“A Unique Thanksgiving Travel Experience”
Tuesday started early with a drive to the New Orleans airport just after five a.m.. Our flight to Dallas was smooth and we had just under two hours to change planes and relax in the club. The flight to San Francisco left on time, taxied out to the runway, and then things took a bit of a turn. We seemed to be sitting still for a while. The pilot finally came on to let us know that the parking brake wouldn’t release and we needed to head back to the gate. After working on things for a while, they took the plane out of service and we waited to find out when the replacement would be ready – if there was going to be a replacement. Typically, we would have found another flight, but not two days before Thanksgiving between two major airports.
The replacement was scheduled for four hours later. A long time to spend in the club, and there were far too many kids in there. So, after that 4 hours of sitting around, we did take off for San Francisco. The flight was pleasant and we were a few hundred feet off the runway when, WHOOSH, we’re heading up at quite an angle and speed. Apparently the pilot saw another aircraft crossing our runway “way too close for comfort,” and decided to execute a “go around.” I looked out the window as we were ascending so quickly and saw the offender, and agree it would have been close.
The flight attendant had quite a sense of humour, saying, “Well you guys had an aborted takeoff and an aborted landing in the same day. I’ve never heard of that before.” We were travel weary when we arrived on Gypsy Hill.
Diana was up early the next day, chopping vegetables and prepping the stuffing. Alicia worked on potatoes au gratin. They were busy most of the day with feast prep. Thanks girls!
Thanksgiving at Adamo and Amy’s home began in the early afternoon and wrapped up in the early evening. Other than Francesca screaming for the iPad for a solid half hour before she passed out, it seemed quieter than usual and quite pleasant. I was able to watch the Cowboys with another big win and have good visits with Marco, Andy, and Jude. Will, Christine and Ollie joined us again and had a great time.
Clorinda thoroughly enjoyed herself and, for the first time in a few years, wanted to give a speech:
Look at these clever deviled eggs that Anne created in Florida:
I was up early on Friday, and decided to drive down to the prettiest Taco Bell in the country for breakfast. Here’s what this cantina on the beach looks like – beautiful views all around.
There were a lot of surfers to watch from the back deck. I had brought a book, and didn’t end up needing it with the surfer entertainment.
I watched a couple of excellent college football games on Saturday. Alabama had a very fortunate last minute touchdown to beat Auburn. Michigan had a strong performance to best Ohio State. Very close and entertaining games.
Marco, Julie and Yeti came for dinner on Saturday night. Alicia had made a yummy vegetarian curry. We have some nice leftovers to enjoy later today.
The New Orleans Saints are currently working hard to keep up with the Atlanta Falcons – hopefully they’ll improve as the game continues.
My first book this week was “A Symphony of Secrets” by Brendan Slocumb. It is the follow up to “The Violin Conspiracy. ” I think I enjoyed it a bit more than the debut, and would likely not recommend it to someone that doesn’t know quite a bit about music. I think the “Secrets” were obvious way to early in the book.
This paragraph entertained me, reminding me of Laura (our neuroscience friend) saying that one of her husband Alex’s best qualities was his “spatial awareness.”
“Eboni was brilliant – and at Columbia he’d encountered many very smart people. She told him once that she’d tested off the charts for spatial intelligence, which, in its simplest form, meant she was able to visualize shapes in three dimensions. She never got lost and could read a map at a glance.”
I love this section in which we meet Josephine Reed for the first time:
“-and then she turned another corner and from an open door, like mint in cool water or the smooth taste of fresh cream, the sound poured over her: a trombone, a clarinet, and then a trumpet lifting itself up like a benediction, blessing the air with a run of notes that Josephine breathed in like the smell of the earth after a spring rain.”
On listening to different recordings of the same music:
“For instance: on the first loop, he could focus on the cello line and wonder how the London Symphony Orchestra could play the lower notes so perfectly clear at such a fast tempo. The next time around, he’d sigh when the trumpet fanfares come through. Three times after, he was shocked that he hadn’t noticed the trumpets playing triplets, using two different notes. Man, this was double good.”
My next book was “Vanishing in the Haight” by Max Tomlinson. It is a murder cold case mystery set in and around San Francisco and it becomes very clear that the author spent many years in the area. His descriptions of routes, buildings, clubs are just too spot on to not be a local.
I sped through this book and enjoyed the pacing and unfolding of the plot very much.
This paragraph is interesting. I’m writing this from the hills on Sharp Park Road:
“Past the high school she cut a hard left without signaling, skidding onto Sharp Park Road. She climbed quickly into the hills, gunning the big V-8. The Torino roared towards the summit. But every time the road straightened out, she saw square headlights in her rearview.”
Here’s the online summary:
“Between fending off a lecherous parole officer and trying to get by in 1978 San Francisco, private investigator Colleen Hayes struggles to put her life back together so she can reconnect with her runaway teenage daughter. Then her life changes dramatically. She accepts a case from wealthy, retired industrialist Edward Copeland. The old man is desperate to solve the brutal murder of his daughter, a murder that took place in Golden Gate Park eleven years earlier—during the Summer of Love. The case has since gone cold, her murderer never found. Now, in his final days, Copeland hires Colleen to find his daughter’s killer in hopes he might die in peace. Colleen understands what it means to take a life—she spent a decade in prison for killing her ex. Battling her own demons, she immerses herself in San Francisco’s underbelly, where police corruption is rampant. Her investigation turns deadly as she pries for information, yet there is little to go on. However, a song on the radio makes her wonder—did the murdered girl leave any clues that others may have missed?”
Just one song this week, and it’s a great one:
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!
When I left you a couple of weeks ago, we were getting ready to drive to Baton Rouge (about an hour and fifteen minutes) to see Alejandro Escovedo at the Red Dragon listening room. Kenny drove over, we enjoyed our Francolini’s sandwiches that I had picked up earlier in the day, and then took our places on a comfy couch for the show. What a fantastic way to see a show. The only downside – I had to drive over a hour back home. Next time, we need to stay the night. Here’s my favourite song from the evening, “Down in the Bowery.”
During the week, we joined the New Orleans library. This is housed in a beautiful mansion on St Charles Avenue. The family that owned the house donated it to the library. It’s starting to feel like we’re locals.
On Thursday, the Bush girls had a book signing at the Garden District Bookstore, just across the street. Kenny came over to observe the scene. There was a long line of mothers and daughters when we first visited, and I was able to convince McD to go back over when the line died down, and pick up a signed book for Francesca.
Friday was Boys’ Night Out. We had dinner at Casa Borrega – a really good Mexican restaurant, which happened to be across the street from the boxing gym where “Friday Night Fights” was housed. Denny’s carwashes sponsor the event and so we had four ringside seats. The event was poorly managed, with way too many people, so we didn’t stay too long. We’ll need to get Denny engaged for some improvements.
I suggested a road trip on Saturday and Diana was all in. We drove over to the Mississippi Gulf coast and had lunch at Bay St. Louis. The oysters were amazing – I ate three of them, so you know they had to be good.
We flew to Austin on Monday for my quarterly Board meeting. Diana accompanied and we had a delicious dinner at Este on arrival. The seafood is so fresh and delicious. We started out with the rainbow trout ceviche with grapefruit sauce.
The Board meeting went very well, and so we celebrated with a snack at Clark’s oyster bar, and then dinner at Emmer and Rye. I loved the tapas tasting menu, while some other members of the Executive Committee weren’t so excited. The highlight for me was the wagyu tartare.
Denny and Anne met us for Happy Hour at Costera on Thursday – always such good food and drinks. Andre Darlington was doing a book signing across the street after Happy Hour. Denny joined us to hear him talk about his new Christmas Booze and Vinyl book. I was able to get my Booze and Vinyl book signed.
Saturday was another busy day. We had a nice walk around the neighborhood and then attended a Laurel Street porch musical concert. Mahmoud Chouki is a very talented musician from Morocco, now living in New Orleans. His band was very, very good. Here’s a sample:
As if we hadn’t had enough music, we splintered into a couple of groups – one (D’s mostly girls group) off to dinner at Café Degas, followed by Connor at the Old City Jail. The other (Kenny, Denny, Tres and me) down to the House of Blues to see Zebra. Never heard of them? I hadn’t either. Led by Randy Jackson on guitar and vocals, the trio has all the original members from 1975. They sound a bit like Led Zeppelin might, if they were from the southern United States.
Denny and I enjoyed a Tiki bar snack before the show and were fortunate to have VIP access as the show was completely sold out and very busy. I chuckled at the guys around me who knew every word to every song. All a matter of where you were when.
Diana’s group waited a while for their show to start and enjoyed the venue. Their dinner at Cafe Degas was a success, with Diana really enjoying her soft shell crab.
I finally finished “Be Mine” by Richard Ford. This was one of the best books that I’ve read in a long time. Frank Bascombe is such an excellent character, and this one alternated between laugh out loud funny and heartbreakingly poignant.
Halloween was very quiet on Washington Avenue. Auggie and his parents next door were beautifully dressed as the Addams family. Auggie was Gomez with a tiny suit for his two and a half year old self. We waited a while for the trick or treaters that didn’t show, and then drove over to Denny and Anne’s for dinner. It was a very chilly day and our penguin suits were nice and warm. Did you notice BP’s Halloween orange bowtie?
Kenny and Kara had been talking to us about the Jonathan Richman show at the Toulouse Theater on Wednesday night. We told them we were too old to go to concerts two nights in a row – we had Houndmouth on Thursday night. I got a text on Wednesday afternoon asking me to “reconsider” the show. Ok – we’ll pretend we’re young and do it. That was a good decision. What a unique show. Songs in Italian and French and some beautiful guitar. Here’s a song about Vermeer, the painter:
Houndmouth was our concert on Thursday night. I had bought tickets a long time ago, and Kenny, Kara, Trey and Lynn joined us. It’s hard to fit this band into any particular genre – some folk, rock, punk and other influences in there. Here’s their big hit, “Sedona”:
We thought that was it for the week, but along came an email from Denny offering us tickets to see “MJ, the Musical” at the Saenger Theater on Friday night. This is a musical about the life and music of Michael Jackson. I could tell that my D really wanted to go. We agreed that we could at least make it through the first half. The show was good and we stayed for the whole thing – up after midnight for the second night in a row. I did get in trouble for singing along to a few songs.
We reprised our Friday afternoon Columns lunch this week. It was such a gorgeous day and who knows how many more we’ll get before it gets chilly. The lamb skewers were a new D choice that worked out very well.
We spent some good time on the front porch on Saturday and had a nice chat with our neighbor, Hugh, who was telling us about his “vagabond” son.
The weather did not improve last Sunday for Adamo’s birthday party. The Sam Chase band had to play in the garage. Everybody seemed to have a good time, although it was a bit chaotic with so many people inside. It was good to see Will, Christine and Ollie.
I had a circuitous flight home on Wednesday. There was a thunderstorm over Dallas most of the day. We circled around Kansas for a while and then diverted to Longview, Texas for fuel. I was worried that the flight crew would time out there and was starting to plan on finding a hotel. No worry needed – they didn’t have a set of stairs tall enough for anyone to get off the plane. We did finally land in Dallas, then it was a waiting game for the flight to New Orleans – this picture was the last update and was nowhere near accurate. A break in the thunderstorm did allow us to take off after midnight, and I made it home around 1:30am – a long day of flying.
A coffee and browse through the shops at the Rink, across from our new home, followed the walk. I really enjoyed the Garden District bookstore and picked up a signed copy of the new Richard Ford book. It’s the fourth installment in the Frank Bascombe series that I enjoy so much.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This was a relatively quiet week. Walking or running in the park early most mornings, and back and forth to the new house to check on repairs were the regular activities. The foundation repairs and all the miscellaneous things from the inspection report were completed. Diana made sure to get before and after pictures of all the foundation fixes. The owner of the company said we shouldn’t expect to seem him again in our lifetime – great news.
Jack invited me to join his trivia team at Dat Dog on Tuesday evening. Kenny and Denny also participated, with McD providing some support. Dat Dog is a very colorful hotdog restaurant on Freret Street. Diana and I opted for the vegetarian versions in lettuce wraps. Those and the tator tots were yummy. The trivia was all over the map – history, geography, business, sports and more.
I tried Aidan Gill’s barber shop on Magazine street on Thursday afternoon. I wanted to compare it to the other barber shop I tried during our residency. Aidan greeted me personally, offering a shot of Irish whiskey, a draft Guinness or a soft drink. He guessed that I was from East Kilbride based on what remains of my accent. Not too far off. Gill is from Dublin and moved to New Orleans many years ago.
Derek, who recently moved from Boston, gave me my haircut. I think he did a good job, and he was full of restaurant and other recommendations. I’ll be back to see these guys again soon. Here’s an article from several years ago that talks about how Aidan led the resurgence in old school barber shops:
I’ve been wanting to try Turkey and the Wolf sandwich shop for a while. It has won many awards and has been featured on several television shows, including “Somebody Feed Phil.” It was right around the corner from Aidan Gill, and seemed to be calling me. This is the original restaurant from Mason Hereford who recently opened Hungry Eyes – a place near the condo that I really enjoy.
Their most famous sandwich is the collard green melt, and I decided to give it a try. It was ridiculously delicious – collard greens, coleslaw and Russian dressing come together to create a fabulous combination, with just the right amount of spice. Here’s the recipe if you’d like to attempt to recreate this:
On Saturday morning, we picked up Kara and drove over to the sculpture garden for early morning yoga. No, I didn’t participate, choosing instead to do my puzzles and enjoy a coffee at Café du Monde. I resisted the urge to order some beignets to go with my coffee.
After closing, we met the guy who is going to refinish the floors and an air conditioning guy at the house. Tommy, the air conditioning guy, was recommended by Fred, who let us know he was a real character who looked like Edgar Winter. That was all true. I enjoyed my time with Tommy quite a bit. The picture is of him in the attic (natural habitat), surveying the duct work and units for improvements.
Diana was busy on Tuesday and Wednesday, coordinating the floor guys and a general contractor who is taking care of all the major things from the inspection report – replacing some siding, removing bad insulation, venting dryer and attic properly, adjusting cabinet and other doors, and so on. The floor sanding is moving along well, and we should pick out the stain early next week.
Diana rewarded herself with oyster night (and frozen French 75) with Laura at Superior Seafood. Well deserved!
I made the mistake of letting Sabine the cat out on Tuesday night. Shaking her treat bag at both doors yielded no results and she ended up spending the night outside. She was anxious to get in when Diana opened the door on Wednesday morning. Doesn’t she look guilty in this picture?
We followed that with another pleasant and casual affair, dinner at Café Degas. This is a unique French bistro over by City Park. Kenzie was our waitress. She had waited on us when we went there with Tim and Dee and had suggested a wine that McD really enjoyed. She even had a picture to show Kenzie. “Sorry, we don’t have that one anymore, but I have an even better one.”
We settled into a wonderful wood fire. And a strange thing occurred. A cat decided that it liked McD. That never happens.
My book this week was “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing” by Matthew Perry.
We arrived in Corning in time for some amazing smoked pork, courtesy of Brent. It was very nice to relax in Patty and Brent’s wonderful downtown apartment. The smoked pork was fantastic. I had it again in a Brent scramble creation early morning Sunday, following the women’s soccer World Cup.
The day was finished off at The Cellar in downtown Corning – a short walk from the apartment. Another excellent meal – great starters like falafel salad and chicken liver mousse, and then a burger for me and paella for Diana. The ladies picked out a wine that they enjoyed very much, so I’m recording that here for future reference.
After brunch, we walked over to the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG) and browsed through the gift shop. McD successfully navigating the maze on the bridge over the river.
As you can tell, there was a lot of driving and other activity this week and not much time for reading. I did find a really interesting short book on my iPad – no room for real books on this trip.