HAPPY 200TH BIRTHDAY, LOUISIANA!
I don’t normally get that excited about other states’ bicentennial celebrations.
But New Orleans did all Kentuckians a kindness this year. They hosted the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship — an event that I’m not sure if I have mentioned here…
UK won.
So, forever more New Orleans — and indeed the entire state of Louisiana — will have a warm spot in my memory and in my heart.
Enjoy your big day, Pelican State. You sure helped all us Wildcats enjoy ours.
Posted in Basketball, College, History, Humor, Life, March Madness, Sports, Travel
Tagged 200th birthday, basketball, bicentennial, college, history, Humor, Kentucky, life, Louisiana, March Madness, NCAA men's basketball tournament, New Orleans, Pelican State, Sports, Travel, UK Wildcats
ONE. MORE. GAME.
Kentucky vs. Kansas
The Championship
We began our season together in November at Madison Square Garden.
How fitting we meet again in the finals Monday night.
Oh, how I love the month of March!
Isn’t it funny that New York City seems quiet and calm after three days and nights in New Orleans?
Perhaps it’s because one of those nights was Halloween. And the other nights were filled with World Series games and Monday Night football crowds…so the city always seemed a bit manic and overly juiced up.
But, really, that’s what you expect from New Orleans.
Rich food, too much drink, and gaudy dress served up with Southern charm and hospitality, so it always seem just right.
But one thing I did not expect turned out to be my favorite memory of the trip.
On Monday night, my friends Kathy, Judy and I went to Court of Two Sisters for dinner. It is very much a New Orleans tradition — a restaurant in the heart of the French Quarter, boasting primarily outdoor seating in a courtyard under trees filled with white, twinkly lights.
It’s lovely and atmospheric and the deep South at its best.
We had reservations, so we were quickly seated between a large fountain and a side garden. I immediately started snapping photos. I had been there years before, and it was just as I remembered it.
Before we could even crack open our menus, there was a rustle in the greenery next to our table. Two huge rats — we are talking the size of black cats — scurried through the side garden by our feet.
Judy screamed like the woman she is. I jumped up, almost upsetting the wrought-iron table. Karen just looked at us like we were crazy because she didn’t see the varmints.
Our waiter stopped over to see what all the fuss was about. I — much too loudly — exclaimed, “There are rats in the bushes! Rats? Does that usually happen?”
He was smart enough not to answer that question and simply said, “You’ll have to speak to the manager. Shall I move you to a table at the center of the restaurant?”
And the funniest part of the story is, he did. We were re-seated. We ate there anyway. Because…it’s the city. It’s an outdoor restaurant. And it’s probably not that surprising that a critter or two strolls by now and then.
But…I ate veggie that night.
Coincidence? I think not.
Posted in Foods, Humor, Sports, Travel
Tagged Court of Two Sisters, French Quarter, Monday Night Football, New Orleans, rats, Southern hospitality, World Series
I’m headed to New Orleans tomorrow on business, and I’m pretty excited. To be there on Halloween could be the freakiest thing ever.
I mean, I don’t think that the creator of ‘True Blood’ simply imagined all that stuff. I’ve been to New Orleans before, and there’s a mystical quality about the city that makes you think it’s perfectly feasible that vampires and shape shifters walk amongst us.
I’ll be disappointed if they don’t.
What I do think the series ‘True Blood’ and the movie ‘Twilight’ misrepresent is how good looking the undead would be (or are, if you accept that they are real). As I mentioned, I’ve been to New Orleans before; I didn’t see anyone like Robert Pattinson or Stephen Meyer or Alexander Skarsgård in the French Quarter. Most of the people I’ve seen in the past have eaten a few too many beignets or are weaving from the effects of a hurricane or two.
(As we all know, vampires can handle their drink.)
Of course, the last time I was in New Orleans, I wasn’t on the lookout for the undead, either. That was a time “B.C.” (before Cullen). Now, after having seen both seasons of ‘True Blood’ and having read and seen ‘Twilight’ more times than any woman my age should admit, I know what to look for:
As I mentioned, I am on business in New Orleans, so I will have to fit in my study of the undead after my conference work. But, who knows? That just might be the best place to start looking.
Bwha ha ha ha…
Posted in Holiday, Humor, Movies, Television, Travel
Tagged Alexander Skarsgard, beignets, French Quarter, Halloween, New Orleans, Robert Pattinson, shape shifters, Stephen Meyer, True Blood, vampires
