Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Vacation day 1 of 9. Medium bowl of oatmeal with milk, flax meal, cacao nibs, toasted shaved coconut, pumpkin seeds, diced half banana; hot water. Patrick and I rode UberX to SFO for a 10:44 a.m. United Airlines flight 2356 to New Orleans. During the flight we began watching standup comedy downloaded from Netflix but did not like two different shows until we began watching Hari Kondabolu: Warn Your Relatives. Patrick is attending the Saints and Sinners Festival—an LGBTQ writers conference at Hotel Monteleone, and I'm going along for the ride, including the festival. At SFO, we checked one large bag, and that process was very fast and easy. We each carried one carry-on suitcase and one personal bag. Barbara's return flight to Boston was just a few minutes later than ours, and she came to our gate to chat a few minutes before we all departed. Patrick purchased sandwiches and bottled water from Klein's Deli just before boarding, saving the meal for the flight. During the flight we also watched Chris Distefano: Speshy Weshy (2022) downloaded from Netflix. In New Orleans, our Uber ride estimate was about $100. Instead we rode Lyft to The Old No. 77 for less than half that price. We unpacked in room 340. We encountered many issues with the room. The desk lamp, ceiling fan lamp, and Tivoli Model 3 were not working and the toilet seat was loose. We reported the issues and walked in the neighborhood a few minutes before dining at Compère Lapin in our hotel. Cocktails: Flowers for Jackie (rye and sons whiskey, sorel, burlesque bitters, star anise) for Patrick, Home Is The Sailor (botanist gin, manzanilla sherry, vermouth, umami) for me. Buttermilk biscuits with honey butter and bacon butter (2 per order); green papaya salad with mirliton and tamarind vinaigrette; fried chicken with coconut grits and peanuts and jerk honey butter; scialatielli with gulf shrimp and rundown sauce. Dessert: chocolate cake with passionfruit and curry granola. We walked to Rouse's Market for bottled water, sumo oranges, pears, bananas, Kashi high fiber cereal, milk. We watched an episode of Chopped. Patrick ate a pear and went to bed. I stayed up not much longer. Internet speed at The Old 77 is 9 Mbps down, 6 up—just okay.