Friday, September 9, 2011.
Rookies.
Worked at home today, because the weather continues inexplicably perfect. Still in the fifties in the evenings, sunny all day, highs not even close to the usual early-September 90s.
With the time saved by not making the hour-plus commute, I stepped out in mid-morning for a walk in the woods. I have not entered my quarter-mile trail since the ankle accident. I hesitated because the uneven ground and the many roots that poke up might twist my almost-good foot the wrong way.
I brought pruning clippers. The vines and bushes certainly grew over the trail in the seven months since I last set foot on it. There were a couple of rough spots, but no fallen trees or anything--although one long-dead, large pine shed large amounts of bark over the trail. I cut this path through the woods a few months before Katrina, and it's nice to walk it again.
Mary Leigh came home from Tulane to spend the weekend. After the radio show, the three of us went to a place that Mary Ann likes. Rookies is a sports bar in Mandeville with two distinctions. It claims the biggest screen of any restaurant on the North Shore. I can believe that. I've seen smaller screens in movie theaters. In case that's not enough--or if the big screen is on the wrong game--each table has its own small screen. Wow.
More interesting is that the owners are the current champions at the auspicious Memphis Barbecue Competition--one of the big events on the BBQ circuit. That grabs Mary Ann, who is addicted to barbecue. I like the stuff, too.
We began the pigout with thin-sliced onion rings, whose only deficiency was in the size of the pile. Inured as we are to the likes of Charlie's Steak House, we polished that order of thin-sliced rings off in nothing flat. They were too expensive and the oil not fresh enough for us to get another batch.
We shared platters of brisket, ribs, pulled pork nachos, and a hamburger. All the 'cue was beyond reproach. I can see how these guys might win a competition. The smoke, the moistness and tenderness, and the seasoning were all one could desire, and the sauce was also well made. Wasn't nuts about the fries, but the collard greens (another of MA's passions) were good.
It was a fun evening, but not one we are likely to repeat often as a family. Although I have no objections to coming here with the Marys to watch a football game, and have never caused any problems when I did, Mary Ann says that my very presence at even a televised sporting event is a bringdown. She says she will be at Rookies for every Saints game, and I am not invited.
Rookies Sports Cafe. Mandeville: 1600 N Causeway Blvd. 985-231-7661.
