Random Ramblings

Just a quick catch-up blog. Won't take much time.



A weekend in Louisiana
Amy and I went to New Orleans Friday and saw the North Mississippi Allstars at Tipitina's, the legendary Uptown nightclub at the corner of Tchoupitoulas and Napoleon. Sean came down from Vicksburg, Austin was in from Houston, and Manda now lives in New Orleans and was happy to come meet us out for a great time. Sadly, we never did meet up with my buddy and next-door neighbor Justin, who was in town for a medical conference and didn't realize just how far down Tchoupitoulas Street that Tip's was. We met up at Cooter Brown's, ate some burgers and Po Boys (mine was an alligator sausage po boy ... yum!) and drank a few pitchers of Smithwicks to get us ready for the show. As we were sitting in our booth, a friend who we've met at a bunch of shows and who records them to share with other fans came up and joined us. Then, another guy who has seen us at a bunch of shows stopped over to say hello. You'd think we go to a lot of shows or something. Anyway, I took my camera in and got some really nice shots. The light in that place is awesome. Click the image above for more photos from the show.

We crashed at the Marriott on Canal Street for free, thanks to Austin, who had an extra room, and got up to meet Manda for a breakfast at the Oak Street Cafe. The breakfast spot is quickly becoming a favorite of ours; they always have live piano music and the food is out of this world. We split after that — Amy and Manda got pedicures, Sean and I went beer shopping at Whole Foods — and the four of us eventually met up again at Cooter Brown's, where everything had started the night before. It seemed fitting that it ended there, too. Sean took off for the homestead and his waiting dog, Cali. Amy and I departed for Denham Springs, where we'd spend the rest of the weekend with Amy's parents. The visit was fantastic, and as always, too short, but it was nice to see them.



A few new beers that I like
As I mentioned, Sean and I did a little beer shopping at the Whole Foods Market on Magazine Street while Amy and Manda were having girls' time. We found a great 6-pack of Sam Adams, which featured the two 2007 LongShot Home Brew Contest winners — a grape pale ale and a WeissenBock, both of which were very tastey. Unfortunately, these beers can't be sold in Alabama because of our strict Alcohol Content laws, so I have to pick them up on trips like this one. The grape ale was probably my favorite of the two. It's description was like drinking a pale ale after eating a seedless green grape, and the description proved accurate. Click here for more info on the beers.



New York-bound
I don't know if anyone back home reads this at all, but Amy and I are going to be up in New York in a week. We'll be in the City on Thursday, Peekskill on Friday, Nyack on Saturday, back to Peekskill Sunday, Albany Monday, Peekskill Tuesday until our flight outta Newburgh. That's tentative, but a good place to start. Anyway, we hope to see some fine folks while we're there. Drop me a note for my number if you don't have it and want to get in touch.