[title type="h5"]
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Making My World Live Without Me
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Not much to do today but get ready for my train trip. It departs New Orleans tomorrow, and will have me out of pocket for two weeks.
But the day before I go anywhere is always jammed with work. Most of this is pulling all my data together for me to keep fresh editions of the Menu Daily coming to my readers throughout the trip. This is always much harder than I think it will be, and is almost enough to keep me from going on vacation at all. Still, it looks as if I will actually accomplish that for the first time.
The only leisure time today is brunch with the religious brother (and future priest) Ryan Richardson. We know him from our meeting in Rome a couple of months ago. Today, the venue is less auspicious: Ox Lot 9, the restaurant of the Southern Hotel in Covington. We owe Brother Ryan at least a brunch for officiating over the renewal of our marriage vows in St. Peter's in the Vatican. This was arranged by three couples traveling with us, who allowed us to horn in on the blessing.
We dine lightly. Everything looks good, but the soft shell crab BLT is certainly the best thing on the table. Two modest-size (but who needs more than that for a brunch?) crabs are made into sort of a poor boy, with three thick slices of smoky bacon and a white remoulade sauce, heavy on the savory herbs. Eating it as a sandwich would have been difficult, so I pulled it apart. No law that one has to eat all the bread in front of one.
Then a lady came up to our table, attracted by Brother Ryan's Roman collar. Let's just say that she had a lot of problems, mostly involving her son and his wife. She also seemed to be having trouble paying her restaurant bill. We were there quite a while, trying to sort this out, but it was beyond our capabilities.
Back home, we skip all remaining meals and I pack my bags. Mary Ann is will be holding down all the fortresses, from the radio show to the feeding of the cat Twinnery. That takes a load off my mind.
[title type="h5"]Ox Lot 9. Covington: 428 E Boston St. 985-400-5663. [/title]
