Category: Travel

“A Quick Austin Visit”

We flew to Austin on Monday afternoon, arriving in time to check into the Carpenter hotel, and then for me to attend a reception in downtown for successors to the Executive Committee members with our Board of Directors.  The reception was very nicely done and thankfully didn’t last too long.

We had our three year strategic plan presentation with the Board on Tuesday morning.  That went well and our budget was approved.  We retired to the Soho House (a private club that our CEO, Lachie, belongs to) for lunch.  I had been there once before and while the space is beautiful, was not impressed with the service.  The food was very good, and again the service was slow and spotty.  Such a shame they can’t get it all together at such a fancy place.

Meanwhile, Lisa and Diana relaxed at the Carpenter pool.  They always have such a good time hanging out.

We had planned to be finished with the afternoon event and Blair and I were going to meet Diana and Lisa at the Odd Duck for dinner.  The best plans!  The group was still going strong at the time of our dinner reservation.  Lots of frustrating back and forth ensued on what to do.  The Odd Duck didn’t have room for our extras, so Lisa and Diana enjoyed a very yummy dinner there, while the rest of us visited the crazy Tiki bar across the street.

Odd Duck is one of my very favourite Austin spots – so creative and different.  Here are some of the pictures that the girls taunted us with as they worked through the menu:

We had some snacks and crazy Tiki drinks:

We met Damon at June’s All Day, our typical last stop in Austin on the way to the airport, for lunch and were home early Wednesday evening.

My excitement on Thursday was getting my teeth cleaned – all looks good – whew!  Patience is required for a full set of x-rays.

Diana joined the Krewe for Happy Hour and tacos on Friday night.  I was worn out from the Austin trip and took a pass for an early night.

Saturday was a relatively busy day.  We started with a visit to NOAC – I had a pleasant swim (timing after the aqua aerobic ladies) and an even more pleasant visit to the steam room.

Diana picked our after workout brunch spot – Paladar 511 in the Marigny.  She was pleasantly surprised that I quickly agreed with her first pick.  It’s close to eight years since we last ate here, and it’s still very good.  Diana had a crab and corn Benedict – the corn cake base was phenomenal, the corn very fresh and the sauce delicious – a wonderful brunch.  I had the huevos rancheros – also delicious.  I’m going to have to think about my choice for the next place – Paladar will be hard to beat.

After lunch we got our COVID and flu shots.  Diana was going to get the shingles shot as well, but they were out of stock – probably a good thing as I had a bad reaction to it and she was looking forward to Greg and Colleen’s pool party on Sunday.

We enjoyed watching the Saints game on Greg’s new outdoor TV by his pool.  He cooked burgers and a sweet potato dish – always a very good chef and host.  Trey, Lynn, Danny, Chris Peet and Tyler, Claire and Ollie (Greg and Colleen’s one year old grandson) were additions to the normal krewe.  Unfortunately both the Saints and Cowboys lost this week.  But it’s not about winning – it’s about spending time with friends!

I started Ann Patchett’s “The Patron Saint of Liars” this week.  Kindle says I’m only 22% complete – busy week of travel and meetings.  This was Patchett’s first novel and I’m enjoying it so far.  She will be visiting the Garden District Book Store, across the street, next week.  Maybe I’ll pop over and meet her.  Here’s the online summary:

“Acclaimed author Ann Patchett’s debut novel, hailed as “beautifully written . . . a first novel that second- and third-time novelists would envy for its grace, insight, and compassion” (Boston Herald)

St. Elizabeth’s, a home for unwed mothers in Habit, Kentucky, usually harbors its residents for only a little while. Not so Rose Clinton, a beautiful, mysterious woman who comes to the home pregnant but not unwed, and stays. She plans to give up her child, thinking she cannot be the mother it needs. But when Cecilia is born, Rose makes a place for herself and her daughter amid St. Elizabeth’s extended family of nuns and an ever-changing collection of pregnant teenage girls. Rose’s past won’t be kept away, though, even by St. Elizabeth’s; she cannot remain untouched by what she has left behind, even as she cannot change who she has become in the leaving.”

Such a great funky feel:

A deep discovery that I love:

I saw Jesse Malin on a morning show this weekend and found this collaboration with the Boss:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

 

“Mermaid Parade”

We flew home from San Diego on Monday afternoon.  I could tell Diana was uncomfortable for most all of the almost four hour flight.  Walking through New Orleans airport, I asked her how miserable the flight was for her on a scale of 1 to 10.  “About a 12.”  We’ve got to get our backs healthy again soon.

The “Gentlemen Out At Lunch” club met at Origen Venezuelan Bistro on Tuesday.  Denny wasn’t able to join but the rest of the group assembled at the restaurant on St. Claude avenue in the Bywater.  Origen was Denny’s suggestion and he insisted that we go ahead without him.

This was another great experience – a new place for all of us, recently opened, with great service and a creative menu.  We shared ceviche and arepas appetizers and then I chose the mahi mahi for my main.  All delicious.

Here’s an article with more information about this hidden gem:

https://nola.eater.com/2024/4/22/24135036/origen-venezuelan-new-restaurant-open-new-orleans-bywater-brunch-julio-machado

We followed lunch with a visit to BJ’s lounge – just down the street.  Oops – getting ahead of myself again.  Kenny gave me a quick driving tour on the way.  The house he group up in with his eight siblings was three houses down from the restaurant – I got a drive by of that as well as the local schools, including the one where his Dad taught mathematics and French.  The tour was really enjoyable.  Kenny really has missed his calling.  I need to revisit getting him certified to give walking tours of the Garden District.

We had a fun pool tournament, with Kenny and I winning 3-2 over Thom and Alex.  But who was keeping score?

We didn’t decide on the September luncheon location.  I suspect Kenny’s repeat recommendation of the “Messina’s Runway Cafe” inside the restored art deco building at the Lakefront airport may win.

Our next entertainment came on Saturday, after a couple of quiet days.  Thom suggested we meet at Cooter Brown’s for lunch and college football.  Diana joined us, as well as Fred and Kenny, and later Peggy.  I take pictures of the “Hey Dude” shoes that Campbell gave me from random locations.  Here they are from Cooter’s:

Kenny and Kara picked us up in the evening, drove us to the Firehouse for parking, and then the 2nd annual Mermaid Parade.

MermaiD was anxious to join in on the action.  She can enter next year!

The parade was short and fun, with some excellent throws:

It was still early and Kara suggested Bouligny Tavern for a snack.  Who’s going to argue with the driver.  We enjoyed some delicious snacks and drinks.

I tried something new this week – picking up “It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover.  This is a romance style novel that Diana had on the kitchen counter to finish.  Goodness – I hope all her romances aren’t this dark.  The topics are marital and emotional abuse – apparently based on Hoover’s childhood.  The writing and characters are so good that I had to finish the book.  Certainly not for everyone, although it appears to have topped bestseller lists for several years, and is now a movie.

Two new albums were released this week by artists that I enjoy.  First, Uncle Lucius with a great sounding live album:

Next, Nick Cave:

And finally, something I came across that reminded me of an amazing Lucky Peterson concert in Dallas:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

“Flying around – Austin and San Diego”

My travel experience to Austin early on Monday morning was surprisingly quiet and easy.  No wait at the security checkpoint and lots of open seats on the flight.  The walk to the Uber line in Austin is always annoying in 105 degree heat.  It must be at least a half mile hike.

The Carpenter Hotel was accommodating and let me check in at 10:30am.  Very helpful.  I was able drop my bag, get some medications from the wonderful Thom’s Market (they have some of everything you need) for my sore back, and meet Neffie for lunch downtown.

Neffie chose the Peacock Mediterranean Grill for our lunch meeting – prep for a large group session on Tuesday.  The Mezze plate with falafel, hummus, baba, and pita was right up my alley, along with a side of latkes with smoked trout roe and dill labneh.  I could eat this stuff several times a week.

Neffie offered to drop me in the office for my afternoon meetings.  Seemed like a good plan until I tried to get into her little BMW.  I got in and then my sore back would not permit me to lean out and close the door.  Good grief.

After a long afternoon of work, I was not in any mood to go out for sushi with the guys.  Instead I chose an early dinner by myself at the Carpenter Hall.

I only do Yelp reviews when things are either really good or really bad.  You can see from the above review that I had a very nice experience at the Carpenter Hall.  And it allowed me to be in bed early.

After a long and frustrating day of meetings, dinner on Tuesday night was hosted by our applications development partners at Perry’s steakhouse.  The seafood tower appetizer was full of yummy things, and that was followed with a well-cooked sea bass with creamy corn and a red pepper coulis.

My martini was served with a side of accoutrements – an oyster, a lemon twist and blue cheese stuffed olives.  What a choice.

The dinner went on for several hours, I enjoyed the discussion and was back in my hotel room in time to watch some of Michele Obama’s speech.  Her husband had a hard time following her.

My flight back to New Orleans was smooth and I was able to plop into my spot for a relaxing evening.

Meanwhile, the Ogans and Kirsches had rendezvoused in New York to watch some of the US Open tennis tournament.  Here they are at brunch:

And then taking in a Bansky exhibit:

The last one is a post Katrina mural from New Orleans.  I like the Ziggy Stardust Queen one.

There was a special memorial show for Nick Daniels III (Dumpstaphunk bass player) at Tipitina’s on Thursday evening.  Trombone Shorty and members of Galactic joined the band.  Advertised start time was 7pm.  I showed up at 7:30 and planned to stay for an hour or so – yeah right!  The music started at 9pm and was very good for the short while I lasted.  I did have some interesting conversations while we waited – Logan the molecular biologist was one of the more engaging characters.

They had a special light show that you can see in these videos – first time I’ve seen anything that fancy at this venue.

Friday had me back on a plane – this time to San Diego to meet up with Diana’s “California girlfriends” and spouses.  We were celebrating Donna’s 60th birthday.  I met up with Diana at the San Diego airport (she arrived a bit before me from San Francisco), we rode the long shuttle to the rental car facility, and then the relatively short drive to Encinitas and the Airbnb.  After settling in, the group made a very short drive to Kris and Cat’s home.

We shouldn’t forget Idris, the cat.  This is the one that Molly babysat when Kris and Cat came to visit.  He loves catching lizards and trying to take them inside the house.

We finished the night back at the Airbnb around the firepit.

Jeff and I enjoyed empanadas for breakfast at Bump Coffee on the main strip, after dropping Diana for a run along the beach road.

Then it was back over to Kris and Cat’s for a birthday pool party and dinner.

Sunday began with a casual breakfast at Nectarine Grove.  The food and outside seating were very good.  After that, things started to get a bit “over engineered” as they can with a large group – let’s do the art walk, then park at the beach and listen to the concert, and maybe get some lunch in there somewhere, then back to the house to change for dinner at 7pm.  I could tell that was too much and was going to get frustrating, so hung out at the house, played the piano, read my book, and watched some TV – a much more relaxing afternoon than Diana reported.

I joined up with the group again for dinner at Le Papagayo.  They had pleasant live music, good drinks and yummy food.  Very enjoyable.

My book this week was “Go as a River” by Shelley Read.  I hadn’t planned on this book and just grabbed it from the kitchen counter as I was leaving for my Austin flight.  While this is definitely more of a McD type plot, I really enjoyed the outdoor descriptions and understanding the tragedy of destroying the village.

Victoria had a very challenging life and it is very well described throughout the book.  I was happy for the resolution in the last few pages, otherwise things would have been very depressing.

Here’s an online summary:

“Seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash runs the household on her family’s peach farm in the small ranch town of Iola, Colorado—the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Wilson Moon is a young drifter with a mysterious past, displaced from his tribal land and determined to live as he chooses.

Victoria encounters Wil by chance on a street corner, a meeting that profoundly alters both of their young lives, igniting as much passion as danger. When tragedy strikes, Victoria leaves the only life she has ever known, fleeing into the surrounding mountains, where she struggles to survive in the wilderness with no clear notion of what her future will bring. As the seasons change, she also charts the changes in herself, finding in the beautiful but harsh landscape the meaning and strength to move forward and rebuild all that she has lost, even as the Gunnison River threatens to submerge her homeland—its ranches, farms, and the beloved peach orchard that has been in her family for generations.

Inspired by true events surrounding the destruction of the town of Iola in the 1960s, Go as a River is a story of deeply held love in the face of hardship and loss, but also of finding courage, resilience, friendship, and, finally, home—where least expected. This stunning debut explores what it means to lead your life as if it were a river—gathering and flowing, finding a way forward even when a river is dammed.”

Here’s a lovely mellow tune that was playing in the Carpenter restaurant when I enjoyed dinner.  I found out later that this was played through a vintage McIntosh amplifier with four tubes – no wonder it sounded so good.

An interesting song from a collection by Gilles Peterson, “Gilles Peterson Digs America”:

There’s a lot of interesting and deep variety on this collection.

One of my favourite moments from the Democratic convention was Bill Clinton comparing his party’s “We the people” to the opposition’s “Me Myself and I.”

Coexist peacefully, with patience and kindness for all!

 

 

“Gator warning!”

This was a relatively calm week after all the activity in Scotland last week.

A trip to Austin on Tuesday brought my first visit to the office in a while. Really wanting to accomplish this in a day trip, I left the house early and arrived home very late – an overnight hotel might have been a better idea.  I enjoyed my favourite breakfast taco from Taco Deli on arrival in Austin airport, and then a negroni and snack from Juliet Italian restaurant on the way to the airport in the evening.  Lunch wasn’t such a successful endeavour – something just didn’t sit right in my tummy.

Overdue for a haircut, I made a visit to Aidan Gill on Wednesday.  Aidan’s wife is back at work after suffering a stroke.  We made a drive over to Angelo Brocato’s to pickup some of her favourite treats – cannolis.  I think I made a friend for life on delivering those.

Trey invited us to meet his new “hound”, Scout, on Wednesday night at Picnic restaurant.  This was a new experience for us, having driven past many times.  Trey’s friend, Nina, provided some lovely musical accompaniment.  Picnic has a very reasonable Happy Hour and also some more healthy snacks than their well known fried chicken.

The clubhouse at the golf course in Audubon park was recently acquired by the Brennan restaurant group, and we had been talking about trying it.  Happy Hour on Friday seemed like a good opportunity.  The krewe was quickly assembled – Thom, Kenny, Fred and Kelly.  Unfortunately the kitchen closed early on Fridays and the bar was only open until 5pm – poor research on our part.  No problem – it was a short drive to the wonderful Happy Hour at Chaise Delachaise.  Our table was only available for a short while, so we met Kara and Nina at the Kirsch home and had an enjoyable visit.

Diana joined Kara for yoga in the City Park sculpture garden on Saturday morning, while Kenny and I had a walk around.  There’s always something to be learned when you go on a walk with Kenny – he retains so much historical information.  McD was a bit disturbed to notice this gator swimming under a bridge they used in the garden.

 

A treat was earned after the “gator fright” and so we visited Leo’s bakery – new to us and tucked off where we would never have found it.  That’s one of the beautiful things about New Orleans – all these little gems hidden away in neighbourhoods.  The croissants were amazing.

 

We shopped for food and drinks for our Sunday dinner party in the afternoon.  Diana remarked that I was the most patient ever as we were struggling to find things in Whole Foods – must be part of the aging process.

Fred and Kelly joined us for dinner on Sunday.  Chef D prepared her delicious Chilean sea bass and mini stuffed peppers.  The first in our planned dinner party series was a big success – thanks Diana!

I continued my slow read through “Southern Man” by Greg Iles – I really need to stay focused and finish this one up.

More time was spent on the short essays in Ann Patchett’s “These Precious Days.”  Last week, I found the essays of mixed enjoyment and this week I’ve enjoyed every one that I read quite a bit – maybe I’m just in a better mood?  I recommend this collection a lot.

 

 

 

I heard this on WWOZ radio and really enjoyed it:

A pleasant guitar sound from Al Stewart in a really deep track:

And finally, a fun cover of a J.J. Cale classic:

Coexist peacefully, with patience and kindness for all!

“Great to see you after 40 years!”

On Monday we drove through to Currie (just outside of Edinburgh and next to the Heriot Watt University campus where I spent the first year of my university career) to meet up with Bobby, a classmate and part of the small group that hung out together so many years ago.  It’s close to 40 years since I last saw Bobby.

The Riccarton Inn hosted our reunion.  Diana enjoyed our historical stories quite a bit.  Bobby is a very good musician – playing both the standup and electric basses and he had a lot of good tales about his travels with bands and the albums that he’s made.  One fun story involved the old Mountbatten building in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket area – this was the home of the Heriot Watt Electrical Engineering department for the final years of our degrees.  It’s now a hotel and Bobby had played a wedding gig there.  He said the reception was in one of our old lecture halls and it still had the terraced slope – he was having interesting flashbacks.  That got us off thinking about presentations we had to do in that lecture hall.  We remembered Andy’s troubled talk about the Free Masons that made us realize we should take this assignment seriously.  Bobby gave a talk about a band recording that had won an award, playing the recording to occupy the final five minutes of his required talk time.  Then he reminded me of Euan’s grave digging talk – I had completely forgotten that.   Euan had that as a summer job and it was certainly the most unique presentation.

We were intrigued by the way the dry/sweet and boldness of wines were indicated on the menu.  Why don’t we have this?

We enjoyed this sign outside the Inn, “Good Banter”:

After a lovely lunch, Bobby invited us back to his home to meet his wife, Kirsty.  She is also a musician and teaches violin in the Currie and Balerno school systems.

We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Kirsty, and were treated to their granddaughter, Cassie, when she was woken up from her nap.  Cassie quickly warmed up to Diana and enjoyed her reading of the “Wonky Donkey”, a hilarious children’s’ book.

Bobby had told us about “walking football” which he really enjoyed due to his bum ankle.  What he didn’t tell us was that his team had won the competition – as evidenced by the huge trophy in his entryway.

I remember Bobby played forward for the Heriot Watt team and knew he had played semi-professionally for a short while.  Makes me seem very lazy – he holds down a full time job (until recent early retirement), plays many musical gigs every week, and participates in a busy sports agenda.

Here’s an explanation from the official walking football website about what makes it different:

“The biggest difference, as the name suggests, is there is no running. Walking football is played at walking pace, with players not allowed to run. This includes with the ball or off the ball, and includes jogging. You can ‘walk’ as fast as you want and walking as described in the rules is “one foot must be in contact with the ground at all times.”

One other big difference to association or 5-a-side football is that it’s classed as non-contact sport. Although tackling is allowed, this must be done with no contact.”

Our drive to and from Currie on the “wrong” side of the road was uneventful until it wasn’t.  Close to home, several long PVC looking pipes broke loose from a van in front of us.  They were headed straight for the windshield.  Fortunately there wasn’t a vehicle in the inside lane and I was able to swerve and avoid any damage.  Arriving home, I found the next door neighours out front watering my Mum’s garden – apparently they had been quite worried about my ability to drive through to Edinburgh and back given all the changes in the roads.  Sometimes I wonder how I get by, between Kenny’s concern about my driving in New Orleans and now this concern in Scotland.

I’m so happy that we made the effort to connect with Bobby – such a nice day.

Tuesday began with another walk and run along Kilwinning road.  This time Diana reported that the “mountains” were back to being “normal hills” – she’s adjusted to the undulating terrain.

We had invited Mum to lunch at the Laird’s Table restaurant outside of Fenwick and asked if she would like to include a friend or two.  She decided on the Dunlops and we were very happy to include them – always entertaining.

They were just back from holiday in Norway and had told us a bit about that.  Most of the stories were about their ever expanding family.  We had a very enjoyable lunch for several hours and laughed at the banter.

We also laughed at the “mini meringues” desert:

And of course Diana got all the pictures that she wanted:

The flights home on Wednesday were very pleasant, albeit the 10 hour leg from London to New Orleans certainly feeling quite long.  Diana was pleased when champagne was served before takeoff and I appreciated that drinks and food service started about 30 minutes after takeoff.  Much improved over our night flight over to London.

I really enjoyed the cheese plate for desert – with fancy oatcake presentation:

The “Gentlemen Out At Lunch” club (Thom, Alex, Dennis and Kenny) convened our inaugural meeting at Plume in Algiers on Thursday.  The food and service were excellent and we got to try a decent selection of the menu by sharing food among five of us.  This is the young couple that operates the restaurant with the help of their son:

The food is certainly not typical of the Indian food you find in the U.S., with light and flavorful sauces.

We voted on logos for the group.  My submission:

The name was tweaked to replace the “To” with “At” in order to create a nice acronym (GOAL).  The picture was deemed too “fancy” and “stuffy”, and so I’ve now come up with version 2.0:

I had the original displayed on a small easel for the krewe to review.  The owner noticed and asked if we would sign it and leave it for her to display on the wall – we were happy to oblige.  I’ll have to return and take a picture of that.  I was chastised for not taking any pictures – we were chatting and having too much fun.

After lunch we made a quick stop at the Crown and Anchor before sitting for way too long in traffic on the bridge over the Mississippi.  One final stop at the Milan Lounge to play along with Jeopardy on their TV (it’s a regular thing there every day).

As if we hadn’t had enough wonderful food for the week, we met a colleague of mine, Fred, who retired a couple of years ago, for lunch at Commander’s Palace on Friday.  Fred grew up in the New Orleans area and has lived in the Dallas area for the last 20 years – he makes regular visits to New Orleans to enjoy the food and drink.  The food and service were exemplary as usual during our 3 hour lunch.  It’s always good to catch up with Fred.

This is the time of year when we can expect heavy thunder storms most days.  We were able to get our walks in around the downpours on Saturday and Sunday, with some of the loudest thunder claps I’ve ever heard on Sunday.

I finished up “All the Colors of the Dark” by Chris Whitaker on the flight home.  The subject matter is certainly dark, as the title would indicate, and I enjoyed this read quite a bit.  Great characters and twists that weren’t the typical incredible nonsense.  I recommend this one.

I’m still plugging away at “Southern Man” by Greg Iles and should finish that monster in the next week or two.

I‘m also reading Ann Patchett’s “These Precious Days”, a collection of her essays published in 2021.  Some of these appeal to me more than others and the writing is as excellent as always.  The first essay about Patchett’s three Dads is my favourite so far.  The one about her husband’s flying obsession a close second.  The one about knitting- not so much.

 

Slash, guitarist for Guns ‘n Roses, has a new album – here he teams up with Chris Stapleton for a good cover of a classic:

The sublime original:

And finally, an old classic that popped up on a playlist:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

 

 

“Happy Birthday, Mum”

Diana and Anne enjoyed some fancy pool time at Merry Lee’s pool and cabanas on Monday.  I say it’s fancy because of the ability to reserve a luxury cabana with a fridge and TV.  I dropped Diana off, Anne joined her shortly thereafter and brought her home later in the day.

Kara invited Diana for oysters at Superior Seafood on Monday.  She just wanted to get together before we left town.  We’ll only be gone for a week, but very sweet all the same.  They had a good time for several hours.  Quite the fun Monday for McD.

Kenny, Kara and Diana had a walk and run in the park on Wednesday morning since yoga was cancelled.  I finished up work and joined them for a late breakfast at La Boulangerie.  This was Diana’s first visit and it’s a long time since I was there – the food and drinks are all very good and it’s nearby.  We should visit more often.

The 10:30pm British Airways flight took us to London Heathrow on Wednesday night.  We had a long layover and arrived in Stewarton on Thursday evening.  I’m always very impressed with the service on the less than an hour flight to Glasgow.  We were served drinks, high tea, and coffee all in much less time that it took to get a drink on the long flight from New Orleans.  Here’s a view coming into land in Glasgow, including the island of Ailsa Craig where curling stones hail from:

Mum’s birthday was on Friday.  The day started with a walk (Keith) and run (Diana) out Kilwinning Road into the country.  The views of Ailsa Craig and Arran were excellent.  On returning home, Diana complained about the incline and length of the “hills” – not something she’s used to in New Orleans.  In the afternoon we ran some errands in Stewarton – “paid the papers”, filled up with petrol, and had a delicious lunch at a local café.

Saturday began with a walk and run on what was hoped to be flatter ground in Lainshaw Woods.  Diana reported that the “mountains” killed her on this run.  I think her altimeter must be wonky as there were really only a few small inclines.  Her sore legs said otherwise.

Mum’s house became very busy on Saturday afternoon.  Elspeth, David and Bramble (dog) arrived at almost the same time as Heather, Michael, and Mila (dog), soon to be followed by Struan, Emily, and Bonnie (dog).  Nine adults and three dogs in a small living room was quite chaotic.  Struan had shorn off almost all of Bonnie’s coat, creating a strange looking dog that really was not happy with him.

We loaded into a couple of cars and headed off to dinner at Seamill Hydro in West Kilbride.  Bramble and Bonnie were left behind at Mum’s house – more on that later.  Seamill Hydro is a lovely hotel that hosts many weddings (Elspeth and David’s several years ago).  The coastal setting with a view over to Arran is beautiful:

We were seated in a quiet area and enjoyed a lovely meal.  The Hydro was chosen as it has a robust vegetarian and vegan menu.  I had haggis and potato croquettes as my starter and then cauliflower gnocchi (from the veggie menu) for my main – both were quite yummy.  Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals and the setting allowed us to have some fun banter and conversation – we even learned about Struan’s new IT job.  Several times during the evening I found myself thinking how much Struan’s mannerisms and facial expressions reminded me of Campbell.  Elspeth told me they actually think he reminds them of me.  Here’s Mum with her surprise birthday desert:

Diana couldn’t resist the pavlova:

After that it was time for some fresh air before the drive home.  Here we are with the island of Arran behind us:

On arrival home, we were greeted by the next door neighbours who had responded to the house alarm going off.  Apparently the dogs had managed to “escape” the kitchen and trigger the alarm.

David and Elspeth spent the night at Mum’s and we started Sunday with a walk up the road to the Kennedy farm, Meikle Corsehill, with David and Bramble.  David was channeling Rex Harrison in his Dr. Doolittle role on the walk:

Bramble didn’t want to be left out:

A dog at Meikle Corsehill was having a good bark at Bramble, causing it’s owner to come out and investigate the disturbance.  The owner, Ian, happened to be a previous employee of David’s and they had a good catch up chat.  I reminisced about taking in the hay on the farm, feeding the cows in the milking barn, and playing in the hay barn with Willie Kennedy and others.

After the walk we settled in to watch the Wimbledon men’s final – a bit one-sided, although not as much as the score indicated, in my opinion.  We enjoyed a yummy lunch and then said goodbye to Elspeth and David, who needed to make the long drive home before it got too late.

What a wonderful couple of days with family!

The ESPN Espy awards ceremony happened during the week.  Steve Gleason received the Arthur Ashe courage award and delivered an excellent speech using his computer aided voice.  His son, River, joined him onstage for support.  Here’s the video:

I had to take a break from “Southern Man” this week as it’s way too heavy for travel.  I switched to “All the Colors of the Dark” by Chris Whitaker, which I have online and have almost finished.

Here’s an online summary:

“Late one summer, the town of Monta Clare is shattered by the abduction of teenager Joseph ‘Patch’ Macauley. Nobody more so than Saint Brown, who will risk everything to find her best friend.

But when she does: it will break her heart.

Patch lies alone in a pitch-black room – until he feels a hand in his. Her name is Grace and, though they cannot see each other, she lights their world with her words.

But when he escapes: there is no sign she ever even existed.

Left with only her voice and her name, he paints her from broken memories – and charts an epic search to find her.

As years turn to decades, and hope becomes obsession, Saint will shadow his journey – on a darker path to hunt down the man who took them – and set free the only boy she ever loved.

Even if finding the truth means losing each other forever…”

This has been a very enjoyable book so far, one that I have read in the wee hours when I was suffering from jetlag.

Some passages that I enjoyed:

A unique simile:

“was a steady drip from a leaking faucet, like a metronome that scaled up the tension.”

An interesting new word for me:

“The low hum of a generator buried beneath the baldachin of nature. They’d find him dead. Of course. And they’d catch the guy, but..”

Some other new information to me:

“Days were named after the planets of Hellenistic astrology. Saturn, Sun, and Moon. Saturday, Sunday,… Moonday.”

On the strained relationship between Saint and her new husband, Jimmy:

““He treats you well?” Patch said. She wanted to tell him that Jimmy said there wasn’t room for her piano. That sometimes she fixed his dinner and he forgot to thank her. That he was not silly in any of the good ways. She wanted to tell Patch that Jimmy did not like her being a cop. That he wanted to have children right away, and that when they did he expected her to step out of her life and into a mother’s. Most of all she wanted to tell him that she was scared. She was a cop who had done so many brave things. But she was scared.”

““He never made me laugh. And I knew, before I met him. I knew love and laughter and how sweet life could be.” “You still married him.” She looked at Patch like he was a child, like he did not know how the world kept turning. “Sometimes people reserve so much of themselves. It’s like saving a fine wine for an occasion that never materializes.””

A great song by Martin Sexton (not related to Charlie Sexton at all – a misconception that I’ve had for a number of years):

A really interesting song from Thievery Corporation:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

 

” Marco!”

We flew to Dallas on Monday for our Cooper Clinic visit on Tuesday.  This is where we get our full day annual preventive physical.  I have to say that, driving up to Frisco to meet Finn for dinner, I don’t miss the massive highways and Dallas layouts at all.  We had a lovely dinner with Finn at TruFire in Frisco – an excellent Mediterranean restaurant.  I loved my falafel platter – such perfectly cooked little nuggets.

Finn was right on time and all dressed up for the evening.  He had a lot of good stories to tell about his work.  Two “older ladies” that fight constantly – he had to put them on non-overlapping shifts to separate them.  He’s talking about finding a less labour intensive job – something in management.  So good to hear him with ambition and desire for the future.  He also talked about visiting the Dallas Arboretum with Holly to see the spring blooms – nice to hear him taking some time off from work.  So nice to see Finn doing so well.

Our Cooper Clinic day started at 7am – thankfully we stayed at the onsite hotel and just had to roll out of bed and walk over for our initial appointments.  The stress test is always the highlight of the day.  This time they had us do a cognitive test while strapped into all the EKG equipment.  Remember these five words “Face Velvet Church Daisy Red” – we’ll ask you about them later.  I said them to myself after every individual test.  Thankfully we both aced the cognitive test – “You guys are like neuroscientists.”  No – we know a neuroscientist (Laura) and we are nothing like her.  All the test results were good, and we’re set for another year.

On Wednesday afternoon, Denny recommended that we visit the Broadside to see the Tin Men in the new  indoor theater.  Sure.  We met at the Bayou Beer Garden for snacks – the crab Rangoon dip was excellent – and then headed over to the Broadside for the show.  Diana and Anne had a nice visit while us boys chatted.

Denny suggested Habana Café as an after concert dinner spot.  This place had been trying to open for over a decade and finally did recently.

The food was great and the service equally good.

There is a piece of Bansky street art by the kitchen – very rare and worth a fortune.

Here are some other pictures from this excellent restaurant:

We met for Happy Hour on Friday at the Parkview Historic Hotel.  The group really enjoyed the outdoor setting on such a perfect spring day.  Even the guys got into the swing with Aperol Spritzes on the patio.

We really enjoy this porch on the side of Audubon park and with great bartenders.

Denny was working on us to attend the Yacht Rock (mellow classic rock from the 70s and 80s) at the Kingpin at 9pm on Friday.  Most of us were resisting.  Denny kept needling away on me until I succumbed.  We had a great time.

Those ladies are dancing on a wooden cover for the foosball table.

We are glad we rallied and made the show with Denny, Anne and Thom.

Denny was working on me again to attend the Hogs for a Cause festival on Saturday.  This time we held strong and rested up for all the festivals ahead.  We did go and watch James Andrews at the Kingpin with Alex, Laura, and a brief appearance by Anne.

The band was very good, if not a little overly hyped up by James.

 

James doesn’t have the same natural showmanship as his younger brother, Trombone Shorty, but he tries.  I got a kick out of the dancing from one of his younger family members:

You know a tuba solo is always close to my heart:

We started Sunday with a walk down the streetcar track on St. Charles.  Then we tracked Marco on his Hawaiian triathlon.  He did an amazing job, so soon after all his surgeries.

Less than 2 hours to finish.  And he was 38th out of 750 competitors coming out of the initial swim.  So proud of my brother in law for bouncing back with so much indomitable energy.

We just watched the Iowa ladies lose the NCAA Women’s championship – Campbell’s relatives will be so disappointed.  Caitlin Clark was amazing throughout the tournament, and should certainly be picked number one in the NBA draft.

My book this week was “What the What?” by the wonderful Dave Eggers.  It’s a huge subject, but I had a hard time sticking with it.  Not quite as well done as Zeitoun, which resonated more closely with me.  If you’re interested in learning about the history of the Lost Boys of Sudan, this is your book.  It was just a bit too much removed for me.  Here’s an online set of summaries:

 “The epic novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who, along with thousands of other children —the so-called Lost Boys—was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals, crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom.

When he finally is resettled in the United States, he finds a life full of promise, but also heartache and myriad new challenges. Moving, suspenseful, and unexpectedly funny, What Is the What is an astonishing novel that illuminates the lives of millions through one extraordinary man.

“A testament to the triumph of hope over experience, human resilience over tragedy and disaster.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“An absolute classic…. Compelling, important, and vital to the understanding of the politics and emotional consequences of oppression.” —People”

Kurt Vile played New Orleans last week.  Several of my friends attended and reported a very good show:

Something great from another band that played here recently.  Yo La Tengo means “I’ve go this”, like an outfielder running to catch a ball:

And here’s one from our Kingpin buddy yesterday, James Andrews, as we get ready for another festival season:

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all.

“Miami Beach Strategery”

We flew to Miami on Monday afternoon, checked into the Lifehouse hotel, and met up with Chickie (our majority shareholder’s  son) for Happy Hour at the South Pointe tavern.

This is what the hotel website says about the history of the hotel:

“In the 1920s, Miami Beach’s first commercial strip, Española Way, became an artists’ colony. Creative types seeking life by the sea moved to the city in droves, including an artist who discovered a unique Tudor home in the South of the Fifth neighborhood. We transformed their eclectic beach cottage, now a landmark, into a House that’s only steps from the ocean, yet far enough away from the noise of South Beach tourists.”

We had been skeptical about the hotel and our “Writer’s Suite”, but everything worked out very well.

After Happy Hour, Chickie had us booked in for an impossible table at Carbone.  Probably one of the best Italian meals that I’ve ever enjoyed.  Wonderful, old school service and every single dish an amazing treat.

Tuna tartare, beef carpaccio, various salads, amazing pastas, steaks, and on and on.  Just a wonderful meal and experience all around.  I would love to do it again.  We are so spoiled at these company events.

Tuesday began with breakfast at the Patio at the Continuum, our majority shareholder, Phil’s, residence community.  Everything was delicious, as always.

We migrated form there to Phil’s condo and began our strategic discussions.  Those lasted a few hours, and then it was time for lunch, back at the Patio.  Everything went very well with the strategery, which led to a lot of fun at lunch and dinner.

The fig and prosciutto sourdough pizza that we shared was ridiculous.  As was the truffle carpaccio.

Meanwhile, a little further up the beach, Lisa and Diana were enjoying their pool and beach time.

I’m very pleased that they had so much time together while we pretended to work a bit.

The girls joined us for drinks before dinner on Phil and Maria’s fourth floor terrace.  It’s entertaining to view the size of the cruise ships that roll past the terrace.  Oh, and I do enjoy a work environment where shorts and flip flops are perfectly acceptable.

Blair called an audible for dinner on Tuesday night – he really wanted to sit on the waterfront at Smith and Wollensky.  This is a very popular place and so Chickie was deployed to negotiate a last minute prime table.    Of course he was successful as you can see below:

The views out onto the water and over to the lights of downtown Miami were quite something.  I enjoyed the custom martini glass:

How many senior executives does it take to order wine, and how long will they ponder?  At least two and what seemed like ten minutes or more:

We slept in on Wednesday morning and opted for a walk along the beach front road rather than breakfast.  I enjoy the art deco style hotels and the vintage cars parked in front of them.  Kenny got a kick out of the old “Fire Dept” vehicle.

We had a coffee and then found a Cuban restaurant (they seem to be on every corner) for lunch.  I chose this one based on the positive reviews of their octopus dish.

The octopus did not disappoint – completely fresh and delicious.  We really couldn’t face another heavy meal, passing on the Cubano sandwich that I would typically have ordered.

Travel home to New Orleans on Wednesday evening was smooth.  I knew Diana was tired and not at all hungry on Thursday evening when she passed up an invitation for oysters with Anne.

We had planned on an outdoor concert at the Broadside on Friday evening but the weather was a bit bleak and dreary and we were still tired from our travels.  I was sorry to miss the event and there will be plenty more in the near future as the weather warms up.

I convinced Diana to attend the NOLA Gold rugby match on Saturday afternoon.  I had made the mistake of having her watch some of the Six Nations series on Netflix.  “It’s a very violent sport, not something I’m sure I want to go and watch.”

 

McD reported enjoying the event a lot more than she expected to.  The entertainment around the game was well done – kind of like attending a minor league baseball game.  Big Sam’s Funky Nation performed before the game and at halftime.  He marched up and down the roof of the baseball dugout (the field used to be the home of the local baseball team.)

There were a lot of kids in attendance and they enjoyed interacting with King Creole.

We had great seats and they were quite affordable – $25 for two.  The first half was pretty boring, and things picked up in the second with two tries from NOLA Gold to win.

I forgot to mention that the opposition was Old Glory from Washington, DC. Here’s the upcoming schedule.  This was the kickoff game for the season.

Our neighbor, Hugh, is an investor in NOLA Gold, and had told me that the commentator would briefly explain the reasons for penalties and other rules, so that folks unfamiliar with rugby could learn and follow along better.  The overall goal being to encourage return customers.  The commentator did a good job of that, while not talking over the play.

This was a good afternoon of entertainment and I look forward to doing it again in the future.

We watched a good film on Saturday night, “Dreamin’ Wild” is based on the true story of Donnie and Joe Emerson, who released an album when they were 16 and 17 years old.  It didn’t generate much interest at the time, and then was found 30 years later by a company that finds hidden gems and re-releases them.

Donnie wrote the music, played the majority of the instruments, and produced the record, all in a small shack that his father built on his farm.  The real album is available on Spotify:

Casey Affleck plays the older Donnie, and gives a typically nuanced performance.  I recommend this movie to any music lovers.

We’re just back from a walk and run in Audubon park – the weather is so nice today.  It is not forecast to be so pleasant over the next couple of days – rain storms coming.

Most of the guys from the local krewe are skiing and snowboarding in Colorado today.  I’m waiting for video of Thom taking his first snowboarding lesson.  I would have liked to join them, but it would have been too much on the heels of the Miami trip.

I started “Come and Get It” by Kiley Reid on the short flights to Miami and back.  I loved “Such a Fun Age” and am enjoying this one so far.  I haven’t reached the key part of the story yet.  Here’s the online summary:

“From the celebrated New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age comes a fresh and provocative story about a residential assistant and her messy entanglement with a professor and three unruly students.

It’s 2017 at the University of Arkansas. Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant, wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house. So when Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer, offers Millie an easy yet unusual opportunity, she jumps at the chance. But Millie’s starry-eyed hustle becomes jeopardized by odd new friends, vengeful dorm pranks, and illicit intrigue.

A fresh and intimate portrait of desire, consumption, and reckless abandon, Come and Get It is a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior—and the highly anticipated new novel by acclaimed and award-winning author Kiley Reid.”

Here’s a song from the large band that we missed on Friday night:

Something from the excellent new Julian Lage album:

Something from our local hero:

And finally some 70s cool (12 minutes of it):

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!

“We all survived Christmas”

We ventured into the dangerous territory of Number Three Gypsy Hill on Christmas morning.  The monsters were in pretty good form, and enjoyed their Pokemon gifts.

Francesca was excited about her unicorn sockies and the books signed by the Bush girls.  I’m not sure Adamo was a huge fan of the books.

We didn’t stay too long and the crew needed to get packed up to head to their other Grammie’s house.

 

 

Back in the kitchen for Diana and Alicia.  This time a ham and au gratin potatoes.  Diana managed the timing of the ham with great results, and Alicia’s spuds were delicious.  My contribution?  Massive – I poured the glaze over and pinned the pineapple on as the ham went back in to finish.  Here’s the group enjoying dinner:

The gift exchange was entertaining.  Gianluca is getting concerned about his appearance and totally owned the “Bro Glo” self tanning cream that we selected from his list.

 

 

 

Giancarlo came with a number of books and artifacts to share.  He said a little about each item, and then we each made a choice.  Wasn’t sure where it was going at the start, but it worked out fine in the end.

 

And then things got really entertaining – Clorinda loves her silly animal toys that sing Christmas songs.  So, Marco thought it was a good idea to get her and us both a new penguin that runs around the floor in circles and sings Jingle Bells.

It all started with the singing llama a few years back.  It never ceases to get a big laugh from Clorinda.  Here’s Marco doing the llama dance:

I found out earlier in the day that Marco and Julie’s little white dog, Yeti, was going to be staying at Clorinda’s home for several days under Alicia’s care.  Clorinda has pretty strong feelings that a dogs place is outside, so I was interested to see how this would go.  There was sufficient activity to distract her and, by the next morning, she seemed resigned to tolerating things.

Here’s a picture that Jude composed.  I really like it.

I went on an excursion to Mavericks with Adamo and Luciano on Boxing Day afternoon.  If you’re not familiar with Mavericks, it’s a surfing break near Half Moon Bay (about 10 mins from Pacifica.)  It has some of the largest waves in the world and some very unique challenges.  There’s a famous annual surfing competition about this time of year that draws thousands of spectators.  You can’t really get a feel from the scale in this video, and there were about 30 crazy souls out there surfing.  Very fun to watch.

The walk along the beaches to arrive at Mavericks was a lot of fun.  Adamo and Luciano insisted on paddling around in the gooey sand.

I forgot to mention that, prior to the expedition, I helped Francesca give the kitties a bath.  Hilarious.

Will, Christine, and Ollie came for dinner on Boxing Day evening.  Grammie was certainly a bit concerned when Ollie and Yeti started rough-housing around.  The Indian food, and ceviche that they brought from Redwood City, were all excellent.  A real feast.

After dinner we did a small gift exchange.  Last year, or the year before, we gave Campbell a Mardi Gras cushion that had sequins on one side.  Clorinda was very entertained pushing the sequins one way and the other to make patterns.  So…Will and Christine were very excited to gift her one of their well traveled pillows with the same feature.  Apparently this has been to Burning Man and several other crazy festivals.  Clorinda was initially quite excited with all the coloured tissue paper and then loved the pillow.

A hilarious game of throwing the pillow at Keith, getting wadded up tissue paper back, telling Diana to tickle Keith’s bare feet and such ensued.  It brought poor Diana to tears.

Our flight home to New Orleans on Wednesday morning was delayed a couple of hours due to crew on a delayed flight.  The airport was very busy, but we made the best of it and made it home smoothly.

Now it was time to start preparing for hosting the Krewe on New Year’s Eve.  I took another stab at trying to get the ice dispenser to work.  All the parts fell out and I had to guess how to reassemble.  I have an exploded view now, so will be able to fix it in no time.  Suffice to say – no ice dispensed via the door at the party.

We spent some happy time cleaning the wood floors and all the bathrooms, and then decided to “work together” on assembling a folding table for the food.  You can see here what happens when the table isn’t locked in the middle before we try to stretch the cocktail skirt around it.  What a pair!

Fortunately, Diana’s work on the dining table was much smoother.

Denny brought over a keg for the kegerator outside.  He was not impressed with the new Cowboys tap that I got as a Christmas gift from Will.

Now it was time for me to go and pick up the catered food in Old Metairie.  I thought I’d walk around the corner to Gracious bakery before making the drive.  Is that a brass band I hear in somebody’s front yard?

Sure enough, somebody had hired a decent sized band to kick off New Year’s Eve.  I wasn’t able to navigate past the crowd to pick up baguettes, and so opted to drive to the catering place and do that later.

The Italian shop was classic old school.  Very friendly and helpful folks, with what appeared to be an excellent sandwich counter.  The lady kindly helped me carry the trays out to the car.  All of the food was excellent and well received by the Krewe.

 

I watched some of the Sugar Bowl parade in the afternoon and was amazed that those guys were brave enough to march Bevo, the longhorn mascot, through such large and boisterous crowds.  He didn’t seem phased at all.

Folks started arriving around 7pm.  The kids dropped off their parents and stayed for a short while.  Here’s a glimpse into the hubbub:

And here’s a collection of pictures from the rest of the evening.  We think our first party in the new home was a success.  Happy New Year to all of you!

I’m still working through “Wellness” – it is a 650 page tome.  The writing and story are very good so far – particularly a section on how Facebook algorithms really work.  I’ll have much more to say next week – when we don’t have any big events happening.  Time to rest up for Mardi Gras.

Butch Walker – such a great voice, and an amazing producer:

You know I’m a sucker for Mark Knopfler’s guitar sound and style:

That’s another year of blogging drawing to a close.  Now I have to work on getting a book printed, so that we can review in old school fashion.

Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!