FAST TIMES IN NOLA

Dear George, 

 It felt like ages since we’d been to New Orleans to visit our family (i.e., before the pandemic), so our recent trip was very special. Here are some photos that capture the highlights. 

Love, 

Dave

J and K recently bought a spacious new house in Uptown, close to Tulane University, Audubon Park, the kids’ school, and an excellent restaurant strip on Freret St. All our family members are overjoyed with their new home.

Katja and I enjoyed eating at Dat Dog on Freret St. which has the best frankfurters, bratwursts, and alligator sausages we’ve ever tasted. We went once, and then Katja treated the whole family there for a second visit.

We went to see the Queen Nefertari’s Egypt exhibit at the New Orleans Art Museum in City Park. A trip to ancient times. In front: L, A, J, Katja. In back: Ted, K’s dad.

Then we went next door and visited the Bischoff Sculpture Garden, our favorite outdoor place in New Orleans. The Sculpture Garden has recently doubled in size.

Getting beignets at Cafe du Monde in City Park is a lot easier than in the tourist-crowded French Quarter location.

We missed Iko a lot, but his little brother Lil Paws was just as much fun.

Here is our group enjoying dinner at the chic Israeli restaurant, Saba. I had Harissa roasted chicken, and Katja had lamb kofta. From the left: Katja, A, K, L, J.

On Sunday we picnicked at Audubon Park, famed for its live oaks. J and L practiced distance running, in preparation for the upcoming Crescent City race.

Monday J took us on a trip to Biloxi and to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where we visited the wonderful Walter Anderson Museum and the Shearwater Pottery.

Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter is one of our favorite oyster places.

Katja and I went to the Historic Orleans Collection in the French Quarter where they were featuring a “Streetcar Named Desire” exhibition.

We lunched at Pesch in the Arts District, A stranger asked Katja if she could take her picture because she looked so pretty in her outfit.

We loved the paintings of Luis Cruz Azaceta at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

J and K took us to the concert by Louisiana Philharmonic cellists and dancers at the Marigny Opera House.  Eight cellists, no less.

On Thursday St. Andrews Episcopal School had Grandparents Day. These are the seventh graders, including A and L, performing a song with the bells. We were very impressed with the school and our grandkids’ accomplishments.

Katja and I enjoyed our annual oyster lunch at Desire in the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street.

On our last day we had a family brunch at the Ruby Slipper in the Marigny. That’s J, L, and Jayme, K’s sister who arrived from California. J’s artwork is on the rear wall at the right.

Our last big outing was to the Audubon Aquarium. A very attractive facility with many interesting fishies.

It looks like we needed a nap by the end of the trip.

OLDIES ON THE ROAD

 

Dear George, 

Katja and I are just back from a memorable family visit in New Orleans. We hadn’t been on an airplane since before the the pandemic began, so it was more eventful than usual. I think our traveling skills have gotten rusty since we had a rocky journey. We left for the airport about 30 minutes later than I’d planned, and I was annoyed to find that the daily charge for long-term parking had increased from $7 to $11. We took the shuttle bus to the airport terminal and got in the TSA security line. I’d printed out our boarding passes at home so I gave Katja hers. The line was pretty long, and, when we’d gotten about halfway through, I suggested that we get our driver’s licenses out. Much to her consternation, Katja couldn’t find hers. She looked through her purse, her wallet, and her pockets. It was baffling because she had checked in the car to make sure she had it. I looked through her purse and wallet too, but with no luck. Deciding that she must have left it in the car, we got out of the security line and began to head back to the shuttle bus — a perilous choice since we didn’t have surplus time. However, an airport employee was standing nearby, and I explained our dilemma to him. He said that we could get through security with credit cards or similar I.D. with Katja’s name on it and advised us to go back into the line. 

The security line was a bit longer the second time around. When we got halfway through I suggested that we get out our boarding passes. Katja looked in her purse, but she couldn’t find her boarding pass there, and it wasn’t in her pockets either. I looked in her purse too. No luck. This was crazy — she had just had the boarding pass in her hand ten minutes before. We knew that they could print out boarding passes at the ticket counter for a $5 fee, so I suggested that Katja go back there while I stayed in the line. She said she would call me on her cell phone when she got the new boarding pass. 

Going through the security check I failed to take my cell phone out of my pocket and set off the alarm bells, so the guy had to give me a full-body putdown. Then I got confused and left my carry-on bag on the conveyor belt until a TSA lady pointed out that the purple bag was mine. At first I thought it wasn’t but the tag had my name on it. In the meantime I hadn’t heard from Katja, and I was getting worried about the time. It was a long walk to our departure gate, the very last one in the terminal. I explained to the airline representative at the check-in counter that my wife had had to go back and get a new boarding pass and that I was worried about her getting back in time. He said that the airplane door would close in exactly twenty minutes and there were no exceptions. If she didn’t make it back by then, we would have to reschedule. Their next flight to New Orleans was in three days. 

I got more anxious by the minute, but Katja did finally make it with seven minutes to spare. All the other patrons had boarded at least fifteen minutes earlier. We breathed a sigh of relief and took our seats. Katja said she had intended to call me, but she hadn’t been able to find her cell phone. Apparently she had left it in the car. A few minutes later she opened up the paperback book she had brought along to read. Much to our surprise, there was the original boarding pass that she’d lost. 

Our New Orleans visit was thoroughly enjoyable and proceeded without incident. We worried a bit about our return flight since Katja still lacked a photo I.D. However, since they’d accepted other forms of I.D. in Cincinnati, it seemed sensible that they’d do the same in New Orleans. That wasn’t exactly true. We went through the security line in the New Orleans airport, and Katja explained to the TSA official that she had left her driver’s license in our car in Cincinnati and only had other forms of I.D. She gave the man her Medicare card, her covid vaccination card, her American Express card, and her Macy’s credit card. The man, however, said these weren’t adequate because none of them listed her home address. Katja carries dozens of cards in her purse. She started going through them, and the TSA official started looking through her wallet too. None of the cards had a home address. Then, suddenly, the TSA man said, “Well, here’s a surprise.” He held up Katja’s driver’s license which he’d found in one of the deeper pockets of her wallet. Problem solved. 

Our 8:37 p.m.flight to Cincinnati was delayed 45 minutes for unknown reasons. Then, once we boarded the plane, we sat on the ground for another two hours, waiting for a worker to replace a filter in the rear lavatory sink. We arrived in Cincinnati about 3 a.m. I had some trouble with the automated checkout system at the long-term parking lot, but a human voice eventually came on an intercom and guided us through it. A thirty minute drive to home. We slept till noon the next day. Our air travel had its ups and downs, but I have nothing but happy memories of being in New Orleans. 

Love, 

Dave