New Orleans and Austin 2017

A chicken, but no eggs

Sunday afternoons are best spent in a laid back manner, maybe combining a few drinks with a chat over dinner. Or, if you’re in Texas, you could bet on exactly where a chicken is going to defecate. For this is Chicken Shit Bingo, where a couple of hundred people gather each weekend to experience aContinue reading “A chicken, but no eggs”

Don’t Mess With Texas!

Among the clash of musical styles blaring out of Sixth Street, it’s easy to forget that Austin has much more to offer for an evening’s entertainment. Just a couple of miles south of downtown, at the Broken Spoke, they do both types of music – country and western. And nobody goes home disappointed. The SpokeContinue reading “Don’t Mess With Texas!”

We Built This City (on food and soul)

“I’m going to show you where I grew up – and a place you should visit.” It’s an offer I can’t refuse, mainly because it’s come from the driver of the Aiport Shuttle bus and he’s taking a detour to avoid the Friday afternoon traffic. Nestling beneath the shiny corporate skyscrapers of downtown Austin isContinue reading “We Built This City (on food and soul)”

Treme-ndous

The Mississippi is arguably the river that can claim more stories than any other in the world. The earliest settlers in America quickly realised its importance for establishing crops, for travel and later for trade. Today, Ol’ Man River is just as impressive – and still a busy place around the port of New Orleans.Continue reading “Treme-ndous”

I Get Around

“We opened a water park just a few miles out town,” explains Glen over a drink in the hotel courtyard, casually adding, “about five weeks before Katrina.” Glen was born in New Orleans and moved back with his wife Melissa a few years back. It’s one of the hundreds of ordinary stories about an extraordinaryContinue reading “I Get Around “

History : Past and Present

Louis Armstrong airport is about a twenty minute drive from downtown New Orleans, and the cheapest way to get there is by using the shared van Airport Shuttle service. The driver tells me his family were from England – Exeter to be precise – but that was around 300 years ago. He’s full of factsContinue reading “History : Past and Present”

An Easier Way To The Big Easy

Heathrow has its merits. Despite being an awkward hop from Nottingham, it has scale. And when you’re flying with British Airways it also has class in the shape of Terminal 5. In the middle of a Monday it’s also relatively quiet. Except for the jazz band. But this is more than a happy coincidence, becauseContinue reading “An Easier Way To The Big Easy”