Life with Dee

Creating a beautiful life...

Pirates and Wenches

By 2 Comments

I’m still processing and recovering from our trip to New Orleans but I just had to share a few pirate pictures. I can honestly say these are some of the best people on the planet. Even if they are a bit crazy. Or maybe because of it. But truly, I cannot imagine a better group of folks. Kind, generous, and heaps of fun.
We had a lovely pirate dinner one evening, attended by over 50 pirates. It was a gorgeous venue with views of the river and the French Quarter. Here is our infamous “Pink Pirate” gazing out toward the river:
The infamous Pink Pirate
A little pre-dinner socializing on the veranda:
Mingling before the pirate dinner
One of the best parts about being a pirate/wench is getting to know people from all over the country. Captain Ron stumbled upon our humble “krewe” a couple of years ago as he set out on a road trip from his home in Florida. He had recently lost his beloved wife and we all gathered him to our collective bosom and adopted him as one of our own. On at least three or four nights, Ron, David and I hung out together until the wee hours of the morning when we’d finally end up at the Clover Grill for biscuits and gravy or whatever else sounded good at the time. Here are the two guys, affectionately known as Captain Smartass and Captain Ron:
Captain Smartass and Captain Ron
I love these guys…and this picture:
Some of my favorite pirates
(left to right: David, Ron, Papillon, and Jay)

Captain Ron brought with him what turned out to be the hit of the party – Pirate Dice. I love this picture. They may be using plastic cups for the game but notice most everyone is drinking from their own tankard. Aye, we be environmentally friendly pirates. I also like the way everyone has their weapons on the table. The best part is that the one woman playing won almost every game and earned her new name, “Lady Luck” (no, it wasn’t me). 
Put yer weapons where we can see 'em.
One of the fun things we did was to board the Natchez steamboat in full regalia for a 2 hour cruise on the Mississippi. The tourists didn’t know they’d be sharing the boat with dozens of pirates but we behaved admirably. Or at least as well as can be expected. 
The four day “Shore Leave” event also included a “Meet and Greet”, pirate trivia, bead tossing, silent auction (I’ll have to do another post with a picture of what David bought), pub crawl through the Quarter, and a crawfish boil at Turtle Bay on Sunday as we all sadly bid one another adieu. But plans for next year are already in the works! 

Frozen Music

By 2 Comments

“Architecture in general is frozen music.”
~Friedrich von Shelling~
I was one of those kids who drew house plans for fun. I remember a really cool one I designed which was centered around a courtyard. That was long before I knew anything about French Quarter courtyards which just might be evidence that I lived there in a previous life. If I believed in reincarnation. Which I don’t. Anyway, I was immediately captivated by the architecture of New Orleans on my first visit 30 years ago and I continue to enjoy it every time we are there. 
Here are a few pictures I took on my trip last week:
French Quarter – Love the balconies
In the Garden District – Note the Mardi Gras bunting.
Love the lush green landscaping!
Porch and shutters
Classic elegance
Wrought iron and palm trees
The Steamboat House
One of the Brad Pitt houses in the Ninth Ward
Halloween decorations on a Bourbon Street house
French Quarter courtyard – sigh…

My idea of the perfect “backyard”

I wonder if I can talk David into building me a courtyard-type enclosure in our backyard. With a hot tub and palm trees? Probably not…

Thank you, New Orleans!

By 2 Comments

Tomorrow morning my friend, Roz, and I will be taking a little road trip…to New Orleans! We’ve promised our families to consider “Thelma and Louise” a cautionary tale rather than a blueprint for our trip. 
Now, take a look at this weather forecast, would you?
Roz just happens to be one of my more sensible friends and therefore shares my love of warm weather. We are a couple of happy campers. Well, not real campers. She also shares my opinion of camping. We will be staying in a French Quarter condo, thank you very much. I don’t know how much blogging I’ll do while in NOLA but I’m sure there will be much to share when I get back. And perhaps a few things not to share. Ha!

Sackcloth and Ashes

By Leave a Comment

Photo by Cher Groves

The trip wasn’t nearly long enough but I’ll take what I can get. David and I took a short trip to New Orleans to help celebrate the 21st birthday of the daughter of dear friends. Jade is part of our NOLA Wenches group but until now she couldn’t enter many of the places we all went because she was under age. Over the years, we’ve all taken turns standing outside with her. But not anymore! 
We arrived on Thursday afternoon and checked into the Bourbon Orleans Hotel. Our room over-looked Bourbon Street. See those umbrellas? That’s the balcony of the Tropical Isle, where we have spent many a fun evening. 



We took a nap before the festivities and slept surprisingly well to the Bourbon Street lullaby outside our window. The first stop on the tour was Finnegan’s. When we walked into the courtyard, we were greeted with “Ohhh…klahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains!” sung spontaneously be some of our friends. Hugs and kisses all around. Gosh, I love these folks.
Here’s Jade, the birthday girl and her boyfriend, Parker:

Photo by Suzanne Grim

The invitation stated that the dress code was “BLING! Think Lady GaGa, disco balls, colors, Elton John…use your imagination.” If you’ve followed this blog awhile, you’ve seen some pictures of these friends in their pirate garb. What you probably don’t know is that most dress up in a variety of ways for various occasions. It seems many in New Orleans maintain pretty extensive costume collections. Because you never know when you might need to dress up for a party. Or because it’s Thursday and you want to have some fun.

The two in the picture below on either side of Jade are a couple of masters of costuming. Del, on the left, is dressed as “Fairy GaGa”. I didn’t capture a decent shot of it but at one point he had lit sparklers coming out of his, um, chest area. They made sure David, the firefighter, was nearby with a bottle of water and something to smother the fire if things got out of hand. Fortunately all went as planned. It was a short-lived bit of excitement but pretty impressive. You may not be able to tell from this photo but Beth, on the right, is Harry Potter and she had a pretty amazing handmade wand.



Photo by Suzanne Grim

Here’s a group shot taken in the courtyard of Finnegan’s. I’m in the very back, middle, with a lavender scarf. I’m balanced precariously on a rather rickety bench. You can just see the top of David’s head to my right (left, in the picture). Obviously he was *not* standing on a bench. 


Photo by Suzanne Grim
Here are the two of us, enjoying a fun evening in our favorite city with some of the best friends anyone could be blessed to have:
Photo by Suzanne Grim

Friday morning we checked out of our hotel and into our condo, La Belle Maison:




We had some time to kill between the hotel checkout and our condo check-in. Ken and Cubby called and asked if we wanted to catch the streetcar with them and head out to Cooter Brown’s for lunch. Well, of course. It was a gorgeous, sunny, absolutely perfect day. I always love to ride the streetcar, checking out the lovely homes in the Garden District. I snapped a few photos along the way but mostly just enjoyed the ride.






It was such a perfect day that we chose to eat out on the patio at Cooter Brown’s. We hadn’t eaten there before but the food was good and of course, the company was exceptional.

After a leisurely lunch, we all took the streetcar back to the Quarter. David and I got settled in our condo and rested a bit before meeting Ken and Cubby again. This time at Lafayette Square where they were holding the Seafood Festival. We watched Chef John Besh do a demonstration, enjoyed the music of Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and sampled some food. David was pretty taken with this:
Yes, that’s a fire truck with television screens mounted for football game viewing. Pretty cool, huh?
While hanging out at Lafayette Square we ran into our friend, Claudia who introduced us to her friend, Liz. We had a nice visit with them. One of the things I love about New Orleans is that we almost always run into someone we know. In many ways, it feels like a small town. A very cool, small town, though. 😉 
Before heading into the Quarter for the evening, we all stopped by our condo so I could grab a sweater. It gets COLD in some of the bars and I had nearly frozen the night before. The guys all seemed happy to sit and rest a bit before continuing the fun. 
We walked to the Tropical Isle where our friends, Bryan and Debi, have been performing for 19 years. 
After awhile, Jade and her family showed up and joined us for what I started to say was a memorable night. But in all honesty, there are some blank spots. When we went back the following night, Bryan called out from the stage, “Returning to the scene of the crime?” and then said they would talk to us during their next break and find out “what happened after midnight”. Um, I think we were all a little fuzzy on that. However, it was one heck of a fun night. 



We spent much of Saturday sleeping it off, er, *resting* then ventured out around 8 for dinner and back to “the scene of the crime” where we enjoyed a much quieter night of music and iced water. I think that’s the night we got beignets and cafĂ© au lait at CafĂ© Du Monde after the band finished playing. 
We spent Sunday in a leisurely fashion starting with lunch at The Ruby Slipper which is just across the street from our condo. We then strolled the French Quarter for awhile. I left David to watch a street performer while I did a bit of shopping. Just outside the shop next door to my destination I met up with Liz, the woman we had met at the Seafood Festival. See what I mean about always seeing someone you know? We had a nice little visit and we are now Facebook friends.

One of my favorite shops in the Quarter is The Kitchen Witch. It’s a quirky little place crammed full of cookbooks, both new and used. In the back they also sell some vinyl albums. Jazz music fills the air and a couple of sweet dogs snooze on the floor. It’s the sort of place that makes you want to stay awhile. I bought a book and noticed that the man who waited on me looked familiar. I asked if he might be the one who told me about a legend several years ago. He was. Shortly after Katrina I was in The Kitchen Witch and got to chatting with this man (turns out he’s the owner). I told him how much we loved New Orleans and he told me about an old legend which says that if you walk barefoot in the city, you will one day return to live there. Ever since, I make a point of removing my shoes for a short walk each time we visit. He and I had a very nice conversation about New Orleans. Turns out that he’s lived all over the country but like me believes that nowhere else compares. 


I’m trying to remember what we did next. See? That’s why one shouldn’t wait so long to write about one’s trip. I *think* we took a little nap. And then we went to the Hi Ho Lounge to see the Mardi Gras Indians practice. Claudia had invited us and Liz was there, too. Wow. That was one of the coolest things we did on this trip. I cannot begin to explain it all but you can (and should) read about the Indians here and here.  I took several photos and a short video but it was so dark that they really didn’t turn out well enough to be worth sharing. The photo below was sort of funny. I was just taking a random shot of the bar but these guys asked me to take their picture again. They didn’t think the first one would have shown them to advantage since they weren’t posing. 




After the Indian’s left, we took a cab back to the Quarter and ate dinner at Pere Antoine’s. David had the red beans and rice which we had been told were “the best in the Quarter”. He said they were good enough but not the best he’d had. I had blackened chicken served with Creole rice and some lightly cooked fresh vegetables, something a little hard to come by in the typical New Orleans restaurant. At home we eat mostly vegetarian but don’t try to do that on vacation. However, after a couple of days, we usually start missing salads and fresh vegetables. 
After dinner we walked to the Tropical Isle and enjoyed the music of Debi and the Deacons one more time. It’s always hard to tell our friends goodbye but at least this time we know it won’t be long until we return. David and I have scheduled a trip the first week of December and I get to go with a friend NEXT WEEK! Yeah, I’m just a little bit excited. 
We had to check out of the condo at 10 a.m. Monday morning but since our cab wasn’t scheduled to take us to the airport until 12:30 we had a nice brunch at The Ruby Slipper and some time by the river. There was very little traffic on the river for some reason but I did get some shots of the Algiers ferry:






This bird sat up there the whole time we were there, just looking around and apparently enjoying the pretty day just like we were:


As always, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Big Easy and our time with friends. See y’all soon!


“Just another day in paradise”



“Times are not good here. The city is crumbling into ashes. It has been buried under a lava flood of taxes and frauds and maladministrations so that it has become only a study for archaeologists. Its condition is so bad that when I write about it, as I intend to do soon, nobody will believe I am telling the truth. But it is better to live here in sackcloth and ashes than to own the whole state of Ohio.”~Lafcadio Hearn

City sights

By Leave a Comment

New Orleans has to be one of the most beautiful and interesting cities to photograph.  Most of the pictures I took on this last trip were with my iPhone, many with the Instagram app.  These look pretty cool and it’s easy to upload them to Facebook so friends can live vicariously through our adventures. However, the resolution isn’t as good as a real camera.  Here are a few shots captured with my Sony digital camera:
I love the fact that you can find beads decorating all sorts of things.
Flags flying on a breezy day
I love, love, LOVE French Quarter balconies.
The view from Algiers
Louis Armstrong
The ferry dock on Algiers
Fresh produce at the French Market

I have lots of other photos to share and stories to tell about our recent trip so stay tuned.  If you haven’t already, take a peek at some of the food we enjoyed here.  Warning: Do not read on an empty stomach!

French Quarter Friday…

By 5 Comments

I will eventually be returning to my usual “French Friday” posts but since I still have pictures to share from New Orleans I thought I’d make this “French Quarter Friday”.

The St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson square is probably the most photographed and easily recognized landmark in New Orleans.  Isn’t it pretty?

One of our very most favorite things about New Orleans is the music.  And not just the professional musicians but the street musicians, as well.  There is really nothing quite like spending a sunny afternoon in Jackson Square enjoying the music.

Of course, no trip to New Orleans is complete without a trip to Café Du Monde for a cup of café au lait and some messy but delicious beignets.

Another favorite activity of ours is to simply sit on a bench and watch the Mississippi River.  On this trip we took the rest of our cafĂ© au lait after finishing our beignets and sipped it while watching the river traffic. 

If you know me even a little you know that bookstores are “my thing”.  This one just happened to be across the street from our hotel.

This is my kind of bookstore, too.  Crowded with stacks and stacks of books.  I could easily spend half a day exploring a place like this. 

This is the street car which runs along the river.  We didn’t end up riding it on this past visit but it’s still fun to watch it go by. 

The architecture of the Quarter never fails to charm me.  I just love the lacy iron balconies and lush plants.

This little bar is directly across the street from our condo and we are getting to know the bartenders there.  It’s definitely not a touristy place which is nice.  Last year we watched a Saints game there with a number of locals.  Fun! 

The French Quarter is pretty during the day but
utterly magical at night.  
This was taken at dusk from our table at Stanley,
a wonderful little restaurant facing Jackson Square.

And this one was taken while standing in front of the
St. Louis Cathedral. 

 

The quality of most of these photos isn’t great because they were taken with my iPhone.  I need to make more of an effort to take pictures with my regular camera but the iPhone is so handy and I can post directly to Facebook.  I’ll try to do better on our next trip.  Which, by the way, is already booked for April.  Woohoo!

Bookmark and Share

var addthis_config = {“data_track_clickback”:true};