New Orleans -- Art

In addition to food and music, we also did some art browsing and, in the end, shopping. We love wandering around the French Quarter looking into all the art shops and chatting about what we see with the artists and/or shop owners. We did some of our usual stops, going in to see the works of Michalopolous and Dean Mitchell (both of whom we own works of).

But the revelations, as always, were in seeing new artists. One we say, loved, but did not purchase was a fellow named Peter O'Neill, who has just opened a one-person shop at the farther end of Royal St. He does a lot of mass marketing, selling his originals in glicee reproductions, which is something we aren't overwhlemed by, but his originals are just stunning. Here is one of his new pieces, called "Herald Square" that is a cool rendition of a New York City snow storm.



We also loved a number of his New Orleans based pieces, many of which were based on working man stuff -- there was a wonderful oil of a sous chef preparing a plate for serving.

We were thinking of buying one of his paintings, but in the end we didn't because we saw something we liked better -- a post-Impressionist French painting by Marcel Belle called "La Bateau Lavoir a Paris." The painting depicts a laundry boat on the Sienne from the time of the Paris Exposition in 1937. It just drew us in and we loved it, so "La Bateau" will be coming home with us to Washington, after the exhibition at the Mann Gallery, of which it is part of opens later in October. Here is the image of the painting:

NO Dining -- Great New Finds and Some Disappointments

This may be the first time we have come to this city without indulging in the traditional crawfish étouffé or jambalaya. Instead we decided to search out some of the more recent NO cuisine. One general comment about food in NO: it is heavy, sugar-filled and served in large portions, all of which accounts for the epidemic of obesity on display here this weekend.

We visited some old haunts, too, starting with the Central Grocery (see Roadfood site for more info) for the best muffaletta sandwich on the planet. We are not sure what their secret is since the sandwiches are made behind a wall and no customers or cameras are permitted to go there. As good as the sandwiches are, they sat heavily on our old stomachs for the rest of the day, forcing us to take a nap. ;-)

We also revisited Cafe Beignet on Royal, the site of previous early morning, post-walk stops. With croissants that were really croissant-shaped Parker House dinner rolls and orange juice that contained almost no real juice, that experience was a disappointment, and we will likely cross Cafe Beignet off our dining list for the future. There are plenty of other cafe options in the French Quarter. Though, the best we found was Starbucks -- alas!

Before we came to NO, we made dinner reservations at a perennial favorite restaurant, Bayona. Sadly, this was not our best experience there. The food good, but not outstanding (Paul had a tasty stuffed crab appetizer and an okay pork chop, and Katy had a decent salad and interesting Rabbit entree). The real problem was the slowness of the service. We had 8pm reservations with the hope of being out by at least 9:30 to get to the 9:00 show (late) at Tipitina's, for which we had tickets. As it turned out, we did not get done with our meal until 10:20. It took them 1 hour 10 minutes from the time we ordered to get our entree out. Not sure what the problem was. They were pretty full, as they always are, but they should be organized enough to get food out timely. Of course, by the end of the meat we were too frustrated and tired to wend our way over to Tip's to catch what little might be left of the show. So we missed it.

So much for the old standards. Among the new places we tried, there were some winners and some losers. The losers included the dining room at Snug Harbor. We thought it would be convenient to eat there before the Ellis Marsallis show because there are not many dining options in that area of town. We would not go back. Katy had ordinary fried shrimp of the kind you can find at any cheap restaurant. Paul went for the blackened fish and got blackened hockey puck.

Another so-so choice was Oceana for breakfast -- "Petunia's Breakfast." Its fare is billed as a traditional southern breakfast. Paul, for example, had "Maw-Maw's Cajun Breakfast," which was basically jambalaya with eggs and bacon instead of andouile sausage and chicken. Here is where you really saw the excess portions and heavy food! I think we left behind at least half of what we were served. It may be worth the experience, but only once.

The real treats and finds in New Orleans were Lilette and Le Foret two relatively new restaurants, one just outside the Quarter and the other in the Uptown District. These we will definitely return to at the first opportunity.

Lilette:

A search of Time-Picayune restaurant articles brought my attention to Lilette, which is on Magazine Street in the Uptown area - a trendy area with plenty of art galleries, shops and other restaurants and some great examples of NO architecture. Lillete can be reached via the St. Charles St. streetcar (get off at Antoine St. and go a few blocks south) or by taxi from the Quarter. Since it is closed on Sunday, the only opportunity for a dining foray there was lunch on Saturday. Even so, it was packed. It is clearly a local favorite. The dining was leisurely - no rushing to get you out even on a Saturday when they were turning people away -- and the service great. While we had only luncheon food, its quality portends great dinner fare as well. The food was flavorful, well prepared and in right-sized portions. Katy had an arugula salad and a delicious duck confit with grilled pears from the appetizer menu for her main course, making a thoroughly satisfying lunch. Paul had a half dozen exquisite oysters followed by a chicken salad that contained, among other things, port-infused figs, which he loved.

Le Foret

At the recommendation of a helpful sales representative the Mann Gallery in the Quarter, who declared that the food was so good it brought tears to her eyes, we made reservations for Sunday dinner at Le Foret. While we are not given to easy crying, Paul did nearly swoon at the lobster cappuccino soup he had for an appetizer! The restaurant is located on Camp St. just across from the Sheraton Hotel on Canal, and it has only been open for 10 months. On Sunday it was almost empty. Being so close to the Quarter, at this point Le Foret must predominantly rely on tourists or business men and women for its clientele and Sunday is, of course, a slow day for both.

The meal began Le Foret with a number of ameuses bouches, each a taste treat. The bread was freshly made. Katy had a delicious leek salad, sadly without the Gorgonzola dulce that usually accompanies this Delicious salad (lactose intolerance), and Paul had the aforementioned lobster soup. When we recovered from that we were brought our entrees. Katy had a filet mignon with truffle sabayon, accompanied by potatoes and kale, and Paul quickly devoured his red snapper accompanied by spinach with raisins (a really nice touch) -- all in all, simple flavors, deliciously cooked.

Finally, we returned home on Monday for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and left over pizza dinner -- cuisine ala Kunzweig!

New Orleans -- The Music

We come to New Orleans for two reasons -- the food and the music. [Actually, we also come for the art and just to get away ....]. In this post, we wanted to talk about the music we have heard on this trip:

Ellis Marsalis Trio -- We started off Friday night with the early show at Snug Harbor. Snug Harbor, as the name implies, is a tiny little bandbox of a jazz room. The entire place fits maybe 75 people in a room the size of a small living room (with a balcony above). It defines the intimate setting and it is the home to some fantastic jazz. We were seated 10 feet from the stage to hear the Ellis Marsalis trio. Ellis Marsalis is both literally and figuratively the "father of New Orleans jazz." Figuratively because his music captures the heart of classic New Orleans style rhythms and literally because 4 of his sons (Wynton, Branford, Delfayo and Jason) have followed in his footsteps and play magnificent music.

Ellis played a great set filled with everything from a cover of "These are a Few of My Favorite Things" (from the Sound of Music) that reminded us of the great Coltrane cover of the same song, to two tunes from his recent homage to Thelonius Monk, including our favorite "Straight, No Chaser." Combined with his own compositions the result was a quiet excellence that just uplifited you. His backups were well up to the task, especially the drummer (whose name we did not catch) who played most of the set with his eyes closed -- feeling the music rather than seeing it. On the whole, the experience was near magic.

New Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band -- The Marsalis set ended early enough that we still had some time on our hands. So coming home, we stopped at the Preservation Hall. Katy had never heard them. There we got a nice one-set dose of classic dixieland jazz. The clarinetist had great style and the trombonist was a showman. The band played some old gospel, some swing and ended the evening with the classic "When the Saints." We wouldn't say the music was as technically fine as Ellis Marsalis -- but anyone who can hear the "Saints" and not walk out of the room smiling has no musical soul.

Jeremy Davenport -- Davenport headlines the music at the Davenport Lounge in the Ritz-Carlton. We had been planning to go to Tipitina's Uptown for music Saturday night, but dinner ran late and we didn't want to schlep all the way out to the Uptown area, so on a lark we stopped in the lounge. It's a classic New Orleans hotel lounge -- comfy chairs and expensive drinks. Davenport was backed by a 4-piece combo and they played alot of swing era and Brat Pack type favorites. It was well styled and many folks got up to dance, but Davenport's voice wasn't up to the lyrics. On the whole a "B" at best -- not bad but not music to die for.

The James River Movement -- For Sunday Jazz Brunch, we stayed at or hotel (The Roosevelt) for brunch in the Blue Room. What a fun time! The music itself was pretty good -- not great but pretty good. They played the classics including Fats Domino's "Blue Monday" and some downriver Blues (as well as the "Saints," of course). And the lead player had a neat way of playing -- for example, his harmonica was hooked to his flute, so he could switch between the two instruments seamlessly.

But what made the music was the crowd. On one side of the room there must have been 50 people there to celebrate Alysha's birthday (we know her name because we all sang for her). Alysha turned 80 recently and most of the other guests were her contemporary septuagenarians.

And boy were they having a great time. When the band played a tune they knew, they sang along. When he started to play the Blues, they waved their napkins in the air. And to top it off, the whole lot of them got up and danced a "second line" on the dance floor, led by the birthday girl. It was so exuberant and joyous that you couldn't help but smile -- and we smiled so much that our smile muscles hurt. All of which goes to show that music is about more than the notes on the page -- its about the emotions and pleasures it stirs in the heart. I hope that when I turn 80 I can have as much joy in my life.

Music is part of what makes New Orleans the place it is. Usually, we come down during JazzFest and get overwhelmed. This time, we heard some great stuff and still had time just to hang out.

New Orleans Craziness

Here we are in New Orleans for a little retreat -- really just to enjoy some good music, good art and good food over a long weekend. New Orleans is a frequent site of our adventures over the years, but it never ceases to amaze! In addition to the usual craziness, already, we have spotted three interesting "celebrations" occurring this weekend:

• The Half Way to St. Patrick's Day celebration, featuring a parade with floats, the tossing of green beads and a lot of drunk Irish (or those just pretending to be Irish, but nonetheless wearing green shirts).
• The 61st annual anniversary commemoration of the "Stormin' of the Sazerac -- a seige of women on the Sazerac Bar to demand to be allowed to drink without being accompanied by a male escort." The "protest march" was successful and for the first time in the city women were served alcohol without having to drag some poor guy along. And so, we saw 200+ women dressed ala the 1940's with great, funny feathered hats at an all afternoon drinking fest at the Sazerac, which is in the lobby of our hotel, the Roosevelt.
• Our hotel is also hosting a conclave of weirdos: the Grand Masquerade of Darkness. It seems that most of the guests in the hotel are participating. They are fans of a series of role playing games, novels and some cult TV show and they are engaged in a grand weekend-long role playing game at the hotel, wearing special badges and dressed in character. There are many piercings, tatoos, overweight nerds and a lot of black. Creepy!

Paul and I may be the only normal folks in town!! But, since this is New Orleans, the home of voodoo, etc., we are perhaps considered abnormal!

Off to New Orleans

A short weekend getaway to New Orleans, using some free tickets on Southwest [boo hiss -- the tickets expire if you don't use them after just 1 year]. We're staying at the newly refurbished Roosevelt Hotel which looks like a keeper -- lush lobby; rooftop pool; and steps from the French Quarter.

More later as we enjoy the city.

Earl's Refugees

And so, we left Hatteras, forced out by Hurricane Earl. As you can see, the line of cars was long, but it moved relatively steadily.

Still, departing the beach early was a pretty depressing event. A 7-day vacation cut in half is not a formula for joy.

And so, the family voted to continue the vacation. Nobody wanted to go home early, so we headed off toward Raleigh, NC. Along the way we stopped for lunch at a local diner, and broke out the laptop. It's amazing what you can do with WiFi. With the help of our handy-dandy search engines, we found a hotel in Raleigh that seemed to be what we wanted -- it had a swimming pool.

We arrived late Wednesday night exhausted and hungry. Fortunately there was a "Caribbean Breeze (?)" restaurant across the parking lot and soon we were all drinking fruity drink (with alcohol to ease the pain for the adults).

The next day we voted with our feet and sat by the pool all day. I have to say that the staff were quite kind to us. Despite clear rule against eating or drinking by the pool they politely looked the other way as we had lunch. We even set up the bags game on a small patch of grass by the parking lot. It wasn't the beach, but it was OK.

That evening we went to see the Durham Bulls play -- a AAA farm team of the Tampa Rays. The Bulls became famous because of the movie with Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon and the stadium was just perfect. It sat about 9,000 I'd guess; with entertainment every half inning on the field -- contests and stunts and the like. We got seats in the 2nd row out in right field and had a blast.


The next day, our last in Raleigh, saw everyone sleep in late. But in the afternoon, we headed off to Frankie's Fun Park where we had a pleasant afternoon playing Putt-Putt golf, racing go carts and, as you can see, playing blaster boats and squirting each other. As Katy says, it seemed to lift everyone's mood a bit.

And so the saga ends, not with a bang but with a whimper. Traditionally, down in Hatteras we end the vacation with breakfast together at Sonny's. Well, there was no Sonny's in Raleigh, but we did find Cortney's which was almost as good. A big breakfast sent everyone scattering for home on a full stomach.

I know one thing though -- the Kunzer/Rosenzweig/Blenner clan will NOT be defeated. Next year we are going back to Hatteras and we double-dog-dare Earl to come back and join us.

A New Family Tradition

We started a new family tradition down at the beach this year -- the game of "Bags", also known as "Corn Hole." Believe it or not there is actually an American Corn Hole Association that is dedicated to the promotion of the game. In essence you toss a bean bag (filled with corn -- hence the name) at a board with a hole on it. Each team throws 4 bags per round. A bag in the hole is worth 3 points; one on the board is worth 1 point. In each inning the team with the most points scores the difference (so if we have 4 points and you have 3 points, we get 1 point). First team to 21 wins. Throw alternates from side to side. Here Aaron and Mike are competing against Pete and Joshua. It's a fun game -- good for beer drinking and for talking smack to your opponents.

A Short Hatteras Vacation

Well, the first three days of the vacation were absolutely stunning. A large fraction of the family got together -- Katy & Paul; Mike & Debbie plus their 4 boys (our grandsons, Aaron, Ryan, Josh & Kyle); Pete & Linda and their grandson CJ; plus for a special appearance, Katy's other brother, John.

On Sunday-Tuesday the weather was simply sublime. Temperatures in the mid-80s and a nice breeze. The waves were rough on Sunday, but we had a couple of days of great swimming weather. As usual, we spent the days doing a whole lot of nothing! Sitting on the beach, swimming, reading, drinking beer and chatting. Evenings were likewise filled with alot of very exhausting stuff like eating and having a glass of wine and swimming in the pool. We go every year to recharge the batteries.

The roof fell in on Wednesday morning. With Earl threatening, Dare County ordered a mandatory evacuation. We had 3 hour to pack up and leave. We found a moment to take the traditional family photo (above) and, as you can see, when we left the weather was still perfect.

All of us were pretty disappointed to leave. And in the end, it probably wasn't necessary -- Earl turned and passed off shore at Force 2. The electricity never stopped and though the roads flooded on Friday, by Saturday they were cleared and reopened. Had we been allowed to stay we could have hunkered down for 24 hours and watched movies. But of course if we had stayed, Earl would have stayed a Force 4 and never turned -- boy that would have been a challenge!

And so, on Wednesday we evacuated. Unwilling to give up the vacation, we headed to Raleigh, where we became Earl Refugees.

Advertures with Kids -- Orlando and Montreal

Paul and I had the pleasure to accompany our grandchildren and a niece on two separate, kid-centered trips this August. The first excursion was to join our son, Mike and his wife, Deb and their four boys for part of their week-long, once-in-a-lifetime vacation to the Orlando area. The second was a belated bat mitzvah gift for our niece Olivia, taking her for a long weekend to Montreal, Canada. Here are some observations about these two disparate adventures.

Orlando and Its Environs

Mike and Deb chose a great alternative to staying in one of the zillions of expensive hotels in the area – a vacation home rental in Kissimmee. The house belongs to a former colleague of mine and is offered out for rental most of the year. It had 6 bedrooms, four baths, a well-stocked kitchen and, best of all, a screened in swimming pool.

We visited both The Magic Kingdom and Epcot with the kids. TMK has lost much of its sparkle and relevance (for me as well as the kids) since the days of my youth when I first visited Disneyland in California. The Disney of Cinderella is no longer, but the park still reflects that older era. Alas, the iconic “It’s a Small World” ride still exists but was closed for remodeling. My grandchildren , however, had never even heard of It’s a Small World (“--after all. It’s a small, small world”). So, they were not disappointed. In general the verdict of the grandkids was that the Disney rides (which never was what TMK was about) cannot compete with the thrills of Kings Dominion or Six Flags.

Epcot had more appeal, with plenty of hands-on activities and its focus on science, technology and the future. The kids very much enjoyed it and the Epcot rides, particularly the auto test track ride and the astronaut training ride – less like roller coasters and more like imitating the real experience. Epcot also features a sampling of cultures around the world – mini villages with restaurants, music and shops in the style of Germany, Mexico, Morocco, Japan, Italy, among others . Admittedly, this is a western, developed country view of the world so hardly representative, but the kids enjoyed it. They particularly grooved on the Japanese drummers. When polled, the grandkids voted that, they likely would not go back to TMK itself, but would go to Epcot again.

A couple of final notes on Disney:

• The food leaves a lot to be desired. The options are either cheap, unhealthy fast food or expensive, themed restaurants. In general, these higher end restaurants were not great value for the money. We ate at the Italian and Moroccan restaurants at Epcot. The food was modest to say the least, and our grandson Ryan spent the night barfing after the Moroccan meal.
• For what it is worth, the Florida TMK was much cleaner and more inviting than EuroDisney, which we visited just last year.

On our last day in Orlando we visited an outrageously expensive water park ($47 a head). All that to spend a day in the rain and stand around in long lines (typically ½ hr to 1 hr.) to ride the various water slides. Definitely a loser!

Some of the best experiences for Mike, Deb and the boys occurred before we joined them in Florida. The biggest hits of other the sights seen were reported to be Cape Canaveral and the Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios. Despite hours and hours of lines, the boys, who grew up on Harry Potter, were ecstatic about Hogworts, Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. Their only complaint was that they wanted to make it less about rides and more about recreating the wizarding world experience so they could roam around in it, just living the life of Harry.

Montreal

We stayed with our niece in the Latin Quarter, which is in walking distance of the old section of Montreal, which dates back to the 1600s, and is conveniently accessible to the rest of the city by the subway. The Latin Quarter is funky, kind of like a slightly less-down-at-the-heels version of Adams Morgan (as a frame of reference for those familiar with DC). It had lots of restaurants, music, off-beat shops and late night activity, and it is frequented by new agers, goth-types and aging hippies, as well as by a cross section of typical Montrealites. Our hotel was Le Relais Lyonaise. It was a nice place, small (only 7 rooms/suites) with a very friendly and helpful staff. That said, it was hard to understand how the Lyonaise was ranked the No. 1 hotel for the city on Trip Advisor or how it rated the 4 stars granted to it by the Montreal Tourist Bureau. Says something about the competition, I guess.

Left to our own devices Paul and I would have shopped, visited old sites and museums and had leisurely dinners. There was plenty of all of that in the city. Our niece, is 14, however, and we were challenged to find activities that would interest her. Here is what we chose:

]- An air-boat ride on the St. Laurence River. The ride took us through some of the rapids upstream from the city in such a way that we were frequently swamped by large waves. It was a fun, but wet ride. Fortunately, they provided warm sweaters and water proof ponchos, shoes and coveralls. It was a hit, though pricey ($60 in Canadian loonies per person).

The Labyrinth. We were early for the boat ride so we killed and hour and a half going through a giant labyrinth in an old warehouse next to the boat dock. There were puzzles that we had to solve along the way. Great fun. Though, Paul and I proved less adept at navigating the maze and solving the puzzles than our niece, who finished 45 minutes ahead of us and got all the clues right (we only got half right). The Labyrinth (http://www.labyrintheduhangar16.com/en/) is apparently a perennial event from mid-May to Halloween and is different each year. Rates for a family of 3 were $34.50 loonies.

Festiblues. This is Montreal’s annual blues festival held at Ahuntsic Park. We went on Saturday, the penultimate day of the fest, and heard some interesting music from Nina Attal of France, Diunna Greenleaf from Texas and a Quebecois group that was slightly more rock, covering among other songs,” Johnny B Goode”. All in all, it was a great way to spend an evening, and it was a hit with the niece.

Drumming in the park. In yet another park every Sunday a group of musicians gather and, in ad hoc, volunteer fashion play drums – mostly “tom-toms” but also a flute and other percussion instruments. It was wild. The participants ranged from very aging hippies and new agers to the button-down types, but more of the former. Young women danced to the music for the crowd. This is a must see if you find yourself in Montreal in decent weather and have no plans for a Sunday afternoon.

Bikes. A cool feature of Montreal is that there are bikes available to rent from bike racks on the street every couple of blocks in the city. You can get a pass for 24 hours for a nominal sum ($5 US). That permits you take bikes in and out of any of the racks for use and, so long as you return them to another rack somewhere in the city within a half hour, there are no additional costs. Beyond the half hour there is a small charge per additional half hour. There are great bike lanes, separated from traffic, all over the core of the city. So, it was a great way to get around -- cheaper and more accessible than the rarely seen taxis. Two caveats: you will likely do this without the protection of a bike helmet unless you generally pack one; and you must be sure to really shove your bike into the return rack so that it registers the return or you will incur additional charges until someone else takes the bike out. (Something Katy learned when her credit card bill came.)

The bottom line – Paul and Katy would really love to return to this city on their own to do more eating and explore the non-kid stuff like art galleries and museums that we missed.

Escaping Earl -- The Adventure Continues

Well, so much for a week-long beach vacation at the Outer Banks! We were mandatorily evacuated yesterday. We got the notice at 9:30 AM and we were supposed to be out by 12:30 PM. We didn't quite make it but by 1 PM we were on the road. Traffic ran smoothly until we hit the Pea Island Reserve where a large water flow slowed traffic to a crawl.

The family decided not to go home. Instead, we've escaped to Raleigh, NC where we will stay until Saturday so that we don't "end the vacation early." Suggestions for things to do and see in Raleigh are most welcome.