“Chickie Visits”
Diana had some early week accomplishments – Christmas tree up, complete with her angel on top, and streetcar puzzle finished off. This time she did take time to sleep between puzzling sessions.
Trivia followed the typical routine on Tuesday evening. We missed the last question (flipped the last two) and fell out of the money.
Wednesday was a pleasant, sunny day and so I was able to walk over to Aidan Gill for my haircut and stop into HiVolt coffee for a snack on the walk back home.
I had read that Joe Krown was going to be on the road with the Kenny Wayne Shepherd band (playing Hammond organ) for most of the first half of 2026, and so we took advantage of the opportunity to listen to him one last time for a while at Dos Jefes on Wednesday evening. Excellent as always:
Thursday was another pleasant walking day. We made a lap around and stopped into Feet First to see about some shoes for Diana – nothing fit well enough to warrant a purchase. I suggested a Cafe Degas Happy Hour in the afternoon – always well received by McD. We branched out from the usual, trying the shrimp remoulade salad for the first time. This is always such a yummy, and crazily inexpensive treat.
I had read about something called the Greenway SuperNova close to Cafe Degas. We navigated over to explore. I had expected some illuminated art installations along the Lafitte Greenway and that wasn’t really what it was. It seemed more like an art market with some great food booths and music stages. The evening was getting chilly and so we had a quick walk through and called it an early night.
Our friend Nick “Chickie” was in town on business for a few days. Knowing that we had dinner plans, we made sure to get a good walk in the morning. We met up for dinner on Friday at the wonderful Acamaya in the Marigny. The food, drinks and service are always excellent. I loved the smoky Manhattan Negra made with mezcal.
We started with an assortment of tostadas and ceviche. The scallop tostada was my favourite – interesting flavour. We chose the arroz negra (I think the best menu item with squid and various seafood treats in the deep black rice) and pork chop (perfectly cooked) with a sweet potato side for our larger dishes.
Coffee came in these funky Mayan looking cups:
Chickie was looking for his favourite digestive – Fernet Branca. I got lucky on my first call to local watering holes – yes, Markey’s Bar has it and they’re just around the corner. We had a very nice evening sitting outside at the Markey’s sidewalk tables and enjoying the weather.
We picked Chickie up at the Four Seasons (he was slumming), or I should say we tried to – his massage was running long. Tough life… We ultimately met up at Elizabeth’s for a yummy brunch.
All the usual hits – crabby eggs benedict, fried oyster benedict, fried pickles, and praline bacon.
Time for a nap after that. In the evening we watched the new Michelle Pfeiffer movie, “Oh. What. Fun.” Not really the light hearted holiday movie that one might expect from the marketing.
At some point on Saturday, Mason graduated from Alabama. I know he worked very hard these last few months and is happy to be finished.
Kenny, Kara and Nina came over on Sunday. The girls were off on a holiday home tour. The Preservation Resource Center puts on an annual tour of homes in the Garden District.
They walked to five or six decorated fancy homes:
Kenny and I walked over the Flako’s – a new Mexican restaurant that occupies what was the most recent home of Tracey’s. The food was “fine” – nothing amazing but perfectly passable. Service was good.
We watched some football (a nice Saints win) while the girls chatted after their tour. Diana ordered some Theo’s pizza and salad – a nice conclusion to a lazy and laid back day.
I made a slow start on “Holy City” by Henry Wise. I’m enjoying it so far – very much in the style of S.A. Crosby, who’s review encouraged me to try it. Here’s a short summary:
“Holy City is the captivating debut from Henry Wise about a deputy sheriff who must work alongside an unpredictable private detective after he finds himself on the outs from his sheriff’s department over his unwillingness to look the other way when an innocent man is arrested for murder.”
Jazzfest is front page news in New Orleans. The lineup for 2026 dropped this week, and it’s a very good one:
So many artists that we would like to see – we may have to take a different approach to tickets this year. I really like the poster as well – just like Diana’s puzzle:
I watched a documentary about the wonderful New Orleans based trumpeter, Leroy Jones. He was the lead in Harry Connick’s big band: