BlackenedOut

What a blast from the past. That appears to be Hogs 4, which took place on the frisbee golf course near the administration building in city park. It rained like hell for the 2-3 days before only stopping Friday morning. River parish truck got stuck, the cab bringing in the stage got stuck, and was generally a quagmire. Company Burger team won grand champ. Dr. John showed up to play with voices of the wetlands all stars (and would refer to event later as Dogs for the Cause), and some hobos were sleeping in a “squat” in the backstage area, they were friendly folks.

Good times.

You think the bloat and waste in hospitals is limited only to hospitals with high % of Medicare/Medicaid patients?

Hell in Louisiana that’s every hospital.

You can find nice pinot in that range. And second poster who said penner-Ashe, although she sold it a few years back.

But if you have a little elasticity in your budget and can find it, Antica Terra is your play here. Just gorgeous willamette valley pinot and if the doctor is into wine, will know that bottle.

Lived down there for a few years pre-Ian on Sanibel. But office was close to Mario’s. Became a very easy habit to get into, Italian deli sandwich, marinated mozz, Bastone, some cheeses, a steak or two, and a lot of bottles of Italian wine. Don’t sleep on the private label wines. Went back over Christmas and remembered why I love that place so much.

OP, this would be at the end of your cannonball run, but Seed To Table outside of Naples also worth a visit.

The MSY to London flight has a great departure and arrivals time. Depending on time of year, you depart around 930 pm and land about noon London time. Which means your kids should be able to get a decent amount of sleep on the flight and “wake” at a relatively normal hour.

Plus when you arrive, London is awake and vibrant, you can check into your hotel or at least get lunch while you wait. Way better than a 6 am arrival to an asleep European city. All of this is to say don’t worry about booking a hotel for day before. You will be fine and your kids will also.

You could easily spend 7 days in London with kids that age and not get bored. So many parks, free museums (so you won’t feel guilty if a kid is a mess and you have to leave), the London Eye, etc…

But if you do get the envie for Paris it is a quick train ride away. However with kids that age, it might be the best idea to stay in one city, maybe rent an apartment and put down temporary roots.
It’s awesome you are taking your kids and hope it’s the start of years of fun travels with them.

Miami - Cafe La Trova, Ball and Chain, Versailles, Joe’s Stone Crab, and probably a lot more. Great food town.

You stay on the boat.

Every morning wake up in your cabin, go on deck, jump in the Sir Francis Drake channel, decide which island to sail to, have breakfast, sail, grab a mooring ball, hit the beach bar, and do it all over the next day.

The BVIs are a truly wonderful place but best seen by boat. Staying in one island and at one resort is kind of missing th e point. But still better than a week at work.

Craw dude,

Have always enjoyed your advice.

Just laid zoysia about 3 weeks ago, post cold snap. Coming out of dormancy, no issues there. What would you recommend for a fertilizer/weed schedule over say the next 6 months?

Will you have a car?

Great place in the hills above Florence called Ristorante Da Orlando Monteloro Firenze. Was recommended to me by the couple who own Piccola Gelateria in New Orleans. Just tremendous.

Cant really speak as to authenticity of Nonna or Nonni cooking but plenty of amazing places to recommend. Check out Katie Parla and her online restaurant guides. Note she doesn’t love Florence or Tuscany as she finds them overrated. But Rome just follow her recs.

PS did an intensive quest to find gelato better than Piccola all over Italy. Found quite a few as good but nothing better. Just really lucky to have that shop in New Orleans.