The first thing I noticed when Jenn and I arrived at my parents’ house in Metairie was a package sitting on the desk chair in my room that looked familiar. A couple of weeks before moving to Bratislava last summer, I mailed two Sports Illustrated magazines to Drew Brees. I requested his signature on each so that I could frame them with my ticket stubs from the NFC Championship and the Super Bowl as well as some other stuff I have from the Saints Super Bowl win. I included a self addressed envelope with postage paid along with a long letter expressing my admiration and appreciation for all he accomplished.
I felt nervous as I opened the package, only being disappointed to see the magazine covers signature-less and a note explaining that Drew will only sign for non-profits. I understand and I can’t even imagine how many autograph requests he gets, but I was still really disappointed.
We had a great weekend in New Orleans spending time with family and friends. I had a nice walk with Rachel at City Park on Saturday morning on a new paved walking and running path where the South Golf course, where I learned to play golf, used to be. We enjoyed lunch with Nana and Granddaddy across the street from their building at Houston’s. An American hamburger tastes so very good after spending significant time overseas. Words cannot describe the joy of watching your 96 year old grandfather down a half pound hamburger. It makes me smile now just thinking about it.
I want to give a plug for Beaucoup NOLA Juice on Freret. I’m not a big snowball guy because I don’t love the syrup. They are too sweet for me. This place has excellent, smooth ice, but tops it with natural fruit juice. The strawberry lemonade was superb. Jenn had the chocolate milk from Smith Creamery, which also was stellar.
We ate dinner with Grandma, Mom and Pa, and Rach and Chad at Mosca’s on the other side of the river. We were all excited to go there. I hadn’t been in easily over 10 years and Jenn had never been. It’s a small beyond unassuming place literally in the middle of nowhere. There is limited seating, but we had a reservation. We had an outstanding (very un-Slovak) meal. The oysters Mosca and the Chicken a la Grande were the standouts. We all left full and smelling of garlic.
We tried another new place, the Cake Café, on Rach and Chad’s recommendation, for brunch on Sunday. We met Barry and a pregnant Lane. The place is located in the Marigny neighborhood on the far edge of the French Quarter. The baked goods were probably the best part of the meal, but I really enjoyed my oysters, eggs and grits. We did some good eating on this trip.
In preparation for our trip in a few weeks to Normandy, we toured the National World War 2 Museum, which was terrific. We both learned a lot and it provided good context for what we’re going to see in France.
We finished the weekend with dinner with Gary, Suzy, and our nephews, David and Evan. As always, it was fun being with them.
It was then back on the plane to head back to Dallas where we’d be for two more weeks for my work. We boarded the plane with six minutes remaining of game 6 of the NBA Finals. The Mavs seemed to have it under control and it turns out they did as the pilot announced their victory a few minutes into the flight. Good for them and good for Dirk. He deserves it. I like it when nice guys finish first.
It’s hard to balance work, travel, friends, and family, but we try very hard. In the end, it’s always worth it.
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