Hello lovers of good times, fun places, and great people. It has been a little while since Aimee and I have had the opportunity to share a vacation adventure. I hope you enjoy some highlights of our recent trip to the sugar-white beaches of Florida’s Emerald Coast.

Please follow the links for episode videos.

Episode 1

The highlight of the drive to the coast was missing 2 accidents on the highway and stopping at this crazy truck stop/country store/gas station called BUC-EE’s in Robertsdale, Alabama. We arrived just in time for sunset cocktails – just straight, welcome to vacation, Prosecco and a crazy lightning storm after dark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EShNlmGzrE

Episode 2

This story first appeared in our most recent Gala holiday Issue. Let's check it out agin today because DIXIE opens once again in New Orleans tomorrow, January 25, 2020!

The Emeril Lagasse Foundation’s signature outdoor food and music festival, Boudin, Bourbon & Beer, kicks-off on Friday, Nov. 9 at Champions Square in New Orleans. One of the South’s top food and music festivals, the eighth annual event will showcase award-winning chefs preparing their own creative styles of boudin sausage. Chef Emeril Lagasse, along with co-chairs Donald Link, Stephen Stryjewski and Guy Fieri lead this culinary extravaganza that puts Louisiana’s favorite artisanal sausage in the spotlight.

Not only can you feast on 70+ boudin-inspired dishes by local and national chefs,

In remembrance of this day in 2005…

Crescent City Snow, Susan Cowsill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aN2GZSE9ss

We Don’t Fear the Water, Chuck Perkins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DsPn7dLie4

Rebuild, Renew, Nine Lives Cast Recording

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fkn1YZLpQ8

The first recording of I’m a Fool to Care by Ted Daffan’s Texans (1940)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wDGDbAJnx8

Les Paul and Mary Ford’s hit version of I’m a Fool to Care from 1954

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1MJsXDLnEY

Joe Barry’s original recording of I’m a Fool to Care

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcriNmPyY-Q

Join Aimee as she shares our Caribbean adventure as only she can while we return to Jamaica to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. This will be our fourth visit to one of the Couples Resorts and, I admit, after our first trip to an all-inclusive for our honeymoon, it has been difficult to vacation any other way. It reminds me of the color TV versus black & white story.

Some of you may be old enough to remember having a neat black & white television, with no remote control, and thinking it was the greatest thing since sliced bread – I am going to assume you have all been around since sliced bread. After that first time seeing a color TV, the love affair was over. All-inclusive resorts are just that. Food and beverage and room service an all those things are pre-paid for. It may cost a little more money, but I am sure no resorts are making a big profit when I am visiting the bar for a week.

Follow the the video links at the end of each episode!

Join Aimee and I as we a once in a lifetime trip to Oktoberfest 2016 into a multi-city European adventure. Follow the YouTube links for each episode as Aimee shares our journey as only she can.

Episode 1: The Expiration Date
Did you know that when traveling to Europe the expiration date on your passport is not always the expiration date? We did not; but when we got to the airport on the morning of our flight we were informed that our return to the states needed to occur 6 months prior to the actual expiration date – which for us was only one month away!

https://youtu.be/bWIZFJnUFTU

Episode 2: The Charles River
On our first day in Prague, we found a cool bar, off the beaten track and right on the river. As you can see, it looks like someone dropped the trailer off an 18-wheeler, put some chairs on top and hooked up a few kegs. Good idea!

This is a Booze Classic Column dating back to September/October of 2016. With the world’s greatest cocktail symposium taking place in New Orleans in just a couple months, it seemed like a good time to pour ourselves another glass of a story inspired by Tales of the Cocktail!

Why are we even commemorating this fifth of May day? It is not the celebration of Mexican Independence Day. El Grito de la Indepedencia (The Cry of Independence) is held every September 16 in honor of Mexico's independence from Spanish rule in 1810. These festivities mark the victory of an outnumbered and poorly outfitted Mexican army over invading French forces at the Batalla de Puebla (Battle of Puebla) in 1862. Cinco de Mayo was first recognized in California in 1863 and continues to be widely celebrated in the United States. While a source of great national pride for Mexican-Americans, it is almost completely ignored south of the border.

From our waters to your plate, the Louisiana Seafood Festival is a celebration of all the fresh and flavorful seafood that makes our state great. This year the party offers 3 days of live music, celebrity Chef cooking demonstrations, a beer garden featuring local and craft selections, a Kid’s tent, and artist village, and, naturally, over 2 dozen delicious food and drink vendors. Some of the new participants this year include Ajun Cajun, Dat Dog, Dirty Dishes, Praline Connection, Quintin’s Ice Cream, Voleo’s Seafood.

In the WWL-TV Cooking Pavilion, 16 celebrity chefs, representing the top seafood chefs in the state, will reveal their secrets to exceptional seafood preparation and cooking. Just a few of those you can check out include Wilfredo Avelar from Emeril’s new restaurant, Meril, Austin Kirzner from Red Fish Grill, Tory McPhail from Commander’s Palace, and Andrea’s Andrea Apuzzo.