Mo' Jazz Fest!
Karen and Chris arrived last Tuesday evening and I welcomed them into my freshly cleaned home... (well almost all of it was cleaned, my room was the notable exception... but I had painted the bathroom and put in new floor tiles in honor of their visit so they hardly noticed my room.) I always love seeing my sisters Karen and Chris, (they have been together for over 25 years now and I think of Chris as my sister as well). We did all the hello things and eventually got to sleep for the night.
The next morning we went to meet their friends Velma and Linda at the Maison Dupuy (a rather lovely French Quarter Hotel) where they were staying. It was their first time here together. We headed to the Coffee Pot, which is our favorite breakfast place, and had a very pleasant breakfast in the courtyard. The waitstaff were totally amusing as always. When Linda was the only one to order a Mimosa, our waitress said "What! Only ONE of you is havin' a Mimosa!" Chris said that perhaps some of us were just too old to be drinking this early in the ayem. Our waitress gave us all a pitiful look and said, "Honey, ain't nothin' gettin' old but the shoes and the clothes!" and went off to the kitchen laughing. (That "shoes and the clothes" line is an old southern country thing, great to hear it). Over breakfast I started to get to know Linda and Velma a bit and realized right away that I was going to like these gurls.
We left the Coffee Pot and headed towards the river. Just as we were entering Jackson Square, I had gotten a few steps ahead of the others as they had drawn closer to each other to talk about something that had happened at home, and this guy pops up in front of me and yells, "Man! HOW many women DO you HAVE! Are you a PIMP or a PREACHER?!" We all totally lost it. And I think it was about this time that Velma and Linda started to think that they were going to have a really good time in New Orleans.
We walked through the square and along the river and then back to Decatur Street to make a stop at the Cigar Factory, a place that Karen and Velma very much wanted to visit.
Quite amusing... Karen and Velma looove cigars! Chris and Linda do not love or even much like cigars... but they both make accomodations for their mates' peculiar tastes, hehe! It was sweet to sit there listening to the cuban music and watching the guys roll cigars and watching Karen and Velma smokin' away... and watching Chris and Linda rolling their eyes and smiling...
Next we did the river cruise on the Steamboat Natchez.
I've done the river cruise over a hundred times over the years, but it's always fun... it's all about the river here after all.
I took two small movies of the steam engines in the Natchez and the paddle wheel as we steamed down the river. The engine room is one of my favorite places on the boat. Perhaps you can see why that is... (These are QuickTime movies with sound).
Engine Room
Paddle Wheel
During the cruise we passed Paul Allen's private yacht...
You don't hear much about him in the press, but he co-founded MicroSoft with Bill Gates. This is his newest boat. It has a crew of 28, 12 state rooms, a couple of tenders, (the boats that go back and forth to shore) and... a submarine! Now, don't you wish you were a computer geek when it wasn't cool? A friend who should know tells me that money does not buy happiness though... can't say more...
After the boat, we shopped the French Market where Velma found some wonderful pens and then walked the few blocks to my house. I poured a few glasses of the new Bonny Doon Big House Pink and everyone had a chance to sit and rest. The gurlz went off to dinner and I took a brief nap and then went to work at ten PM to do a reset of our tea area. I had gotten a bit sun burned during the day, (not at all a good thing for me!) and ended up working until three ayem. The next day, Thursday, they all went to Jazz Fest, but I stayed home and slept until it was time to meet for dinner.
Linda and Velma took us to NOLA, one of Emeril's restaurants.
We did a four course tasting menu with three wines. I must say that this wouldn't have been my first choice of places to dine, but it was a very memorable meal! The service was impeccable, the food was very good and the wines were well matched. It was good to have a very good and pleasant meal in a restaurant owned by a famous chef; it rarely happens, so this was a pleasant surprise. After dinner, we went to the Maison Dupuy for a cocktail. I called luca and chatted for a while and then we went home.
an aside here... years ago I was chef at a small Garden District bistro called Indulgence. Emeril was the chef at Commander's Palace just a block away. (this was well before he was famous..) and he would come to eat every Tuesday, his day off. It's a good thing to cook for another chef and when he returns every week, it's a really good thing. We used to talk and I liked him, nice guy.
It rained a lot on Friday and the fest was cancelled for that day. But Saturday it cleared enough and the gurls went out to the fairgrounds again whre they saw Odetta.
And spent some time in the always rockin' Gospel Tent.
I worked and met them at my place. We went to a seafood place called Deanies, a place of worship to those who love and desire fried local fried seafood. We ordered some appetizers and a soup or two and this emormous plate....
It was yummy. We walked Linda and Velma back to the hotel and hugged them as they had a six ayem flight on Sunday morning. I'm looking forward to seeing them this summer when I visit my Dad in Rochester... Karen, Chris and I went to my house and crashed. I went to work on Sunday for a few hours and met up with my sisters around five at my house. We ordered a pizza and watched "Something's Gotta Give" with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. (You might remember that I saw it on the flight back from Dublin and was amazed at the laughter from my fellow travelers). We enjoyed totally! Old people in love rock! Hehe.
We had breakfast at a local joint, "La Peniche" and stopped at the water garden shop on the way home for a bit of last minute shopping. Karen and Chris finished packing, called a cab and then Robert came out of his house to stand weeping loudly and waving his hankerchief and blowing his nose just to amuse us, then his cat Paddy caught a morning dove and we had to convince Paddy to let the bird go and it flew away, and then we all hugged and the gurls got into the cab and left for the airport.
It was lovely morning.
durlx
Karen and Chris arrived last Tuesday evening and I welcomed them into my freshly cleaned home... (well almost all of it was cleaned, my room was the notable exception... but I had painted the bathroom and put in new floor tiles in honor of their visit so they hardly noticed my room.) I always love seeing my sisters Karen and Chris, (they have been together for over 25 years now and I think of Chris as my sister as well). We did all the hello things and eventually got to sleep for the night.
The next morning we went to meet their friends Velma and Linda at the Maison Dupuy (a rather lovely French Quarter Hotel) where they were staying. It was their first time here together. We headed to the Coffee Pot, which is our favorite breakfast place, and had a very pleasant breakfast in the courtyard. The waitstaff were totally amusing as always. When Linda was the only one to order a Mimosa, our waitress said "What! Only ONE of you is havin' a Mimosa!" Chris said that perhaps some of us were just too old to be drinking this early in the ayem. Our waitress gave us all a pitiful look and said, "Honey, ain't nothin' gettin' old but the shoes and the clothes!" and went off to the kitchen laughing. (That "shoes and the clothes" line is an old southern country thing, great to hear it). Over breakfast I started to get to know Linda and Velma a bit and realized right away that I was going to like these gurls.
We left the Coffee Pot and headed towards the river. Just as we were entering Jackson Square, I had gotten a few steps ahead of the others as they had drawn closer to each other to talk about something that had happened at home, and this guy pops up in front of me and yells, "Man! HOW many women DO you HAVE! Are you a PIMP or a PREACHER?!" We all totally lost it. And I think it was about this time that Velma and Linda started to think that they were going to have a really good time in New Orleans.
We walked through the square and along the river and then back to Decatur Street to make a stop at the Cigar Factory, a place that Karen and Velma very much wanted to visit.
Quite amusing... Karen and Velma looove cigars! Chris and Linda do not love or even much like cigars... but they both make accomodations for their mates' peculiar tastes, hehe! It was sweet to sit there listening to the cuban music and watching the guys roll cigars and watching Karen and Velma smokin' away... and watching Chris and Linda rolling their eyes and smiling...
Next we did the river cruise on the Steamboat Natchez.
I've done the river cruise over a hundred times over the years, but it's always fun... it's all about the river here after all.
I took two small movies of the steam engines in the Natchez and the paddle wheel as we steamed down the river. The engine room is one of my favorite places on the boat. Perhaps you can see why that is... (These are QuickTime movies with sound).
Engine Room
Paddle Wheel
During the cruise we passed Paul Allen's private yacht...
You don't hear much about him in the press, but he co-founded MicroSoft with Bill Gates. This is his newest boat. It has a crew of 28, 12 state rooms, a couple of tenders, (the boats that go back and forth to shore) and... a submarine! Now, don't you wish you were a computer geek when it wasn't cool? A friend who should know tells me that money does not buy happiness though... can't say more...
After the boat, we shopped the French Market where Velma found some wonderful pens and then walked the few blocks to my house. I poured a few glasses of the new Bonny Doon Big House Pink and everyone had a chance to sit and rest. The gurlz went off to dinner and I took a brief nap and then went to work at ten PM to do a reset of our tea area. I had gotten a bit sun burned during the day, (not at all a good thing for me!) and ended up working until three ayem. The next day, Thursday, they all went to Jazz Fest, but I stayed home and slept until it was time to meet for dinner.
Linda and Velma took us to NOLA, one of Emeril's restaurants.
We did a four course tasting menu with three wines. I must say that this wouldn't have been my first choice of places to dine, but it was a very memorable meal! The service was impeccable, the food was very good and the wines were well matched. It was good to have a very good and pleasant meal in a restaurant owned by a famous chef; it rarely happens, so this was a pleasant surprise. After dinner, we went to the Maison Dupuy for a cocktail. I called luca and chatted for a while and then we went home.
an aside here... years ago I was chef at a small Garden District bistro called Indulgence. Emeril was the chef at Commander's Palace just a block away. (this was well before he was famous..) and he would come to eat every Tuesday, his day off. It's a good thing to cook for another chef and when he returns every week, it's a really good thing. We used to talk and I liked him, nice guy.
It rained a lot on Friday and the fest was cancelled for that day. But Saturday it cleared enough and the gurls went out to the fairgrounds again whre they saw Odetta.
And spent some time in the always rockin' Gospel Tent.
I worked and met them at my place. We went to a seafood place called Deanies, a place of worship to those who love and desire fried local fried seafood. We ordered some appetizers and a soup or two and this emormous plate....
It was yummy. We walked Linda and Velma back to the hotel and hugged them as they had a six ayem flight on Sunday morning. I'm looking forward to seeing them this summer when I visit my Dad in Rochester... Karen, Chris and I went to my house and crashed. I went to work on Sunday for a few hours and met up with my sisters around five at my house. We ordered a pizza and watched "Something's Gotta Give" with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. (You might remember that I saw it on the flight back from Dublin and was amazed at the laughter from my fellow travelers). We enjoyed totally! Old people in love rock! Hehe.
We had breakfast at a local joint, "La Peniche" and stopped at the water garden shop on the way home for a bit of last minute shopping. Karen and Chris finished packing, called a cab and then Robert came out of his house to stand weeping loudly and waving his hankerchief and blowing his nose just to amuse us, then his cat Paddy caught a morning dove and we had to convince Paddy to let the bird go and it flew away, and then we all hugged and the gurls got into the cab and left for the airport.
It was lovely morning.
durlx
posted by durlx at 5/03/2004 03:42:00 PM
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