Cora Lee in Paradise, with her glass of wine and two adorable, adoring pooches, Mad Max, in her arms, and Clever Cassie having her ear rubbed, in the Lobby Bar/Bistro of the Dallas Deluxe!
Up at 7:22am to visit with Ruth before she left for work. Cora Lee joined us around 8:00am and Ruth told us more about the business dinner with her new boss and some work colleagues that evening. That being the case we were on our own for dinner. Not a big deal as we had plenty to do, everything from thinking about what to pack to take St Martin to exploring the neighbourhood and beyond.
I worked on the Jambalaya Diaries until around 11:00am. Coriandre had a bite of breakfast and then took of for Magnolia, a theatre complex on McKinney, about a twenty minute walk from here, to see Les Misérables and Beasts of the Southern Wild. Cora Lee mentioned, when she returned, that the star of the latter, Quvenzhane Wallis, who plays the headstrong young Hushpuppy, apparently grew up not far from Houmas House Plantation, one of plantations near New Orleans. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit this particular site.
Around 11:30 I fried up some kartofellage, overlefts from Wednesday's breakfast in New Orleans, to fuel me for my ride. I was planning to explore more of the streets around Turtle Creek. By the time I had eaten my tasty brunch and suited up the sun was shining. All the mist that had shrouded the city until noon had burned off. Before I walked out the door, I checked my email as Ruth had mentioned that in case her dinner was cancelled, she would let us know so that we could make plans for getting together. Here follows the text of her message:
Hi, Pat, Corinne,
I had forgotten to mention: Dallas Museum of Art has jazz every
Thurs night 6-8pm. Free if you go with our membership card. The little
café off of the atrium at entrance has decent appetizers, and wine at
half price before 6! Music does start right
around 6, and there could be a crowd if it’s a well known group. Univ
of Texas at Denton, only 45 minutes away, produces a lot of good jazz
musicians! Membership card is in the teak cabinet off dining room, top
drawer I think.
Interested? I don’t have any updates on our office dinner plan yet, but if it should get cancelled, I’ll join you at the museum! Let me know. Here is the link
Thanks for the tip! I'm not sure what Cora Lee will want to do though sounds terrific. I have forwarded your message to her. She said she would be home around 4:00pm. I'm off shortly for my ride. I assume I'll be away until at least 3:00pm or 4:00pm myself. Will check email then and we can plan accordingly. Thanks once more for your kindness and thoughtfulness. Cheers, Patrizzio!
By the time I had answered her message and sent a few more myself it was close to 1:00pm when I finally set off for the Katy Trail. Now an expert on the streets to follow to take me there, without having to dismount, Dear Reader, I followed Woodside south to Allen, then east to State then south to Routh. There are lights on Routh/McKinney which I can time for the green and then I'm fine all the way to Carlisle. Left here to Sneed and then on to Cole all the way North to Lemmon where I do a bit of dipsy-doodling to take the sidewalk back to Carlisle, (street is one-way at this point), and I'm soon on Carlisle Place which leads onto the Katy Trail at Snyder's Union. Usually had south to the start of the trail at the American Airlines Centre so that when I reach the northern end, on Airline, in Highland Park, have 11 K on the clock.
The day was simply glorious and I had to pay particular attention to keeping my eyes on the bike path as there were many, many scantily clad sveltoids jiggling and jouncing on the rubber jogging track which runs beside the concrete pathway! If I ever needed a Stanchion Alert Contraption, Dear Reader, it was on this outing! Nevertheless, I steeled myself for the unending distractions and was soon on Airline, making for Cornell. Now that I know the layout of this gorgeous development, I took Sewanee to Princeton and then Abbott as I wanted a long, uninterrupted run all the way to Armstrong. I wanted to have at least 20 K on the clock by the time I made for University Park so I just followed my nose along St John's Drive, drinking in the wonderful scenery and spectacular homes which line this street as it follows the meandering Hackberry Creek.
The streets are enormously wide so it is almost like having a dedicated, unmarked bike path to oneself. Little if any traffic and the vehicles I encounter are all Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti People! Extremely polite, however, always giving way to me at uncontrolled intersections or waving me through at four-way stops even if the right of way is not mine. By the time I had about 30 K on the odometre I chanced upon another rider, dressed in a neon pink tank top, (all the easier to track), heading north on Turtle Creek Blvd so I decided to follow her. The light was green at Lovers Lane so I pursued her across and she led me all the way to Northwest Pkwy, disappearing just before Coffee Park.
Delighted with the discovery of this new territory I took an exploratory foray as far west as Pickwick Lane to determine that I could ride for many kilometres on the streets bounded by Preston Road on the west and Hillcrest Avenue on the east. By the time I had criss-crossed Villanova Street and Wentworth Drive I had almost 50 K on the clock so made for Lovers Lane. Did some loops to take a look at the homes on Baltimore Drive, Vassar Ave and Hunters Glen Road and then started to retrace my earlier route to Golf and Fairfield.
Coriandre had arrived but minutes before me, having stopped at Albertson's for some groceries. I told her about the live jazz in the Atrium of the DMA and she was keen to go.
No word from Ruth so I sent her a quick message:
Hi Ruth!
We are off to Jazz Night! Perhaps we'll see you there. If not, back at The Dallas Deluxe. Cheers, Parizzio!
I had a quick shower and once I was changed we headed to McKinney to catch the trolley. Arrived shortly after 6:00pm and the first set was in full swing. CoraLeeta found us a table while I picked up two glasses of a Sicilian Pinot Grigio, ($3.50/glass), zesty and bright mouthfeel with a hint of lemon, so we sipped and grooved to the cool vibes of the Anthony Plant Quintet, featuring compositions from Plant's latest album, The Colour Out of Space, which took us "on a journey through contemporary jazz that shines from start to finish. Blending jazz, rock, bossa nova, R&B, and other styles, Plant’s refreshingly lyrical guitar playing will also be featured."
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| George Patton, Jr. |
Snaps: View from our bedroom window, bridge is the Crescent City Connection; one of the parade floats from Krewe du Vieux this past Saturday; Moon and balcony taken while Dom Pedro and Iwere walking around the French Quarter, waiting to get in to Preservation Hall. The Babes were holding our place in line with glasses of Pinot Grigio supplied by The Brotherhood! We had to be back before they had glugged them down or they said they would sell our spots!
DMA Jazz
Hi y’all,
Thanks for the welcoming e-mail. Great pictures of Cochon.
We
got home about 8:30. The flights were fairly uneventful except for a
warning on the Alaska Airlines flight Seattle to Kelowna that they may
not be able
to land in Kelowna due to visibility in a snowstorm, but that didn’t
come to pass. No malts for me at home, as we have to go on a healthy
regime for a few weeks.
We really enjoyed our time in NO with you both. We look forward to our next adventure together.
A
few photos attached, and more in the following e-mail. The latter
photos are from the Sculpture Garden at City Park, part of the NOMA. Cheers, Peter
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