Happy St. Patrick’s Day! If you are out tonight in Palma don’t forget to stop by Hogans, Shamrock Fun Place and O’Malleys for a good time.
Maybe you will get a cool hat like we did last year!
Category: drinkin’
NOLA
NOLA – New Orleans, Louisiana. Ah-May-Zing! So much fun. And I feel silly for saying this, but it was my first time there. I really don’t know what took me so long. I guess it was just the distance from my older stomping grounds. In Oklahoma we would head towards Lake Texoma, Padre or once for a college spring break we drove from Stillwater to Fort Lauderdale. When I lived in Dallas, well, I went to, um, Dallas! And when I was in the New York/CT area I went to well, Manhattan, of course. But also to Mt. Snow, Vermont and a few other random Pepsi sponsored ski areas.
But I am getting off track. Jeannette (the lovely) and I went to the Big Easy for our 40th celebration. We met up at the Maison Dupuy hotel. A very nice hotel with possibly a dead, bald guy in the hot tub. He NEVER left y’all! The rooms were clean, the shower had nice water pressure (something that is very important to me), the front staff were nice and friendly, there was a pool and free Wi-Fi. All in all, a great hotel for a decent price.
As I just said, I had never been to NOLA, even though Jeannette was a seasoned pro. We headed down Bourbon St. to see the crazies and get a drink. I was bound and determined to have a Hurricane but then thought, do I really want to throw up on my first day here? I settled for a beer and Jeannie introduced me to my new favorite beer – ABITA Purple Haze.
Abita beer whether it was Purple Haze or Amber was a constant for the remainder of our trip. Well, that and Bloody Marys, mmmmmmmmmmmmm, don’t EVEN get me started on the bloodies from Molly’s at the Market. We watched them being made: a little Guinness, half a squeezed lemon and lime, some Cajun seasoning, worchestire, horseradish, tabasco, juice from the pickled green beans (i wish i could have brought back 12,000 jars of those) and their already mixed bloody mix. The first time there we had THREE. I would have had more to stare at that mellow cat that hangs out on the tables with the customers but my stomach was rumbling and we needed to get ready for dinner.
Speaking of dinner/food we ate SO GOOD. Here were our stops and each were amazing. And in all actuality, it was mainly about the food. Don’t miss any of these.
1. Dante’s Kitchen – Ok, this place…they have the best vegetables in any New Orleans restaurant, an outdoor patio, and an amazing wine list. They have incredible meat and fish dishes too. This is a great restaurant to get away from downtown, and one of the most inspired menus I’ve seen anywhere. The food and produce is fresh, fresh, fresh, and they accentuate the freshness with the preparation and presentation. The only thing I will say is that the portions are HUGE!!! Bring some friends and plan on having one of the best meals of your life.
2. NOLA – This is one of Emeril’s restaurants in New Orleans. Featuring an eclectic menu of New Orleans Creole and Acadian cuisine with an occasional ethnic twist, the rustic style of cooking showcases Southern Cajun, Vietnamese and Southwestern influences using Louisiana products. Private dining rooms, a bread and pastry bakery and wine cellar are located on NOLA’s third floor.
3. Coop’s – Hands down this was my favorite place. The fried chicken was out of this world and the prices were excellent. This French Quarter bar, with its placement across the street from Margaritaville and down the street from Café du Monde, is kind of in tourist central, meh; but these guys have the real deal in red beans and rice, gumbo, fried chicken, and super authentic local favorites. Also check out the side salad, with the BEST homemade Green Goddess dressing in town. The servers are sweet and super tattooed, the kitchen is basically in the outdoor courtyard, and next door is the fantastically alt-goth bar…
4. Felix’s Oyster Bar – Besides being the name of my favorite boyfriend, it was also a fantastic place to grab a seat, an Abita and a dozen oysters. They also have Po-boys, seafood platters and some darn good fried pickles. Man, I could really go for another dozen oysters with lots of horseradish and lemon.
5. Central Grocery – Central Grocery is home of the muffuletta, one of New Orleans’ great sandwiches. A circular loaf of soft Italian bread is sliced horizontally and piled with salami, ham, and provolone, which are in turn topped with a wickedly spicy melange of chopped green and black olives fragrant with anchovies and garlic. You miss this, and you might cry.
6. Café Du Monde – World famous for its cafe‘ au lait, beignets, and the opportunity to people watch. Another New Orleans favorite, stop by for a chicory coffee and beignets to cure your morning hangover. The service was a bit slow while seated so maybe check out the TO GO line on the side if you are in a hurry. But it is a don’t miss.
7. Satsuma Cafe – Their Kale Salad, made of all local ingredients, fresh, and organic, features Lacinato kale, Parmesan dressing, and (this is New Orleans after all) a piece of bacon on the side. This is the BEST SALAD in the city, hands down. A few blocks away from Desire Street, (which kind of says it all), and in the stunning Baywater, this is the hippyish place to go for great coffee and espresso, fresh ginger muffins, super great Nutella banana pancakes, fresh BLT’s with real tomatoes, hummus, bagels and lox with all the sides, and fresh juices made to order. It’s also all organic. Sit at the Squirrel Table and read the New York Times, or a local paper with the locals (and believe me, they’re there). It has a totally great vibe and fresh, fresh, fresh organic food. These guys make an effort and it shows.
I think I will take a break here. Now I am craving an oyster po-boy, an Abita Purple Haze and some excellent fried chicken. Stay tuned for some more New Orleans news and lots of cool pics. Ciao!
One for the Road
Maybe it is my slightly off-kilter view on life but I found this gas station slash bar slash wc stop in Poland most amusing. Nothing like a glass of whiskey before your drive home.
Oooklahoma where the wind blows over 3 million miles an hour….
Could this possibly be the LONGEST blog about a trip. Seriously, I am trying to wrap it up….I just had too many fun things going on and I want to tell you about ALL of them. Wait don’t go. Really, next up is a road trip with my parents. Now who isn’t just dying to read about that. Mom, Dad, I love you and I had hours of endless entertainment from singing gospel and country songs. Here we go.
We left on an early hung over morning. People, I was in PAIN. See earlier blog on potent Mango-ritas from the Bombay Cricket Club. Plus, JungEun making more delicious mangoritas when we arrived back home. Not pretty, I woke up in the living room sleeping with my legs thrown over the loveseat I ended up sleeping on (let me just mention that my SIL ROCKS bc she slept on the other loveseat, just for me). I struggled to drink a ginger ale in the morning while we said our goodbyes.
And off to Stillwater, OK we go! Day ONE we headed down Hwy 5, through the cold and green Oregon woods. On into California, after passing Yreka we had a view of Mt. Shasta (I love that name, makes me thirsty though) and I was enthralled with the mountain. I KNOW you are dying to know why. I like to keep random strange things stored up in this brain of mine and I had just read an interesting article about this very mountain. Here:
“This stunning snow-capped peak in the Cascade Mountain range, 60 miles south of the Oregon border, has long been considered one of the planet’s great “cosmic power spots,” luring everyone from Native Americans to Buddhist monks and hippies. Its sacred slopes are home to a potpourri of mysteries: spontaneous altered states; UFO sightings; crystal caves; encounters with Ascended Masters; underground military bases; even the rumored home to Lemurians, surviving members of a sensitive super-race some believe existed 12,000 years ago during the time of Atlantis.”
Are you a believer now? I thought so. Me too. Okay, so while I drink this Kool-Aid we keep on Hwy 5 past Sacramento where we stop for the night and have dinner at Olive Garden. I LOVE Olive Garden’s salad. I used to love their breadsticks too but now they seem to need more butter and salt. Here, again, I was asked for my ID. What’s up people? I know I don’t look 21, especially after sitting in the car for twelve hours. Maybe they could still smell the Mango-rita fumes evaporating off me.
Day TWO brought us trucking onto Hwy 40E, where we spent hours and hours looking out onto endless desert land throughout Arizona and New Mexico. I took some pictures of random things – an old mill, a long train, my feet. DAY THREE and destination O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A! We had been in OK for no less than twenty minutes when I saw a cow fly by, it was seriously windy folks.
Being in Oklahoma was one of those don’t blink or you’ll miss it moments. But I got two very important things accomplished in less than 24 hours. I managed to get a new OK driver’s license and I met up with some very dear to my heart and hilariously funny friends that I have known since my teenaged (and younger) years. The restaurant du jour? Mexico Joe’s, as always. What Stillwater visit would be complete without a Joe’s cup of beer and a chicken chimichanga? Extra queso and sour cream please.
Six a.m. arrived early on my blow up mattress (which was better then nothing, I know). I shoved all my clothes and 500 million Mexico Joe’s cups into my suitcase and then off to the OKC airport. Time to see more fabulous friends in NYC! Life sure is rough these days.
Trick or treat smell my feet give me something good to eat
Halloween morn arrived bright and early at 8am. It was 5pm in Spain and I read Time magazines until my cute sleeping friend woke to help me figure out her coffee machine. By noon we hit the costume store where I selected a lovely convict minidress and Donita, the gangster equivalent. Perfect, Halloween was ON. Donita had so many fun tourist ideas, the fish market, the Space Needle and a boat ride called the Duck but time was running a bit late, so next time Seattle, I promise!! After a quick stop at Taco Time with a very unsatisfied employee worker, we were off to Portland!
Oddly, once we crossed over the Oregon line our Oklahoma accents returned with a flourish. I am not sure if it was us getting tired or the fact that the state began with an O but the twang was back. And I liked it.
We arrived at my brother’s home with my nephew and orange margaritas patiently (impatiently?) waiting for us. So nice to see my family, I never see them often enough. Avery changed into his spider costume and then was off to get some sugary sweets for Aunt Kim. He scored some good stuff – Nerds, Lollipops and Pixi Sticks were MINE. Now, time for the adults to celebrate Halloween. 
My brother and his wife joined us out for Halloween at my mom’s goading and my happiness. It was such a fun night out with them and their friends. So much better than Donita and me going out to random bars and getting hit on by random men (hey, we’re cute, it happens a lot), but no worries my handsome German, they all pale in comparison to you….cue romantic music.
So, Halloween! Donita and I checked into the Hotel Deluxe in Portland. Awesome hotel, fabulous price, muy delicioso brunch….and just call front desk if you need ANYTHING. We spent most of Halloween at the hotel bar, The Driftwood Room, with our group of eight. I thought my department of corrections outfit was really cool and was in the mood for breakin the law….don’t worry, never did. A few went out to smoke and I was telling the rest of the table that I was the jail doctor because the word DOC was on my left front pocket. We made up silly jail doctor stories and when Donita came back from the smoke break I proudly proclaimed:
me: D, I am a DOCTOR. See, it says here (as I underlined the word DOC on the front of my outfit with my finger). DOC.
D: (grabbing my shoulders and turning my back to her) Um, no, you are Department of Corrections. As it says on the back of your dress.
me: (light bulb, blonde moment) OoooooHHH!!! Wow….damn, I thought I was a doctor!! Whatever, still going to be a doctor. Another vodka tonic please!
Soon The Driftwood closed and we hit a dive bar around the corner where we played the Jukebox and pretty much goofed off acting completely stupid. What’s new? The drink of choice was Sweet Tea Vodka. OH MY GOD! You mean I can have sweet tea as an alcoholic drink too? If you live in the south you know about sweet tea. It was goooood. Sweet Tea Vodka (mixed with Sprite?) , a Jukebox, hilarious time with friend and family – it will be a Halloween I will never forget. Soon, the dive bar was closing too, Donita and I grabbed handfuls of candy from the basket and ran out the door.
November 1st arrived nicely without a hangover and some scrumptious brunch at Gracie’s Restaurant in the hotel. My favorite breakfast ever was on the menu, eggs benedict, each of us ladies ordered one and shared – the classic with bacon, smoked salmon, baby spinach and wild mushrooms or Dungeness crab and Oregon Bay shrimp cakes. YUM. My brother had the corned beef hash which looked really good too. Sadly, once brunch was over so was my time with Donita. She was meeting BF#2 (or was it #3?) before she headed back to Seattle. D….you are a rockstar. Thanks for the escaped convict/gangster memories.
Next up: Hangin with the fam in Portland and the exciting world of Celtic Thunder.
Heeeeere I Come my lil U.S. of A.
Wowzers – I traveled from Spain to the East coast to the West coast to the middle and back. Here is where you could have found me: Queens, Seattle, Portland, Oklahoma City, Stillwater, Brooklyn and Manhattan. And either a couch or sharing a bed with mom were my sleeping quarters….which was fine but I was happy to get back to my large bed in Mallorca. Is that so wrong?
I was going to go into the whole story about my taxi driver arriving to take me to the airport an hour late but I think this one sentence will be sufficient, albeit I almost went into complete panic mode. So, that said, I hopped a plane to Madrid and then to JFK. There I was greeted by my awesomely fabulous friend that I haven’t seen in two years. It was a quick stop but I got to see Jeannette, Emma in a witch hat and Hannah for the first time! Ooh, and my first (but def. not the last) everything bagel with vegetable cream cheese and a side of mustard. (I am sure if you read the post before you can start to guess I have some strange food preferences) 
Next morning it is off to Seattle! I have never been and until then could only gain a picture through Sleepless in Seattle. Where in the world is Meg Ryan? She did that film with that actor from Australia who got fat, um, um, name is escaping me. Still not there, didn’t he throw a phone at a hotel employee? Seriously, can’t think of it. Don’t fret, it will come to me. Anyways, Meg Ryan….whatever. Who cares. I mean she adopted a baby and she’s cute (except I think I liked her better without the lip injections, her and that other Australian, Nicole, she was married to Tom Cruise, best friends with Naomi Watts – whom I LOVE , really what is wrong with me I can’t remember names?) Ahh, Kidman, after fifteen minutes.
Okay, I am back. So, Seattle, flying Jet Blue for $120 (nice, plus no cost for first checked bag) from JFK-Seattle. I love Jet Blue, more room, your own TV, and the Terra Blues potato chips ROCK. The last hour or so of the flight we were over Montana and I saw no one. Lots of mountains and snow, LOTS of snow. Again, it was me with my forehead pressed against the little and probably really dirty window scanning and memorizing. Who knew Montana was so desolate. I went to college with a guy from MT and all I thought of was big huge ranch lands and buffalo roaming the state. But as we neared the Seattle airport it was crisp, cold water with trees changing colors, an explosion of blue, orange, yellow, green and reds. I felt happy. And excited to see Donita! A fellow OK girl who rocks the casbah plus the hottie has like thirty-four hundred guys dying for her attention.
I grabbed a taxi to her office downtown where we had a quick hug and she sat me at the bar for happy hour while she finished up the end of her workday. It brought back some nostalgia of my early advertising days in Dallas, the corporate world working in this astronomically sized building where everyone comes down to the bar for happy hour to blow off some steam, have a few drinks and flirt with fellow co-workers. It was fun to be a spy on the wall. A few asian girls to my left giggling about boys, a business man alone until a female around the age of 25 joined him and ordered a hot toddy because she was sick and an annoyingly high-pitched woman telling the four men she was sitting with that she couldn’t have a fourth beer because she needed to pick up her child from daycare. Hmm, maybe now is the time to call a friend?
I was drinking a Blue Moon and trying to forget it was 3am Mallorca time when Donita came down. After an order of french fries and another beer we headed off to her new apartment, so cute! She poured two glasses of white wine while I played iTunes from my computer and got ready to go out for the night. Sushi and then to a bar to meet boyfriend/person she finds hot #1. Sushi at Umi Sake House (2230 First Ave, Seattle) was excellent and it was great people watching. Did I mention it was Hallow’s Eve, the night before Halloween and lots of people were already decked out in their garb. 
Donita saw a guy who she thought was standing on a box because he was short but I looked over and it was his costume – his feet were in the box with shoes on top. Funny, so Donita gets one blonde moment but don’t worry mine will be tomorrow. We got our leftover sushi boxed up, left it at a bus stop for the homeless (it was cold that night, it will be ok) and headed to the bar.
BF1 was there to buy all of the rounds (so nice of him!) and the bar was packed by midnight. I saw Snow White, a few vampires and possibly a monk, I was a bit confused at what he was going for. But Donita and I shared many laughs, as always and ended the night at Dick’s Drive-In. It’s a burger joint people, get your minds out of the gutter. And it was tasty, shall I begin a list of things I miss in the states that usually revolves around food? An everything bagel is one and yummy greasy burgers after a night of cocktails is another.
Stay tuned for Portland, Halloween and my blonde moment of the month, okay week. Kisses!
GOING NINETY MILES 