Month: February 2017

Week in Review – February 26, 2017

My work team gets together in person for a couple of days each quarter since we all work in different locations.  This week we met up in Woodland Hills (just north of Los Angeles) for a few days.  One night we made the scenic trip over Topanga Canyon for dinner at Duke’s seafood restaurant on the beach.  The food was good and the views spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

Being so close to San Diego we decided to have Diana meet me there for the weekend and have a visit with Campbell.  On Friday night we had a stroll along the harbor and found Diana’s boat.

This gave Diana the idea that we should charter a yacht and go out on the bay with Campbell and Molly on Saturday afternoon.  We had been back and forth with Campbell on what to do and he didn’t seem overly enthused about the Wild Animal park or zoo.

That evening we tried the Searsucker restaurant in the gas lamp district to see if it lived up to the Yelp reviews.  It did for the most part with creative food, a nice casual setting and great service.

After a good night’s sleep we made preparations for sailing with a quick trip to the gas lamp grocery store for snacks and drinks.

 

Then we rendezvoused with our captain for the afternoon, quite an interesting character, and headed out for a lovely afternoon on the San Diego bay.  More than 30% of the population is military and predominantly Navy so we saw a lot of their activity and buildings on the waterfront.  You can see the Midway aircraft carrier behind us in the group shot.

Captain Diana  did a much better job than Captain Molly who took over the wheel just when Diana was downstairs in the head and learned quickly that large movements of the wheel cause the boat to turn very quickly and the boom to swing over.  The official captain was quite entertained by the exploits.

You can see that Campbell didn’t get the memo to wear his black puffer jacket like the rest of us.

All the fresh air and sun caused us to work up an appetite.  So we walked to Joe’s crab shack for a quick feast.

On Saturday evening Diana and I ventured out to the gas lamp district again and found a fantastic bar/restaurant called the Whiskey House.  This place had over 1,000 whiskeys from all over the world around the walls and a very impressive menu of whiskey based cocktails.  The ones we sampled were perfectly made and delicious.  We had a snack of scotch eggs and were wishing we had an appetite to try more from the great looking menu.

 

 

 

 

On Sunday morning we ventured to the Italian area for brunch.  I edited a picture of Diana under the Little Italy sign for my entertainment.  Brunch was amazing at a tiny Italian place.  Then it was off to the airport for our flight back home.  We had a lovely time visiting with Campbell and Molly and are very happy with where he chose to attend college.  Looking forward to visiting again soon.

Week in Review – February 19, 2017

Monday was spent recovering from all the excitement of the long weekend in New Orleans before St. Valentine’s day rolled around on Tuesday.

My fiancee made a delicious dinner of filet mignon topped with lump crab and a side of baby carrots and accompanied by a delicious Stag’s Leap Artemis (one of my favourites) that was being saved for a special occasion.

Saturday was a busy day that started with a drive to the University of Texas at Arlington to watch the Boyd High School Jazz Band perform in a competition.  They played 3 songs and sounded great.  Here’s one called “Cutie” by Count Basie and featuring Alicia on the flute.

We drove from UTA to the diamond store to pick out a final setting for Diana’s diamond and to pick out wedding bands.  Jeff helped us choose efficiently and we were finished in less than 2 hours.

Then it was over to the hotel to check in before the Delbert McClinton show at the Granada Theater.  We had a delicious pre-show dinner at the Sundown next door – I’m not sure we really needed the truffle mac n’ cheese for dessert but it was excellent.  The opening band was Teresa James and the rhythm tramps.  She was a cross between the boogie woogie piano style of Marcia Ball and the voice of Carolyn Wonderland – right up our alley.  Here’s Delbert playing one of his more well known songs, “Starting a Rumour”.

His 9 piece band was excellent as you just heard.  The saxophone and trumpet players were real highlights.  Here’s a clip of them taking center stage while Delbert took a short break.  He’s 76 and played for a solid 2 hours.  His was the first show I saw in Texas – back in 1985 at the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth when I was training with Gearhart and he sounds as good now as I remember then.

Sunday morning started with brunch at the Dream Cafe in the Uptown district of Dallas.  Diana reminded me that the last time I took her there was on New Year’s Day 2016 to try and make up for falling asleep before midnight the night before.  I like the feature when this restaurant has a wait – they give you an album cover and then call out the name of the album when your table is ready – very clever and entertaining.

Week in Review – February 12, 2017

Wednesday, February 8th, was a big day in our home.  I cooked a close replica of the first meal I made for Diana, catfish with orange and rosemary sauce and green beans.  That was followed with me playing and singing (if the word stretches that far) a poorly rehearsed, but well received, version of Marc Cohn’s beautiful song, “True Companion”.  Then I dropped down to one knee and proposed to Diana – and she said “Yes”.  I believe that I was able to completely surprise her.

On Thursday we flew down to New Orleans for a long weekend.  First stop was “Avery’s” – a Denny approved hole in the wall restaurant with outstanding barbecued shrimp po’boys.  Then to the local French wine shop to pick up some nice champagne to celebrate our engagement with the Ogans.  The gentleman who owns the store was quite a character and full of stories.  Dinner was at “Meril”, a new restaurant from Emeril Lagasse named after his daughter.  The food was great and very reasonably priced.  Diana had Korean short ribs and I tried the saffron tagliatelle with roasted lamb – both delicious.  Dessert was a selection of cheeses from the St. James cheese shop – another of our favourite New Orleans destinations.  We always laugh when we think of Anne’s Mum, Carolyn, telling Diana that Jack Bauer was paying when we went there with her because he had just received a big bonus for saving the President’s life.

After dinner Denny consulted the extensive listing of concerts happening in New Orleans that night and we decided on Marc Stone at the Columns hotel.  He was playing in the front room and at one point there were just the four of us listening to him.  Denny had a good chat with Marc and didn’t forget to slip in some “Wash Dat” marketing activity.  I thoroughly enjoyed his show.  So much fantastic music is happening all over New Orleans every night.  We headed to Dos Jefes cigar bar next to listen to a Japanese trombone player with what appeared to be a band composed of local music students – a great finish to our first night in New Orleans.  We’re always amazed at how much ground we cover in a day when there.

Friday began with a trip to SOFAB (Southern Food and Beverage Museum).  Toups meatery has a restaurant inside and I loved the goat tacos that I had for lunch.   There were lots of interesting exhibits on food and cocktails over the years.  Next we had a coffee at “Morning Call” – a 24 hour coffee and beignet shop close to City Park and also to the restaurant where Denny had last left his credit card.  Next to the coffee shop was the outdoor sculpture garden and we had a pleasant wander through it while enjoying the beautiful weather.  Here’s a picture of my favorite sculpture – it seems to represent the evolution of man but I can’t remember the official name.

Friday dinner was at “Petit Lion” in the new Troubadour hotel.  Another lovely meal with delicious appetizers and then steak au poivre.  That was followed by a refreshing walk to the Smoothie King center to see a concert by Billy Joel.

None of us had seen him perform before and were all very impressed with the showmanship and musicians.  His saxophone player is a real star and his solo on “New York State of Mind” was a real treat.  I particularly liked that Joel included a number of New Orleans songs in his show.  Here’s his version of “House of the Rising Sun” done with a tone that really conveys the song’s message well.

Cocktails at the Cellar Door finished the evening as we waited for the crowd to disperse.

Saturday started with a Jack and Mason soccer game accompanied by champagne and King cake (as only happens in New Orleans).

The boys always enjoy torturing “Miss Diana” when she comes to town.  She’s in the middle of some kind of protest here.  I see the boys play about once a year and am amazed at how much they progress – the team played really well.

Soccer was followed by a unique experience – a visit to the “batture”.  The batture is the inside of the levee on the Mississippi – so right up against the water on stilts and right beside all the busy boat traffic.

Our host was Macon, a very interesting local character.  His girlfriend was celebrating her 50th birthday and so Denny and Frank shucked over 300 oysters which Bruce barbecued on the upstairs deck with Denny’s yummy blue cheese sauce.  Macon is a great story teller and well connected with the local musicians.  He was telling us a story about a friend who was in Los Angeles because the band he plays in was nominated for a Grammy award.  I asked him if the music they played was like Tommy Malone’s band – the name of which I couldn’t remember.  Denny said, “it’s the Subdudes” and then Macon said, “Tommy Malone’s right upstairs”.  You can’t make things like that up.

We left the batture and meandered to the French Quarter to watch the Krewe de Vieux mardi gras parade – pronounced “Crew de Voo” in New Orleans.  This was the first parade of the season to roll and featured very irreverent political satire – if only Trump could have watched.  The floats were smaller since they had to be non-motorized and drawn by donkeys.  What a hoot the parade was – with excellent local brass bands throughout.  We finished up the evening with cocktails at Broussard’s from Pete the world renowned bartender.

Another amazing trip to New Orleans wound down with brunch at Paladar 511 in the Bywater area.  Denny and I tortured Diana with discussion about wedding plans and options.  I love this restaurant’s decor and food – it’s by a family that owns a small but famous pizza restaurant in San Francisco.

And so it’s back to boring McKinney.  We’d love to live in New Orleans but it’s probably just as well we don’t have all that decadent food, music, and cocktails at our fingertips.