad and green chili pork shoulder were both amazing.
We have a ritual of lunch at June’s All Day prior to starting our drive or flight back home. Diana always gets the wagyu steak tartare that she loves so much.
The Saturday before the wedding we enjoyed Gretna Fest. This is a mini jazzfest across the Mississippi in Gretna. With four stages and many food options, it’s a festival that we both enjoy very much.
We started out with the New Orleans Mystics at the Market Stage. This was an excellent group that was similar to the Temptations – all decked out in matching outfits and with great voices.
Diana had fun trying to match their dance steps:
Next up was La Tran-k band on the Riverfront stage – a salsa band that brought a ton of energy and fun:
Then a highlight for me – JJ Grey on the main stage. The version of Lochloosa was outstanding:
That was followed by a singalong of Glory Glory:
And a final highlight – Brighter Days:
After JJ Grey, Diana and I enjoyed a relaxing Mexican meal and then watched some of Lee Brice – a country star that Diana enjoys. I was very impressed by the quality of the band and the performance.
We had planned to finish with Los Lobos, but they were almost an hour late in taking the stage and we caught the ferry back as they were starting. A really great day of music and entertainment.
The Monday and Tuesday before Gretna Fest, I attended an annual meeting to recognize our top performing employees in Las Vegas. This was a lovely event that went late into the evening. Our executive committee enjoyed dinner at Cut by Wolfgang Puck on Monday night. I’ve never seen such expensive steaks and sides on a menu. The food and service were great, but I couldn’t help feeling guilty about the price.
Sunday, October 1st, was Colleen’s 50th birthday. We celebrated at her home and Greg cooked redfish, boudin and other goodies. Later in the evening, most of the party attendees went to Tipitinas to see John Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen perform. This was the best I have heard them sound. We were sitting on our porch prior to the party and saw our neighbors, Hugh and Sarah, leaving in their car. We thought it would be funny if they were also going to Colleen’s party – Hugh is her brother. Sure enough, they were there when we arrived, and we got to meet some more new neighbors.
Greg was very proud of his new grandchild:
The week prior to Las Vegas was move in week. I dealt with wifi and security system installation early in the week, and then the trucks arrived on September 27th. By the evening of September 28th, we were mostly moved in. A lot of planning and organization had finally come to fruition.
As with any large project like this move, I’m deeply indebted to Diana for the massive amount of planning and work that she put into it, and continues to put into the unpacking and organizing tasks. Anne, Merry Lee and Jeff also helped a lot with organizing and storage.
We met up with Merry Lee, Jeff, her cousin and boyfriend on Friday at Hungry Eyes – always so delicious and fun. The group joined us as our first guests in the new home on Saturday to watch the LSU football game. Denny, Anne and Jack also joined. Theo’s pizza provided sustenance.
The week before move in Diana had a girls trip to California for a few days, and visited her Mom in Pacifica before and after the Monterey excursion. I was on my own in New Orleans and met up with Kenny and Ian one day at the St Roch market. I like this place because you can choose from many different food vendors and it has a great bar.
Sabine was much friendlier with Diana gone. No hissing and fussing at all.
I kept myself busy with exercise in the park – I like to get out before sunrise and watch the sun light up the beautiful trees.
I got a kick out of the Barbie Halloween decorations on this house on my walk to the park.
Shortly after my last post, Diana and I treated ourselves to a welcome to New Orleans dinner at Mamou in the Quarter. What excellent service and interesting food. The fish Florentine was amazing. This place made the 50 most interesting restaurants list in the New York Times and has received several other accolades.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/dining/best-restaurants-america.html#mamou
This has been a lengthy post and so I’m going to skip the book review and music sections until next week. I promise to be back next Sunday.
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all.