Monday, July 26, 2010. The Vacation Is Off. New Orleans Food And Spirits. Acme. I moved and Mary Ann seconded that we blow off the planned trip to Texas. It's been such a non-starter that all we would wind up doing is drive around the parts of Texas I can't stand (the eastern part), with no time to visit the part we love (the western part). Our only firm appointment is with WFAA-TV in Dallas.
Our daughter made it clear that she wanted no part of this trip. She hates long-distance land travel. There was some question as to whether Mary Ann would come along. On my own, I could make this a relaxing journey, taking back roads and stopping when it was time to do the radio show wherever I happened to be.
But Mary Ann--whose tastes in hotels I learned were much more advanced than mine the first time we went anywhere together--has moved much farther upscale. No longer are the likes of the Marriott Courtyard good enough. When she says that we must go only to places like the Four Seasons and the Ritz-Carlton, that removes many towns from the map. And I find nothing relaxing about a straight-through New Orleans-to-Dallas drive.
It was this impasse that canceled the trip. Oh, well. At least I didn't have a lot of guest hosts lined up for the radio show. (I was planning on doing the program from the road.)
Lunch at New Orleans Food and Spirits in Covington. It was warm in there; either an air conditioning unit was out, or was overwhelmed by the humidity. Not an uncommon problem these days. The Marys ordered predictably. Mary Ann's was a half-muffuletta (heated until the cheese was melted, of course; Mary Ann never takes culinary advice from me) with a cup of gumbo. Mary Leigh burgered. I had the pecan catfish (below), made with an enormous fillet. Big catfish is inferior to small catfish, but I found nothing to complain about, and the sauce was good. Eleven bucks for that: good value.
It is unusual that the three of us would also go out to dinner, and even more so that the two restaurants involved would show so little contrast. We went to the Acme for supper. The oysters were smallish but good, coming from Texas. Mary Leigh liked the smaller oysters, because they left more room in the shell for the garlic butter. (She doesn't actually eat the oysters.) The usual menu filled the table: stuffed oyster soup, wedge salad with blue cheese, fried oysters with remoulade, a cup of red beans. That makes two orders of red beans in one day from my family, which can't be said to be neglecting the classics.
The Acme showed no sign of problems getting seafood. They even had speckled trout tonight, which I don't remember seeing there in decades.
New Orleans Food & Spirits. Covington: 208 Lee Lane. 985-875-0432. Seafood.
Acme Oyster House. Covington: 1202 US 190 (Causeway Blvd.). 985-246-6155. Seafood.
