Loving New Orleans

Greetings from the Big Easy! I've been visiting friends here since Wednesday and what a visit it's been. I've done more and eaten more amazing food already than one might expect to do and eat in a month. Each day has been completely full. And the best part is that I get to do all these things with my beloved friend Jenna, who is graciously taking time off from work to play host for my adventures. Here's a rundown of the week so far.

We hit the ground running with a New Orleans Zephyrs baseball game. Actually, half a game. My flight into NOLA was delayed for so long by weather that we ended up missing the first five innings. But we got in a good hour of baseball, with the home team coming out on top. But most of all, it was a nice chance to sit and visit with Jenna and her husband Mitch.

The next day got a bit of a late start because Jenna had to get some last-minute things done at her work. I took advantage of the time by getting a couple thousand words written on the first draft of my new book. More on that in coming weeks, but it's coming along quite nicely. But once she got back, we were off for a driving tour of much of New Orleans, ending with dinner in the French Quarter that was beyond my meager ability to describe it. The city is known for its amazing seafood, so I chose a jumbo lump crab cake after a peach and blueberry salad with goat cheese and candied pecans. The salad was delicious, but nothing compared to the heavenly joy that was the entree. It was impeccably prepared and, simply put, elevated the crab cake to the level of culinary art.

After dinner, we were off to Preservation Hall, which is a true hole in the wall. It has no air conditioning or restrooms, serves no food or drinks, the floors and walls are in varying states of decay and disrepair, and there is usually seating enough for roughly half of the people who pay the admission fee for one of the three nightly sets. But no one cares about any of that. Its name refers to the fact that it's dedicated to the preservation of the pure art of jazz music. The music was unadorned by any microphones or anything electronic. There was barely even any lighting. It was just an hour of six dedicated musicians plying their craft lovingly. It speaks to how transporting the concert was that it seemed to last only about fifteen minutes. I was genuinely flabbergasted when they said they were finished because I was convinced we had just gotten started.

Yesterday was even busier. It started with a trip to Honey Island for a tour. We were piloted in a great long flat-bottomed boat with the biggest outboard motor I have ever seen (250 hp!) by a skilled and personable man named Gary through the sometimes narrow and seemingly impassible waterways of the Honey Island swamp. Along the way, we encountered several alligators, which were drawn to our boat by the promise of hot dogs and marshmallows. We didn't get to see the biggie, though. Our pilot said Brutus, who is about fourteen feet long, is a little more cautious of the tour boats than the relatively smaller ones we got to see. We also saw a pack of feral pigs, many turtles, a raptor of some kind and a lovely crane. We also saw the devastating effect of Hurricane Katrina. Even all these years later, it can be seen in the industrial wreckage and empty pilings where houses once stood. Gary told us that some houses were picked up and carried more than a mile. It was a lovely, exhilarating, and humbling experience.

Back in town, we stopped off at a place called Mahony's for po' boys. I learned that the main attribute that makes a sandwich a po' boy is the bread. It's a French loaf that's super crusty on the outside and light as air on the inside. Mine had shrimp and a spicy remoulade sauce. I remarked to Jenna that my mouth was going to be so sad when I went home. Then we trekked across town to the banks of the mighty Mississippi and a visit to the Audubon Aquarium. Dedicated to showcasing and preserving the unique flora and fauna of the Mississippi delta and Gulf, it was a seemingly endless display of fascinating creatures. Plus, it was cool and dark--a nice counterpoint to the heat and humidity of the morning's swamp tour. After going home to shower (and take a two-hour nap), we were off again. Stopping by a cool joint called the Pita Pit to pick up dinner, we headed to the aquarium's sister, the Audubon Zoo, for movie night. We watched Jurassic World under the stars, accompanied by a highly curious and extremely loud peacock who seemed to know just when to squawk. He had apparently seen the movie before.

Today, after stopping for beignets for breakfast, it's off to Gulfport, Mississippi for a walk along the beach, some shopping, and a tour of a local brewery. I forget what Jenna has planned for us this evening, but it will undoubtedly be equally fun. Tomorrow, we're scheduled for brunch at a beautiful historic restaurant followed by a tour of the World War II museum. Sometime before I leave, we're touring a plantation and going to at least one more concert. I know I'm going to need a long, long nap to recover from this vacation and is it ever going to be worth it.

I have many more picture on my Facebook page if you would like to see them.

I Need to Live on the Outer Banks

Today is the last full day at our condo overlooking the ocean. Tomorrow morning, we get up early, stop for breakfast on our way out, and by tomorrow night we'll be back in the real world, the world of appointments, deadlines, work, and shoes. There are so many things about this place that I will miss. Enough to know that a single spindly week each year is simply not sufficient.

First, I'll miss the dazzling sunrises. Every year, one of the main highlights for me is that first morning when I get up a little before six to await, coffee in hand, the appearance of that first red sliver over the horizon. It never doesn't quicken my pulse. No matter how many days I'm here, I never tire of seeing it. I remember when I was younger and went to the beach, I had to set an alarm one morning to make sure I got up to see at least a single sunrise. Now that I naturally go to bed early and get up with the chickens, it's a normal daily experience. And I'm glad. Even when I was younger, I felt like morning was the best time of the day and I always felt like I was wasting the shank of the day by sleeping. So now my body is finally in agreement with my mindset.

Second, I'll miss the constant low roar and never-ending movement of the ocean. I can literally sit for hours on the porch just taking it all in. There wasn't a screen in my bedroom window, so the first trip for me away from the condo was to buy an expandable screen so I could go to sleep to the tranquilizing thrum of the waters pounding against the shore.

Third, I'll miss the togetherness of family being here in one place. We're all here in every sense of the
word. No running off to work or spending time with other folks that aren't part of the family. We do everything together. We cook and eat together, we go to the beach together, we go out to dinner together, we go to tourist events together, we sit and watch TV together. I could go on, but whatever it is, it's together. Trips like these (and I know this isn't unique to the beach, but the time we do this is always at the beach in our family) are the only time each year that this is true for an extended period of time. Even when everyone comes together during the holidays, someone's always having to leave early go off to see someone else or do work.

Fourth, I'll miss hours of uninterrupted reading time. Even though I kind of get paid to read and write, I still feel like there are more "productive" things I could be doing while I'm at home. Here, I feel no such impediment, so, as a result, I'm on my third book of the week.

There are many other things I could list, but I don't want to spend any more time writing. Breakfast is almost ready and then it's off to the beach. Or maybe some porch sitting. Or taking a walk. Or reading.

My Favorite Things, Part Deux

I enjoyed last week's post so much that I decided to go ahead and do another set of favorites this week. You will probably notice that a lot of my favorites involve food. Food is my favorite thing to eat.

• Favorite summer food: This is an easy one. Homegrown tomatoes. Anyone who has eaten a real fresh from the garden tomato knows that store-bought tomatoes taste about as much like real tomatoes as I do. And I don't taste like tomatoes at all. Fresh sliced tomatoes with a little salt are one of the greatest joys of summer. They're also amazing on sandwiches or cut up in salads. They even make better sauces and creamed tomatoes, which, when put over home-baked biscuits will bring a tear of joy to the eye. 

• Favorite vacation spot: This one's pretty easy too. I love pretty much anywhere with an ocean view, but number one would have to be the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It has areas that are full of tourist-y things, like shops, restaurants, and goofy golf, but there are other places where it's nothing but seashore. It's the place where, when I go there, all stress evaporates. I just love it. 

• Favorite Christmas tradition: I'm going to cheat and do a twofer. First, it's my blog so I can do what I want. Second, they're directly connected, so it's only cheating a little. To me it's not Christmas until two important events have happened at my school. First is the tree lighting. It's not an actual tree. It's lights on the front of the building that look like a giant tree with a star on top. Every year at the beginning of December, there's a neat ceremony involving caroling, cookies, hot chocolate, and a visit from Santa (played gleefully by yours truly). At the end, all the other school lights go out and the tree is lit. It's positively magical. Second chronologically, though not in significance, is the choir Christmas concert. More specifically, the traditional processional that involves the choir coming in from the back, candles in hand (sadly, electric candles now), singing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." If you hear that and don't get chills, you're probably dead. 

• Favorite sandwich: This is kind of a sad one. My favorite sandwich doesn't exist anymore, at least not anywhere near me. There was a restaurant called Bennigan's in the mall in Charleston, a city a little over an hour's drive from my town. They served a Monte Cristo that was nearly beyond description. I've had Monte Cristos in other places, but none compare with this. Granted, it's a once-a-year kind of treat, but oh my gosh it's good. In case you don't know, this is a club sandwich that's battered and deep fried served with powdered sugar on top and raspberry jam to dip it in. It's the perfect combination of savory and sweet. Unfortunately, Bennigan's is no more and no other restaurant's rendition comes within miles of being as good. 

franchisetimes.com

• Favorite movie: I struggle with this one and, if I did this post in a few months, I might change my mind. But if you asked me ten times what my favorite movie is, about nine of those times the answer would be Casablanca. It has it all: love, patriotism, self-sacrifice, suspense, and one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the planet--Ingrid Bergman. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out. Humphrey Bogart play's Rick, an expatriate bar-owner in Morocco who has given up on love--until Ilsa, his one true great love walks in one night, hoping Rick, whose heart she broke, will help her and her freedom-fighting husband escape Nazi-occupied Africa. The supporting cast is a who's who of great 40's stars: Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, and Paul Henreid. Lorre and Greenstreet were also in another great Bogey film, The Maltese Falcon. This movie is famous for, among other things, having quite possibly the most misquoted line in all cinema. People almost always say the line wrong by saying, "Play it again, Sam." The line is actually, "Play it Sam." It also has another oft-quoted line: "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine."  I could go on and on, but I'll end by saying that everyone needs to see this film. 

Bogey and Bergman were phenomenal

Okay, there you go. Five more favorites. I'll do something different next week, but stay tuned: I'll have more favorites soon.