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Good Morning!!
Coffee anyone? Good, hot and made with freshly ground coffeebeans - is that one word or two? Oh no, Steve will be after me if it is wrong!! My friend Carol in Hawaii keeps me well supplied with Kona coffee so that is what Sister MM is serving this morning!! Now if I had any ambition, I would have made something wonderful to go with it. But cinnamon-raisin bread from Panera’s will have to suffice!!
Since it is the weekend, I figure not much point to getting into anything really important or heavy or political or my usual rants; so today will focus on wherever my mind takes me. Anyone OLD enough to remember an exercise called taking your pencil for a walk--well that is kinda how my mind works.
25 not so spring-like degrees right now--but lots of bright sunshine and blue sky so one gets the illusion it is a lot nicer out there than it really is--combined with Hawaiian coffee, I can almost imagine myself on the lanai in Lanikai. Almost people, not completely!! But come August, I will be there for three wonderful weeks. Cannot wait!!
However, the Goldfinches are flocking the feeders and their feathers are definitely showing more yellow than olive green so that has to be a good sign!! Amazing how the birdsongs change this time of year. They sing year round but today it is a cheery, spring sort of sound. Perhaps they know something we don’t!
Kate, I noticed on your page that you have pictures of New Orleans. We are going there for a week--leaving Sunday next (Easter Sunday morning) and coming back the following Sunday. Anyone have any suggestions? Seems as though all of our friends, well the ones we play with anyway, have spent all or most of the winter months in places other than New England, so decided we deserved a week away. Maybe when we really retire and are as old as our friends (LOL) we will stay away longer, but for now this will have to do. I have never been to NO and am so looking forward to it. Joe has been there on business I guess. I have been getting suggestions from lots of people and am keeping a list. We are staying at the Hilton-New Orleans Riverside right on the edge (I think) of the French Quarter and with a walk through into Harrah’s. There is a method to my madness!! My husband is one of those who MUST go to the Health Club every day so while he is doing his thing, I shall be doing mine...at the Casino! It will be new and different and most importantly, should be warm!!
OK, have I bored you all thoroughly yet? I hope not. What’s on for the weekend? Today I should be home cleaning my house, but am thinking it might be more fun to shop for a new outfit (or 3) for our trip. Tonight going to dinner with two of our favorite people (who just returned from 3 months away) and then tomorrow somehow I managed to agree to co-host.co-sponsor a reception for Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, our rep for the 5th Congressional District. Don’t ask me why I get into these things, I just do. “Just a girl who can’t say no...” 
Time to read the paper so will end this. I do want to say thank you for the comments you left yesterday. I do appreciate it. Tomorrow I might have something marginally more interesting than today. I’ll try!! Maybe I will be able to discuss - calmly and rationally - the latest on the newest Senator from Massachusetts, the gutless wonder, Scott Brown. I did have some high hopes for him as did so many people who actually bought into his ‘aw shucks, I’m really just an independent who happens to be a registered Republican’ bullcrap. And have you heard--he has sent out fundraising letters asking--no begging - for money cause Rachel Maddow is running against him. Only hitch in that plan is that she is NOT RUNNING FOR ANYTHING. OK, enough for now, I said calmly and rationally so will table this for today....
Another cup anyone??
Ciao!!
Well hello Cyn! Glad to see someone is doing something on here! I don’t even stop in and check anymore haha. I check her tweets on here if I don’t have time to log in twitter or can’t get on the page (like now, it won’t load?) to see if she has anything to say that she hasn’t last time we spoke lol. Look forward to reading what you have to say!
I am seriously going to be JEALOUS when you leave for New Orleans, Sister! If I was going…
Well, of course there’s Cafe du Monde where one eats powdered beignets and drinks chicory laced coffee. An Absolute Must.
Ohmigod, can I go with???
Good idea to bring home some Cafe du Monde beignet mix to whip up when you’re missing the place like crazy during our next spring snowstorm. And you will.
The nearby open air market is pretty impressive. The fresh stuff there is eminently munchable while walking about. The fresh fruit especially. Best fresh pear I have ever eaten in my life.
Pat O’Briens, definitely, for the Hurricanes. It’s tourist tradition. And makes the locals either laugh or sneer atcha. Just makes you veery happy, however.
Try to find the most hole in the wall courtyard dining that you can find (ask French Quarter shopkeepers for ideas)...the freshly made Cajun gumbos will astonish you, make you weep with joy and gratitude.
You oughta do a things-that-go-bump-in-the-night tour. And check out at least one of the above ground cemeteries. Lafayette Cemetery #1 is the oldest, I think, over in the Garden District. It’s a miniature City of the Dead with little avenues lined with tombs and trees. it’s actually quite lovely and fascinating.
Right cross the street, from Lafayette Cemetery #1, is Commander’s Palace, one of the finest dining experiences in just about anywhere. Lunch is slightly more informal and you might be able to get in without a reservation (we did), but reservations are required for dinner and so are jackets, It’s an adventure in exquisite dining. Rebuilt from the studs in (and kitchen upgraded) after Katrina, they say it is better than ever. Emeril got his executive start there and brought Commander’s gloriously sailing to the edge of the 21st century. Owned by the Brennan Family.
If I think of more, I’ll jot it down. I hope you love it as much as I do. It’s an ideal place just to walk around, look at everything, and soak in the ambiance. It’s a special, magical place.
Yup, J, Kate graciously invited me to muck up her - up until I showed up- intelligent, witty, insightful blog. It will go to hell quickly now that she is letting me play!! But like you I miss her terribly and so maybe this will do the trick!
Kate, you are the best, sure come along the more the merrier!! ....thank you for all these suggestions, have printed them out. Not one person I have talked to has had anything negative to say. Everyone wants to come!! I have a feeling it is the kind of place it would be fun to go with a group of friends! I just know I am going to love it and will share all my experiences..........and we all know I will have a few!! either from there if I buy a netbook before we go or if I decide to bite the bullet and bring the laptop from here - it is big though and heavy so am thinking I will get a mini.
A stroll through the Garden District, before or after lunch at Commander’s Palace, would be enjoyable. Take the St. Charles streetcar (not named Desire) from the French Quarter. One of the best-known cemeteries in the city is right across the street from the restaurant as well.