the last day and a half

Sunday morning I woke up early and took a walk through the French Quarter while the streets were still quiet. It was interesting to see so few people around and watch workers clean up the neighborhood by hosing everything down.

Unfortunately brunch that morning was a little disappointing - my fault for not properly planning - but the place did have Abita Strawberry Lager, which doesn't sound great, but was pretty nice for brunch. After brunch Zuzenak, who is quite the art collector, gave us a tour of some of the art galleries and we had to say goodbye to Iman, sporting his baby blue Royals jersey (first place!) when he headed off to the airport. Unfortunately I did not have an opportunity to take advantage of a gift he had brought me. For several years I have been talking about buying some jean shorts, but Lelaine won't let me wear them. Enter Iman, who bought a piar of acid washed jeans in my size along with a pair of scissors. The plan had been to cut them (he wanted them short enough so that the pockets hung down below the cut of the shorts) and wear to Jazz Fest, but the birthday girl put her foot down. I guess the cut off jorts will have to wait until a future mancation.

The group then took a streetcar up St. Charles St. and saw all the nice houses, the garden district, and some other stuff. It was nice to have a few minutes to sit and rest. Then several others - Brian, Allen, Heather, and Matt - had to leave. In order to get his fix, Doug took Jenn, Don, Lelaine, and I too a little dump of any oyster bar right across from Acme in the Quarter.

That night we had big plans: dinner at Commander's Palace. We dressed up and cabbed to the Garden District. As expected, it was pretty fancy. My favorite part was the chandeliers. They had what appeared to be wood frames with real candles, but upon further review they were electric and built so that the "flame" flickered to make it look real.

I started off with a sazerac. Not my favorite whiskey drink, but pretty good. For an appetizer, we all either had their famous turtle soup or their flight of three soups that included turtle, chicken and andouille gumbo, and crawfish bisque. I wasn't in love with the crawfish bisque, but the others were outstanding. The three gumbos I had in two days were probably the three best that I have ever had. And the turtle soup was outstanding.

Everyone's entrees were nice, but the highlight was definitely dessert. Four of us ordered the bread pudding souffle, and luckily for me Lelaine was too full to finish hers, so I stepped up to the plate. I had had bread pudding for dinner the night before, and it was definitely good. Zuzenak said it was his favorite, although I think that had more to do with it having chocolate chips instead of raisins. The consistency of the souffle at CP was certainly different, but it was amazing. Not as custardy as most, but very light and airy (it was after all, a souffle). I think it may be my favorite dessert ever.

Since we were dressed up we had planned on finding a club and listening to some music, but we were tired so we headed to Loa, a bar at the International House Hotel a couple blocks from our hotel. Lelaine had read about the lounge in a magazine and it was a nice laid-back place to spend our last night. After a couple of beers and a conversation about my lack of knowledge of facebook, we called it a night.

Monday morning we woke up, cleaned up, packed, and searched for food. Lelaine couldn't decide if she wanted breakfast or lunch as her last meal in NOLA, so we tried to do both: a beignet at Cafe du Monde and a po-boy at Johnny's, which is Zuzenak's go-to sandwich stop. No reason to compromise by only have one. Unfortunately, Cafe du Monde was relatively busy for late Monday morning, so we had to skip it and only ate a sandwich. Don and I went with Johnny's special - roast beef and ham with cheese?, Doug had a muffaletta (he erroneously claimed that I told him we were going to Central Grocery), and Lelaine closed it out with a chicken fried steak po-boy and red beans and rice. Everyone enjoyed.

With heavy hearts we then had to depart. Hopefully it won't be for long and we will be able to make Jazz Fest an annual tradition.

birthday evening

I (Chris) am going to write about Saturday night because a couple details might be a bit hazy for the birthday girl. First, let me echo how great Jazz Fest was. Few things can beat a warm sunny day, great food, and sitting out and listening to different kinds of music with friends. I had very high expectations, and they were definitely met.

We cleaned up from the Fest and met in the hotel lobby before dinner. As we were leaving, we spotted Wynton Marsalis, who many in the group saw play just a few hours later, arriving. After a picture with Lelaine, we walked through the CBD to Cochon for a late dinner. To continue the trend from earlier in the day, the food rocked. I had gumbo ya-ya; a bacon, potato, and gruyere tartiflette; crawfish etouffee (really branching out for me); and praline ice cream. Earlier in the day I thought the andouille, pheasant, and quail gumbo was the best I had ever had. This rivaled it, and was probably a little better. Both had a certain intense flavor, which my inarticulate self cannot describe, that was great and very different from other gumbos I have had. It is a good day when in consecutive meals you think something is the best you had ever had. The crawfish was ok, but I liked the sauce more than the crawfish themselves. You probably won't find me cracking too many crawfish shells in the near future. I was one of a few who didn't have the bread pudding for dessert, which earned raves from Zuzenak.

The birthday girl started with a mint julep, the white bean and ham stew, crawfish etouffee, and the bread pudding. Everyone left happy.

We then set off for Bourbon Street, grabbing a hurricane in a to-go cup for most and a Jester for Lelaine (she wanted to finish it off and say "Jester's dead") and then taking in the various debauchery. Lelaine even bought shots for everyone as we walked down the street. After trying to get into a packed Pat O'Briens, we found a relatively quiet bar on a side street and sat in the courtyard. Not exactly living the rock and roll lifestyle, but something that suited me just fine after a long day.

Best Day Ever

On to Jazz Fest! There are some different priorities among the group of what was most important at Jazz Fest. I was among the group that felt the food was the most important and the music was just amazing ambiance. Walking in and seeing signs that said Jambalaya, Fried Pork Chop Sandwich, Crawfish Bread, Fried Chicken-- I knew I was in heaven. I felt a bit guilty leaving behind my food partner in crime, Jenn, but I had to go ahead and sample the crawfish bread and fried pork chop sandwich before we met up with everyone.

We all meet up and decide to listen to Pete Seeger and sit down to create a base camp. During this time, crawfish monica, sweet potato chips and meat pies were discovered by the group and were a big hit. Chris tried andouille, pheasant and quail gumbo and said it was the best gumbo he's had in his life.

Another big hit was John Mooney and Blusiana recommended by our cousin Shannon. I believe there were a few more samples of food such as red beans and rice and fried catfish, but all agreed we may have peaked out early.

Jazz Fest ended with Wilco, a group favorite, and many phrases such as "Best day ever," "We're coming back next year," and "Why do we have to leave?"

Birthday Breakfast of Champions: Beignets

First, I will start out with answering the basic question most people asked me, "Who went?" The wonderful friends that attended were (in no particular order): Matt, Jenn, Christy, Don, Allen, Heather, Doug, Iman and Zuzenak.

The birthday morning starts out with breakfast at Cafe DuMonde. Some of us were a little scared of the long line, but surprisingly, it moved so fast! We waited for 10 minutes, got a seat and shortly after I had a nice iced cafe au lait and four beignets. It was a great way to start our morning.

As we walked back to the hotel to get on the shuttle to Jazz Fest, the girls noticed a high school jazz ensemble playing near Jax Brewery and we were quite impressed with the singer. We could have glimpsed the next Michael Buble. Christy loved it and said it was in her mind a quintessential New Orleans experience.

Paradise Vendors Saves the Day

The day before my birthday was an interesting one. I was anxious to get to New Orleans and slightly afraid that since we were taking the last flight out of DC that I might not make it. So, I decide to try and fly stand by despite numerous calls to the 2nd worst airline, American Airlines, and advice that flights from Dallas to New Orleans were full. I make it to Dallas without too much of a problem except for AA employee, T. Ruffin, nearly making me cry.

I rush to the 2pm flight to New Orleans. No luck. No stand by passengers made it. I have some lunch and notice Xpress Spa and decided to splurge on an hour massage. My masseuse asks what do I do and recommends that I get these more often. I think he may need a massage after giving me one.

Walking to the next gate at 4:50pm. I'm so close...I am waiting in line about to get on the plane and then out of no where a cart full of people are here and bumps some of us off. None of these people are elderly or disabled. How did they get this cart? I'm always sprinting in airports to make my connection and these people arrive in carts?

At 7pm, I realize this is my last chance to make the stand by worthwhile, otherwise I will be on my scheduled flight that leaves at 9:40pm and I will feel stupid. I am number 3 on the list. I think three has to make it. Nope. Three is the FIRST to NOT MAKE THE FLIGHT. Here is where I am a bit upset and I try to go back to the Xpress Spa, but they are closed.

So, I head to the next gate and start to read my book for book club, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, which takes place in New Orleans. I met my hubby an hour later and we (finally!) board the plane for New Orleans. However, the last few pages that I read in my book described the main character, Ignatius, starting a new job selling hot dogs from a cart from a company called Paradise Vendors. This clearly sticks with me because after a nice time in the hotel bar seeing all the great friends who came to New Orleans for my birthday, we decide to take a quick walk around the Quarter and I have to get a hot dog from a hot dog vendor. Fortunately, it was not Ignatius.

After a nice, relaxing hot dog with chili, onions and cheese, I go to bed ready for the big 3-0.

baseball

First, congrats to the first place Royals for starting so well. And a shout out to Zack Greinke, who is now 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 20 IP. It is never too early to make World Series Plans.

But the real purpose of this post is to hop on top of the pile by making fun of the Nats. I root for them, but they don't make it easy. The Royals have had some bad teams the last fifteen years or so but I don't ever remember Royals fans feeling as miserable as Nats fans. Opening day was Monday and since I wasn't taking any other time off during our two week recess, I got permission to take a half day so I could go to the game. Since it is the Nats, plenty of tickets were still available...for the home opener...the day of the game. The only problem was that I couldn't find anyone to go with me. This may say a lot about me and my "friends", but it also is kind of damning for the team. Everyone loves opening day, and I couldn't even find anyone who was interested.

Then Fridy nite sonething occured that wus unbelevable. When the home team took the field, the best two players, Zimmerman and Dunn, sported unis that misspelled the name of the team. Seriously. Keep in mind that this is an actual MLB team. Things like that didn't even happen to the Indians in Major League. The good news kept on coming, as the Nats blew a 9th inning lead and lost that night, and then blew a three run 9th inning lead on Saturday and ended up losing by 3 in 11. Maybe today will be better, but when the team is 1-9, it doesn't seem likely.

UPDATE: The good news continued on Sunday, when the Nats bullpen blew another lead by giving up an 8th inning tying home run and then proceeded to give up three more in the ninth for yet another loss. The Post called it a, "repeat matinee of incompetence." The team then sent the entire bullpen to the minors. In Royals news, Farnsworth prevented the Royals from sweeping the Rangers by blowing it in the ninth as well, the second game the team has lost games due to him giving up late inning homers. Is there no one who could do a better job? Why not bring up Bannister and let him work out of the pen?

my dogs are barking

As you may remember, last year Lelaine participated in a training program that culminated in a 5k. This year it is my turn to participate. We are now in week 8 of the 10 week program.

Today was a 3.25 mile run, which is a little more than the distance of the race. I have been sticking to the training (you only run three times a week, so it isn't that horrible) and I must say that I have been doing pretty damn well. On the treadmill I am around a 9:45 min/mile pace and on today's course, which involved a few too many hills for my liking, I was just over 10 min/mile. It is nice to get up early and Sunday morning and go run, but my legs and feet are a bit sore now. My dogs are barking.

I won't be able to do the group training next week since we will be out of town celebrating Mrs. Bigelow's 30th birthday, but I feel pretty confident that I will hold my own on race day on May 3. If the do-gooder in you is interested in making a donation to the race, which is a fundraiser for brain tumors, you can do so here.

tasting tournament

At the start of March Madness, the Post did its annual beer tournament. I wasn't pleased with many of the entries and wrote in that it was the NIT. A friend Megan and I decided we would have to do our own, so on Friday a few co-workers and friends (not mutually exclusive) had our own tournament. Lelaine, not partaking in the joys of beer, did an excellent job as the officiant.

The eventual winner of the 16 beer tournament was Xingu. It was entered by Jennie, the host of the shindig who makes a mean taco as well as homemade chips, tortillas, many different types of salsa, beans, and a great cheese dip. In addition to the excellent food and beer, another benefit is that because you have to buy enough beer for each entry in case one goes all the way and is tasted in many rounds, you have a lot of left over beer. We all walked away winners, although next time we are having a One Shining Moment montage at the end.

I had five entries: Bells Two Hearted IPA, Stone IPA, Rogue Mocha Porter, Southampton Double White, and Victory Prima Pils. I thought Victory would win it but it ended up losing in the first round. Goes to show you what I know. Bells did make it to the finals, but lost in a 5-2 vote to Xingu, a Brazilian schwarzbier - that's German black lager to you and me. I would also like to point out that Doug, who picked out a couple of good beers (one of his, Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, is my go-to beer), managed to have all his choices shown the door in the first round. I expect you will train hard in the offseason.

The final bracket is below. Ignore the "regions" as a they were kind of thrown out the window with a few last minute changes. Seeding was based on Beer Advocate rankings, although a few of those were also off after a couple of the last minute substitutions.

crabs

On Sunday my dad called and said he was in Baltimore and free for dinner. Lelaine and I drove up and we went to a crab place right on the water. Not being a sea-eater, I had chicken, but Lelaine and Dad had "colossal" crabs. Those puppies were huge. Here is a picture of the big guy having a bib tied on him to not dirty his shirt. It was a nice evening.

Dinner at the Pinks

A quick post about a new blog site under our "Good Links" section. It is the called Dinner at Pinks. Chris's aunt Glo hosts a family dinner at her place every Sunday and the blog is to share the food, fun and fellowship of the evening.

One of the things I think is great about our families is how they are so similar. It was neat to know that Chris's family got together and ate every week and my family did the same thing at our house every week (sometimes more than once). Family is pretty important to the both of us because we spent so much time with them growing up. I think one reason we get along so well is that we had a similar upbringing and understand each others family commitments.