“Residency Week 9 – Time to Go Home”
The final week of the residency started with a Magazine Street ramble for Diana and Alicia. They began with a beignet and grits at The Vintage, before wandering around the shops.
They worked up an appetite with all that walking and rambling, and stopped into Mahony’s Po-Boy shop for lunch – fried pickles and a shrimp and oyster Po-boy – that’s just half of it in the picture. They had plenty of leftovers for me to snack on later.
The Ogans had us over for dinner on Monday evening, before Alicia left town. It’s always fun to watch Denny with multiple pots cooking, and the ease with which he brings it all together. Scallops on a purple sweet potato puree, shrimp risotto, and asparagus. All delicious. Thanks Chef Denny. We even had a special guest appearance from Jack.
Alicia took these pictures of us on our balcony before packing up.
We dropped her at the airport on Tuesday morning – we’re both pretty confident that she really enjoyed her visit. Then Diana met Debra (Tuesdays are her day off from Jacques-Imo’s) for lunch at Del Fuego taco shop. Apparently they filled up on guacamole and tostadas – so no left over tacos for K.
We made it to The Franklin on Tuesday evening for dinner – you’ll remember that we canceled last week with the inclement weather. The duck liver mousse appetizer was just excellent – satsuma marmalade on the bottom and herbs and nuts on top , with excellent bread – each bite was a treat. I followed that with the burger and Diana enjoyed some wagyu beef. Well worth the drive across town to the Bywater area. Then there was a little langiappe, as so often happens in New Orleans – the local middle school band was practicing close to where we parked.
We met the Ogans and Kirschs for lunch at Gris Gris on far East Magazine for Wednesday lunch. We sat at the kitchen counter, which provided great entertainment and a good preview of what we should order. I watched a few plates of shrimp ‘n grits being put together and decided that was what I wanted – very good.
Thom had missed our Happy Hour at Monkey Hill last week, and so we had a reprise on Wednesday evening – the majority of the krewe made it out.
Torrential rain, high winds and possible tornados were forecast for later in the evening, so we left the boys at Reginelli’s pizza and ubered home just before the heavens completely opened.
Thursday was a pretty quiet last day of the residency. Diana spent most of the day packing us up – she did get a break to meet Kara and Kenny for oysters at Superior Seafood.
We left right on schedule on Friday morning – just after 9:30am. The extra few minutes were because Diana packed up all of her shoes and realized as we were walking out that she hadn’t left out a pair to wear. We stopped at Athena Greek and Lebanese restaurant in Shreveport – this has become our regular stop for lunch when making the drive to or from New Orleans. We arrived home around 7:30pm.
I had a treat waiting in the stack of mail. A $75 fine for apparently driving 26mph in a 20mph zone on Napoleon Avenue – my parting gift from the city of New Orleans. I haven’t had a speeding ticket in at least 25 years.
The house seems to have survived just fine – with the freezer repaired before we got back. Thanks for helping with that Finn. Penelope decided to show her displeasure at being left behind by turning on her check engine light – drives just fine, so I’m sure it’s just some overly persnickety German sensor that needs to be reset.
On a walk after lunch, our neighbor called us over to show us a hole that squirrels have gnawed through into our eaves. He had watched them going in and out. Time to call a “critter guy.”
We met Finn for a Mexican lunch on Saturday and listened to him grumbling about how hard he’s having to work these days. We had made appointments to have our second booster shots before lunch but got a call from Walgreens that they didn’t have anybody to administer the shots. I enjoyed watching Duke play North Carolina in the NCAA basketball final four in the evening – what an entertaining game for Coach K’s final appearance.
Sunday began with an all time record for me on the crossword – finally beat 5 minutes:
The morning featured another failed attempt to get booster shots. No call to cancel this time – just a note on the pharmacy window saying no shots today. We’ll try again during the week.
My book this week was “The Magnolia Palace” by Fiona Davis. This is another of the books that Diana picked up at Octavia books in New Orleans. Here’s the Amazon plot summary:
“Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, 21-year-old Lillian Carter’s life has completely fallen apart. For the past six years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists’ models in New York City, with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge. But with her mother gone, a grieving Lillian is rudderless and desperate – the work has dried up and a looming scandal has left her entirely without a safe haven. So when she stumbles upon an employment opportunity at the Frick mansion – a building that, ironically, bears her own visage – Lillian jumps at the chance. But the longer she works as a private secretary to the imperious and demanding Helen Frick, the daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick, the more deeply her life gets intertwined with that of the family – pulling her into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels, and family drama that runs so deep, the stakes just may be life or death.
Nearly 50 years later, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career – and with it, earn the money she needs to support her family back home – within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into one of New York City’s most impressive museums. But when she – along with a charming intern/budding art curator named Joshua – is dismissed from the Vogue shoot taking place at the Frick Collection, she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum: messages that will lead her and Joshua on a hunt that could not only solve Veronica’s financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick family.”
I enjoyed this book quite a bit – learning about the art and history of the Frick mansion in New York, while bouncing back and forth between two historical periods. Davis did a cunning job of bringing the two periods together as the mystery is revealed in the concluding paragraphs.
I watched the wonderful movie CODA this week. I really enjoyed it and was reminded a lot of Mr. Holland’s Opus – one of my very favourite films. This song was featured in the movie and I like both versions equally.
I heard this song somewhere in New Orleans this week – another great funky Meters song:
This song isn’t really my typical kind of thing – but it caught my ear while having dinner at The Franklin:
And finally, something from Eric Clapton that was on the house CDs in the condo – an excellent Stevie Wonder cover:
Stay safe, kind and patient with everyone!