Finally I have time.
With escorting my visitors around town and working, I haven't had time to actually get an update done until now. So I'll pick up where I left off last time, starting with last Sunday. This is a big entry btw....
Sunday morning coffee at Virgil's.
We went to Virgil's for Sunday coffee. It was a larger group than usual and everyone got along famously with David and Glennie telling lots of amusing Oz stories. It's a wonderful group of people and the conversation is always wildly interesting. In the photo above that David took are durlx, Virgil, Robert, George, Claude, and Michelle. Also in attendence were Ted, David and Glennie. After coffee, I took a nap (?) and D & G went out to lunch, then came back and drove me to work. (Can I tell you how spoiled I got with all my guests driving me to work and picking me up!)
Monday... I had the day off.
We crossed Lake Pontchartrain on the Causeway, "The World's Most Boring Bridge" and proceeded to Mandeville to pick up Ms May Ball Keating, (the mother of David's partner Chris, who died in 1994 of AIDS). She is 80 years old and incredibly fiesty; think Ruth Gordon... She's a scream. We went to Madisonville for lunch at a Cajun country place called Morton's which is located, (like all of Madisonville) on the Tchefuncte (che funk ta) River.
May and David at lunch.
May decided that I looked like a priest so I posed for this pic.
The Tchefuncte River.
The lovely twees.
After returning to Mandeville to drop MBK off at her home in the piney woods, we passed the site of this famous designer's mobile home park.
teehee
We made it back to New Orleans about 4:30 PM and just in time for the arrival of.....luca! We sat around the house and shared a bag of "circus peanuts" that luca had brought, had coffee and then went out for sandwiches at a local place. The sandwiches were very good and served to us by a charming man... Then home to bed as everyone had to get up early; David and Glen to fly to Ohio, me to work an early shift at the market and luca, (bless him) to drive me to work. Luca entertained himself during my work shifts on Tuesday and Wednesday and we spent cosy evenings at home talking and eating cheese from my vast collection.
Thursday morning cruising.... on the river.
A view from the Steamboat Natchez
The Domino Sugar Refinery, second largest in the world.
General Anchorage.
The Natchez is an excursion boat that does regular river cruises. It has real steam engines taken from a work boat from the twenties that provide power for the paddle wheel, the very loud calliope, and the incredibly heart stoppingly loud steam whistle. I was once on the top of the Texas deck, by the pilot house, directly under the steam whistle when the captain let loose on the thing; I was knocked flat to the deck. I thought my heart had stopped and I couldn't hear anything for ten minutes. The cruise provides very nice views of the harbor including the one of the "general anchorage" located after the very sharp bend in the river around Algier's Point, where ships wait to get a spot at the docks. In the pic above you might be able to see the N.O. skyline on the lower left horizon.
luca had a good time.
Always sorry to see the back of him...
After the cruise, we came back to the house, stopping to get some sandwiches at the cuban place on the corner. While we were waiting for them, the woman who owns the place offered us some samples of the pork cracklins they do there; they were still warm and intensely delicious! After eating, luca drove me to work and then left for points west. This was his fourth visit in a year; November 10th was an anniversary, and I have to say I really like this man. Always sorry to see him go.
Friday thru Sunday.
David and Glennie returned from Ohio on Friday and picked me up from work. We went to a Jamaican restaurant and had a very good dinner and they went off to their hotel. (They had some free nights with Hilton.) I woke up at 3:30 AM sick as the proverbial dog and slept little the rest of the night; something I ate very much disagreed with me. The ceviche perhaps? Don't know, but it was disgusting. They came by and drove me to work on Saturday and then went across the lake to visit May again. The sweet dears came back and picked me up from work at 10 that evening.
I got a good nights sleep and we met again on Sunday about eleven. We drove uptown and walked about a bit on Magazine Street. We found a rather amazing shop owned by this guy Christopher and chatted with him for quite a while. He recommended a Japanese place for lunch that was just a few doors down. It was brilliant! One of the most pleasant restaurants I've been in in the longest time; this place was feng shui-ed to the enth, so comfortable! The lunch we had was one of the best lunches I've had in years. A wonderful soup, a very good simple salad, and an artfully arranged tray of pork dumplings, California rolls and Shrimp tempura for Glen and I. The tempura was effing brilliant, perfect and pristine. I don't know how they do it... I certainly can't do it. David had a sushimi plate with jewel like bits of tuna. salmon and lemon fish, all totally perfect. These people
really know what they are about. The place is now definately on the top of my place to take people to lunch. (Oh, btw, for the three of us it was $33. We could have spent as much at Denny's for crap.)
After lunch, we drove further uptown to the Riverbend area and stopped at the HaagenDaz place for ice cream, then walked around the corner for latte's at CC's Coffee, one of our local coffee house chains. They do very well here because they haven't given in to the Starbuck's ickyness.
After that we came back to the house, spent some time talking and then a tearful parting. Don't know when I'll see these wonderful guys again but I hope somehow it's not too long before I do. I only have one package of Tim Tams left!
And then this evening I get this phone call from luca and tejaz....
...but that's another story altogether, hehe...
durlx
