Nantucket!

Just landed on Nantucket for the Christmas Stroll.

Happy Birthday Dr. John

Okay, had a meeting that ran long (but well) today and have to run out to another now, but heard on Sirius Blues that today is Dr. John's birthday. So... Happy birthday Dr. John even though I am skipping ahead of my Voodoo Fest recap. This photo is when I met "The Night Tripper" in the lobby of our hotel at the end. (!!!) However, due to work and the holiday I will have to delay our recap until after Thanksgiving - my apologies! (But it will be worth it - stay tuned!) And Happy Thanksgiving!

New Orleans Voodoo Fest: First Day

Wow... It was fantastic. Like Jazz Fest but on a smaller scale. We saw Galactic,

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Lez Zeppelin,

JJ Grey & Mofro, Toots & the Maytals and Rage Against the Machine. As I said, "wow." Almost any ONE of those bands would have been worth traveling to see. Saw all of them on the very first day. Epic.

Then left the Fest and went in to the Faubourg Marigny with Chris making the EXCELLENT judgment call to go in to d.b.a. and see the Zydepunks. As Chris said on his blog, "I took off my flip-flops and danced like I would never get the chance again. They were amazing. Absolutely stand-out in a weekend of amazing music." Wandered in to the Apple Barrel to see New Orleans piano legend Henry Butler sitting in with the house band. What a first day!

New Orleans Recap - Day 1: Arrival at the Monteleone

Got in super early the first day in for Voodoo Fest. Checked in at the hotel and walked around, treating myself to an incredible lunch at the Acme Oyster House, which I have previously posted. Awaited Chris' arrival later that evening at the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone where we had a couple Sazeracs. Adjourned to dinner at Dickie Brennan's Bourbon House, which I have also previously mentioned. Then went Uptown to see Trombone Shorty perform an incredible show at Tipitina's.

Key West Recap - Day 3

Woke up for our bike tour with Lloyd who in mannerisms and slightly in appearance reminded us of Alex. Pedaled all over Key West stopping at some out of the way places including the Medicine Garden that someone had built with stones & crystals & statues.After that stopped for lunch at Meteor BBQ and then Bob & I adjourned next door to an outdoor bar to watch the beloved New England Patriots DESTROY the Miami Dolphins.
Wandered some more, did some shopping to replace the gifts I had inadvertently left in a taxi, went to two more historic bars - Captain Tony's, the Hog's Breath (and Sloppy Joe's again for good measure) - went to watch one last sunset, and then adjourned to Pepe's for dinner, bidding a fond farewell to Key West. Of all the bars, I think I enjoyed Captain Tony's the best,
and could see liking the Green Parrot a lot depending on the music.However, the EXTREMELY raunchy musical duo of Pete & Wayne had us rolling. (Bought all of their CDs, but don't think I'll be playing them often...)
More pictures HERE.

Key West Recap - Day 2

Woke up for our scheduled bicycle tour but it looked like it was going to rain so we postponed. Wandered around as the weather ended up holding. Went to the Butterfly Conservatory, which was surprisingly cool.

Then went to the Hemingway House, which I loved. Great to see where the maestro wrote, argued, loved, drank and had lots of cats.
Back to Sloppy Joe's to write postcards, a la Papa Hemingway and then we walked through a massive lightning storm to the Half Shell Raw Bar, which was great. The Wife and I played shuffleboard, with her rolling out to a 9 point lead. However, even that commanding lead wasn't enough to stop me, coming back in dramatic fashion to beat her.
Went for a quick nightcap at the Green Parrot to see a band - the southernmost bar in the United Statesand then Rose went home and we went for one final nightcap at the outdoor bar at La Te Da. Ended up meeting a couple that knew Johnathan & Andy and they took us to the Bottle Cap (a really great bar inside a liquor store!) for the final final nightcap. A great serendipitous evening...

Key West Recap - Day 1

Okay... Been super busy but will try to give a brief recap of our trip to Key West with the in-laws.

Flew down to Amelia Island to meet them and then went together to Key West, staying at Matt S.'s recommended hotel, the Alexander Palms Court. A delightful, basic place just off Duval St. where we were greeted with "welcome beers."
We wandered around to see what we could see, enjoying the galleries, shops and a couple historic bars such as "Sloppy Joe's" - a Key West institution.Went to see the sunset at Mallory Square where Rose was shanghaied into assisting one of the street performers, an escape artist. From there, went to see the kickoff of Fantasy Fest.

Galactic

Had a good time at the Galactic show with Christian. We started the night at the Russian Samovar bar / restaurant. Truly ridiculous. The patrons were right out of Central Casting - very Boris & Natasha. Flavored vodka shots [we had pomegranate, cranberry, apple-cinnamon, and garlic. (Yes, garlic. Wow... "Ill-advised" at best.)] All of those took a toll on Christian and we had to depart the show early. The show was okay - not as good as they were at Voodoo Fest -- it was missing a certain "oomph." Not their best performance, nor Christian's. Ollie, visiting from LA, met us at The Irish Pub (that's its name) and Christian retired to Queens. Ollie and I did a brief tour of karaoke before I called it a night and met The Wife & Krista at home after Marie's wedding.

Anniversary Dessert

So The Wife absolutely scored on her anniversary gift to me. As "wood" is the traditional 5th anniversary gift, she got me cufflinks made out of wood from the seats that were removed from Yankee Stadium as part of its 1973 renovation. Double awesome.

Anniversary Menu

Had a positively EPIC anniversary dinner at Eleven Madison Park. Everything was done to perfection - the staff, the wine list, the champagne cart, the cheese cart and the meal. We had a 4 course meal, I having the Cape Cod Bay Crab appetizer, the Novia Scotia Lobster second course, and the venison entree (which was UNBELIEVABLE). And then dessert. They knew it was our anniversary, as stated on the menu pictured here. Truly unbelievable and Eleven Madison Park has just become our favorite high-end restaurant in New York City. Well done...

Birthday Touchdown(s)

Trying to get to some overdue items... The Big Guy scored a "birthday touchdown" for his Dad this past Labor Day. He also has been insistent since then that I post it. So here it finally is:

And I'll even throw in a second one at no charge:

The Distinguished Wakamba Cocktail Lounge

wow... Went to pick up my Van Halen tickets & wandered by this place in Hell's Kitchen. Truly a bar that time forgot... I love it. Sitting here now...

Work, work, work

My recent whirlwind tour of the South has left a mountain of work to finish. Pretty jammed this week plus attended the (pretty good) BMO Capital Markets "Interactive Entertainment" conference yesterday. Will try to update the blog with Key West, New Orleans and Charleston recaps as soon as I can. Please be patient - working hard this week. (I'm looking at you, Grant...)

Kurt's Bachelor Party

the restaurant thought it so lame his future wife made him get a facial, they mocked him in dessert form. AWESOME.