“Good Friends + 4 Days in New Orleans = Priceless”
When I left you last Sunday, the Cowboys and Saints were both losing. The Cowboys did finally manage to eke out a win with an amazing 64 yard field goal by Aubrey – he is certainly a bright spot on the team. The Saints were not so fortunate either that Sunday or particularly the most recent Sunday.
Augie was busy for several hours decorating for Halloween:
Diana had a routine medical test on Monday that required fasting for a while. I gave her the choice of where to have lunch afterwards. “Let’s go to Shaya, we haven’t been there in while.” It was shortly after 11am and there were two other folks in the place. The temperature was set to very cold and so we asked to sit on the patio. Apparently opening the patio door to serve us was going to be too much. So we left for plan B.
Red Dog Diner was happy to sit us outside. We missed the 8-10am morning Happy Hour but I had a frozen Irish coffee anyway (a meal in itself.)
I entertained myself in the afternoon with the Americana music awards while Diana napped. John C. Reilly hosted and did a nice version of Tom Waits’ “Picture in a Frame:”
Mary and Chuck finally arrived in Scotland on a trip that Mum helped them plan a while ago:
I’m looking forward to hearing about it.
I met my friend Fred from Plano (really from New Orleans originally but now lives in the Dallas area) for Happy Hour at the Evangeline on Tuesday afternoon. I picked the location so that Fred could walk from his sister’s house and that worked out very well. This is one of Kenny’s favourite bars and I felt guilty going for the first time without him, but had a great visit with Fred.
Trivia on Tuesday night – all good through the first half and then we took a nosedive. We were close on this final question. You had to guess within five of the total and we were just a few outside that. The only one we knew with certainty was the hockey goals – seven.
Diana began Wednesday in typical fashion – a run and then yoga. Then we went to look at a house on Nashville Ave that had a nice pool, pool house, and way more rooms than we need. Too much upkeep and maintenance on that place.
We got some culture on Wednesday evening at a reading at Octavia books. Here’s what their email said about the event:
“From the legendary producer of Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, and Pink Floyd and author of White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s comes a riveting, world-spanning tour de force illuminating the artists, histories, controversies, and collaborations that shaped global music.”
I enjoyed the stories and music that he played. I picked up a book by the interviewer, Jay Mazza, about Kermit Ruffins and Vaughan’s lounge. Mazza attended over 300 Thursday night shows at the venue with Kermit and band. That’s where I ended up on my first ever evening in New Orleans and I was sold.
One of my favourite songs that I heard that night:
Back at the house we watched an episode of the new “Morning Show” series – not too exciting yet.
April and Jason, friends from Austin, arrived on Thursday morning. We had a nibble on a breakfast casserole that I made for the first time – yummy, and then it was off to Commander’s Palace for lunch.
After the usual trio of small soups, I passed on the usual stuffed quail and tried the cochon de lait tostada – a good new option. And of course, you can’t finish without the whiskey souffle:
Next up, Booker Sessions at the Maple Leaf. This week was Andre Bohren and he was strictly classical – none of the hybrid style that Booker is famous for creating. Lots of Chopin and Liszt.
A brief stop in to Jacques-Imo’s for alligator cheesecake and a hello to Debra, and we had day one of the visit in the books.
Our guests had not spent time in the French Quarter and so we rectified that with a brief ramble on Friday afternoon. We stopped in the lovely Peychaud’s courtyard where Jason fell in love with the Hurricane cocktail.
We had the obligatory wander down Bourbon Street and back up Royal Street, then caught a car over to N7. This is always such a lovely place to take guests when the weather is nice. The garden seating worked out very well, and we were able to share several menu highlights: tomato salad (the popping flavours), octopus, duck liver pate, tarte flambee traditionelle (always a highlight for me with those lardons and caramelized onions) and steak au poivre.
After that N7 feast, we regrouped and made a visit to Dos Jefes to watch the Joe Krown trio. After a bit of a late start (actually 30 minutes late is pretty much on time for New Orleans) we were treated to one of the best performances that I’ve heard from Joe.
We met the local krewe (Jack, Alex, Thom, Laura) at Oak and Ale to watch football on Saturday afternoon. That gave April and Jason a chance for a repeat French Quarter visit and another Hurricane.
We enjoyed dinner together at the Bouligny Tavern. How did they get that smoky char on the broccolini with the burrata? The deviled eggs were also very fancy:
We planned on Elizabeth’s in the Bywater for brunch on Sunday. I had a last minute thought that it would be nice to invite Chris who lives close. Diana did not he was joining until she saw his bike parked in front. Nice surprise!
They always have such a good selection of brunch specials – hard to decide:
The Cowboys and Saints both lost their games in the afternoon – the Saints by the worst margin since the 1970s – going to be a long season for them.
I’m a little over half way through “I Might be in Trouble” by Daniel Aleman. I’m finding it well written and funny so far, albeit a bit dark. Here’s the online summary:
“A “hilarious, suspense-filled” dark comedy about a struggling writer who wakes up to find his date from the night before dead—and must then decide how far he’s willing to go to use this as inspiration for his next book (Entertainment Weekly).
A few years ago, David Alvarez had it all: a six-figure book deal, a loving boyfriend, and an exciting writing career. His debut novel was a resounding success, which made the publication of his second book—a total flop—all the more devastating. Now, David is single, lonely, and desperately trying to come up with the next great idea for his third manuscript, one that will redeem him in the eyes of readers, reviewers, the entire publishing world…and maybe even his ex-boyfriend.
But good ideas are hard to come by, and the mounting pressure of a near-empty bank account isn’t helping. When David connects with a sexy stranger on a dating app, he figures a wild night out in New York City may be just what he needs to find inspiration.
But after one of the best nights of his life, David wakes up hungover but giddy—only to find prince charming dead next to him in bed. Suddenly faced with the implausible idea that he may have actually killed his date, David calls the only person he can trust in a moment of crisis: his literary agent, Stacey.
Together, David and Stacey must untangle the events of the previous night, cover their tracks, and spin the entire misadventure into David’s career-defining novel—if only they can figure out what to do with the body first.”
The passing of Robert Redford brought to mind this song from Allison Moorer that she performed in “The Horse Whisperer:”
Take a listen to this gorgeous cover of “Dancing in the Dark” that Jason shared with us:
Coexist peacefully, with patience and kindness for all!