Week in Review – May 31st, 2026

“Sail 250 – tall ships in New Orleans”

On Monday, Sheri really wanted a Muffuletta sandwich (a classic New Orleans original) before leaving, and so we met at Cochon Butcher which has great sandwiches and sausages. I agree with Diana that while those at Butcher are good, they’re not a whole lot better than one you can pick up easily at several of the local markets. I’m confident Denny would strenuously object to that opinion.

Here’s a video of Phil Rosenthal meeting up with Wendell Pierce (famous New Orleans actor) at Butcher:

After lunch we had agreed to meet at the Columns and sit on the porch while it rained outside. The foursome were not able to secure a table there and so we met them at the Avenue Pub instead, where we played entertaining card games to pass the time. Anne didn’t like the game we chose and refused to learn the rules in process – adding to the entertainment.

Later in the afternoon we migrated to the Bon Temps to play some pool. Diana was delighted to find that her experience on Christmas day was not a fluke – they regularly carry Veuve Clicquot at a very inexpensive price.

The next stop on the moveable feast was Denny and Anne’s home for dinner. Denny whipped up his usual yummy spread – hangar steak and shrimp/salami kebabs, harissa carrots on yogurt, salad, chimichurri sauce. He really is a master with his sauces. The foursome left to play trivia after dinner. We were too tired and so stayed back to clean up and then headed home. They got to trivia late (close to halftime) and were still able to secure third place – very impressive.

Diana had pickleball on Tuesday morning and I met Sheri and Sean at Juan’s Flying Burrito for lunch. Diana joined after she finished to share my Luau quesadilla (shrimp, pineapple, etc. and my favourite thing on their menu.) Our visitors left for the airport right after lunch – Sean to Dallas for work and Sheri back to San Jose.

At trivia on Tuesday evening, we tied for first place. The final question involved putting four Chinese cities (Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, and Bangalore) in order from North to South. Nobody was sure and we all had different answers, so our team captain decided to bet zero – a wise decision that paid off. The tiebreak question asked when George H.W. Bush was born. Whoever got closest to the date won. We chose June, 1922 and the answer was June 12, 1924. We were close but the other team got within a couple of days of the correct answer. Chatting with them afterwards, one team member admitted to having a photographic memory and remembering having read the date somewhere. Is it fair for folks with photographic memories to play trivia? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Diana had her usual Wednesday yoga session in the park. She and Kara met up for oysters and snacks at the Pascal’s Manale Happy Hour – ostensibly to use an expiring coupon that I was supposed to use for our New Year’s Eve catering and forgot about.

Sail 250 hit New Orleans on Thursday. This is a collection of tall sailing ships from various countries that have come together to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America.

Sail 250 New Orleans

We decided to be early birds on Thursday afternoon and try to beat the inevitable crowds for a free event. I parked at the Jazz Museum with the understanding that the ships would be lined up from the Bywater to downtown. Oops – they were all clustered downtown around the aquarium area – so we had a nice mile plus walk down the riverfront – would be fine if it wasn’t so humid.

We boarded the “Union” a gorgeous ship from Peru. The sailors were all so young and smart in their dress white uniforms.

They were kind enough to give us some time at the helm:

The thought of climbing up the rigging to unfurl the sails made me queasy.

This was such a nice event and I’m sure the sailors will say they were welcomed better and entertained more in New Orleans than on their next stops in Virginia, New York, and Boston.

After the excitement of the tall ships we tried the Happy Hour at the new Charmant restaurant by City Park. I had read reviews, looked at the menu and thought we would enjoy it.

And enjoy we did. The food and cocktails were excellent and at a very good price. Diana absolutely loved the wagyu burger, as did I, and we both thought the savory bread pudding was creative and delicious.

We will be back soon to try their brunch and dinner menus.

I watched the San Antonio Spurs tie up their semi-final 7 game series 3-3 on Thursday night. I used to love going to their games when we lived in San Antonio and it’s been a number of years since they had such a good team. Very young and inexperienced, and very good.

Diana had 3 hours of pickleball on Friday – just can’t get enough. In the evening we were planning to see the blues master, Marc Stone, at the Constantinople porch stage. We parked easily and saw there was nobody there. The host was on his porch and let us know we had the wrong day – not until Sunday. Geez – I rarely get the dates and times wrong.

No worries – I had a plan B. Fred and Kelly had send out a text that they were going for drinks at the Gilded Perch. We drove over there and had a fun discussion on the porch while it poured buckets around us.

Saturday began with a walk in the park in the already humid weather. Then we stopped at the store for supplies to make our chopped chickpea Italian salad. That was our offering for Greg’s pool party later in the afternoon.

We had a really nice group at Greg’s and Diana was reminded of how much she likes hanging out in a pool for the afternoon – not helpful, Greg.

I watched the last game of the NBA semi-finals when we got home on Saturday evening. The Spurs beat Oklahoma on the road! What a great performance. Now they face the New York Knicks in the finals.

Sunday again began with a walk in the park. Didn’t seem quite a humid as Saturday.

I’m currently watching the French Open tennis – an excellent battle between Rudd and Fonseca – tiebreak in the second set.

Earlier in the week in California, Luciano had a graduation and the other two were as supportive as ever:

I finally finished up “Doxology” by Nell Zink this week. You probably know by now that if it takes me more than two weeks to finish a book, it doesn’t have me engaged and excited. This GoodReads review kind of summed up my thoughts:

“It’s an achievement in itself to write a political/family novel that features strange lo-fi anti-folk nerd bands from lower Manhattan and that I still don’t like: This meandering tale introduces us to an American family where the parents have roots in the musical counterculture, but then flourish in the tech upper middle class, while their millennial daughter tries to help save the environment by becoming a political activist. So yes, Zink apparently tries to reflect society and changing attitudes by describing different generations (including the grandparents) over time, but nevertheless, the book has pretty much nothing to say: If you look for a stringent narrative concept, a message, surprising twists and thoughts or elegant prose, this is not your book. It is very readable and it’s not like I had to force myself to finish it, but the world did not need this novel – sorry, Nell Zink.”

I had highlighted a number of areas in this book and will limit my sharing to just a few.

A paragraph on music that I loved – I don’t know many people that have ever heard of Roky Erickson – a wonderful artist who lost his mind.

“Eloise fled toward the stage, where Joe was launching into his encore, “Splash 1” by the 13th Floor Elevators. He saw her and stared at her. He sang the entire song looking into her eyes. The rock repertoire includes several songs an informed person might call romantic, such as “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys, but few can compete with “Splash,” the work of a mystic at the height of his powers. Soon after its composition, those powers defeated Roky Erickson, and he turned his genius to the service of the devil and the Martian voice in his head, but in “Splash” he was as yet untainted.”

I loved this phrase:

“You’re an irrepressible font of nay-saying pessimism,” he said. “It’s weird, coming from somebody who’s about to have a baby.”