Ask me anything

[Tsal]

While recently cleaning up my mom and dad’s house after their passing, I came across maps, brochures and videos that my dad had ordered from different states and sights across the country and from what I remember they didn’t ever go to any of those sights (which is sad really)

So now my wife and I might have the financial abilities to actually take a vacation for the first time in 9 years or so
We don’t know what to do or where to go
We don’t want to go out of the country
We don’t want to be in a boat far enough out on the water that we can’t swim ashore
We thought about going out to visit@Chef Benny and press out luck at casino
We thought about visiting @Citizen B and staying at his awesome b&b hotel
Heck I’d even be good with going down south to hang out with @Kevin Keith and checking out the ….. well whatever is down there lol

We have both talked about our endless possibilities several times and really are not overly excited about anything that could be fun. In our minds our vacation starts out as a two week vacation and by the time we talk about it it dwindles down to being a Daycation and even further down to thoughts of where to go out for dinner

My question is……
Are we getting old? Or are we just boring people?

What! You don't want to come to Jersey!?

[Houtenziel]

Here's another question for ya Ruff, since so far you've never steered me wrong on tobacco. What would you say are the top Burley based aros where the burley shines through a little, if that makes sense at all. Sorta like SWRA.. it's definitely an aro, but you know you are smoking burley.
Reason I ask is I've inadvertently tried a few Virginia forward aros lately where burley is in the background mix but subdued by the bready hay n' OJ, and I am just not it's greatest fan.

[Citizen B]

While recently cleaning up my mom and dad’s house after their passing, I came across maps, brochures and videos that my dad had ordered from different states and sights across the country and from what I remember they didn’t ever go to any of those sights (which is sad really)

So now my wife and I might have the financial abilities to actually take a vacation for the first time in 9 years or so
We don’t know what to do or where to go
We don’t want to go out of the country
We don’t want to be in a boat far enough out on the water that we can’t swim ashore
We thought about going out to visit@Chef Benny and press out luck at casino
We thought about visiting @Citizen B and staying at his awesome b&b hotel
Heck I’d even be good with going down south to hang out with @Kevin Keith and checking out the ….. well whatever is down there lol

We have both talked about our endless possibilities several times and really are not overly excited about anything that could be fun. In our minds our vacation starts out as a two week vacation and by the time we talk about it it dwindles down to being a Daycation and even further down to thoughts of where to go out for dinner

My question is……
Are we getting old? Or are we just boring people?

I hate to travel, which always astounds my guests, who love to travel. I always say, you need people like me, a person who gets intimate with a place , who puts down roots and gets to know it in his bones and nervous system so that I can explain to you what's going on. I live in a kaleidoscope of an old, old city that is like no place else. I know. I've been to other places.

I say five days because even after one day I'm itching to get back to home base and after five days, I can't think about anything else. That said, Mrs. King took me to Thailand and we stayed 10 days because I couldn't justify the flight for only five days. When we got home, I said we could have stayed a month. Of course, I had things to do at home base but we could have stayed in Thailand a very contented month. Things at home would have waited.

If you find yourself bored in New Orleans, you have a hole in your spirit. It isn't what you think it is. It is much, much better.

I always say five days is the perfect amount of time for your first visit. It is long enough to sample enough to feel like it is like to live here. It really is a different world. People in New Orleans track on a different trajectory than people in other places. It's all about making good memories that will last a lifetime. The only way to make good memories is to live life to its fullest, part of a community.

If you are happy with your rut, I am not one to call you out. I spend my day traveling well-worn and deep grooves. Ask Mrs. King. We talked about it this morning as I was telling her my ideas of starting a new business (I have two in the hopper----one of them involves a shuffleboard table).

It all depends on where you go and what you are interested in. For instance, I have plenty of guests who stay with us and tell us that they came here for a convention once and saw everything there is to see but their significant other has never been so here they are. When I hear what they did, go to the convention, stay at the Hilton, and visit Bourbon Street, I tell them they haven't seen anything. There is a whole, wide, wonderful city out here, where we live. Visit like you belong, not like you are just passing through.

My day doesn't always go like this, but this video was shot in my neighborhood. I recognize everything, including the extras.



I have very little interest in music, food, or Mardi Gras, and, yet, I still love it here.

I know you think we eat gumbo three meals a day here but I can't remember the last time I had a bowl. It was probably when my mother visited and we went to Liuzza's-by-the-Track. Best everyday gumbo in town. It's a bar that opens for lunch and closes after Jeopardy is over. Welcome to New Orleans. https://liuzzasbythetrack.com. It's full of jockeys, trainers, and gamblers in season.

New Orleans is more than the sum of its parts. I would hope every place is, really. Even Soylent Green is made of people.

This concludes my plug for New Orleans. I am not in this business to judge other people's motives or proclivities. If I were, I would be out of a job. When you are ready, Mrs. King and I look forward to sharing our part of New Orleans with you and Mrs. Rekamepip, and anyone else who wants to experience what it means to fall in love with New Orleans. Being a New Orleans goodwill ambassador is what I do for a living. There is more to New Orleans than you read in the guidebooks.

Okay, now I'm done. I don't mean this post to sound like an advertisement but this is the kind of stuff I write about all the time. It's hard to turn it off. When you love what you do, it isn't work.

[rekamepip]

Thanks @Citizen B !
We are not party people nor Foodies so just to get an offer to see your city 1st hand would make it much more enjoyable
and Yes to table top shuffle board

[Ronv69]

I agree with Citizen B. I thought that I had seen NO when I was a kid, but I I only saw Bourbon Street and a few other things. Went back about 3 years ago and saw completely different stuff. Went back last January and saw still more new stuff. And there are still things we want to see.
That said, this probably isn't the best time to visit. Albuquerque and Santa Fe are lovely, but a lot of the small places are more interesting. Las Alamos for instance. The area around Flagstaff is amazing. Arkansas is a great place to visit with lots to do. We are under orders to visit Mandeville before we can go anywhere else.
I lived in Houston for 69 years and I never saw everything there. There are a dozen new museums and parks that I never got to see, new music venues that we never went to and festivals every week. We just got tired of the traffic and people. There are world class museums in Ft. Worth and more to see in Texas overall than I will ever see. I would love to visit Palo Duro Canyon and see the show, and if the redevelopment of the Alamo area are ever finished I will have to go there.

[Ruffinogold]

Frank Llaneza was a god...so many delicious cigars, especially ERDM.

I met him in Ybor City , where their office is . I stopped in there every few days to get product . I sold more villazon than I did Fuente . Back then the company was called Villiazon before they sold out to whomever . His daughter , whos name escapes me , was pretty hot and quite busty . She didnt smile alot and wasnt my type except for the busty part

[Kevin Keith]

@Ronv69 you mentioned Palo Duro Canyon. Get this. We lived in Amarillo for a few years when I was a kid, dad’s job dontcha know. Anyway, during the summer either my mom or dad would drop me and my little brother off at the entrance of the Canyon and we would spend the day exploring. We had canteens and some jerky and that’s how we spent lots of days. At the end of the day they would pick us up back at the main entrance. I was 13…I couldn’t imagine doing that with one of my kids. It was great fun for us in those days.

Another fun thing we did was go camping in the Big Bend. One day my brother and I took off just exploring and when we got to the Rio Grande we walked across into Mexico into a little town called Boquillas. I was probably 15 about this time. That was pretty fun too. They had a bear chained up in the middle of the “town” that would drink bottles of coke and beer you could give him. When we got back we told our parents what we did and my mom freaked out. it’s a miracle I made it out of my childhood alive. lol

Texas is full of wonders, so is Mexico.

[Ruffinogold]

Here's another question for ya Ruff, since so far you've never steered me wrong on tobacco. What would you say are the top Burley based aros where the burley shines through a little, if that makes sense at all. Sorta like SWRA.. it's definitely an aro, but you know you are smoking burley.
Reason I ask is I've inadvertently tried a few Virginia forward aros lately where burley is in the background mix but subdued by the bready hay n' OJ, and I am just not it's greatest fan.

...

If you havent already , maybe try some Green River tobacco , Its rarely discussed , yet it is so unique and pretty damn fantastic

Im guessing but Id think to check up on some H&H blends . The burley I smoke is pretty straight forward or extremely straight forward ..... or a cased cavendish , of a burley cavendish majority over Virginia cavendish . Theres a few all Virginia black cavendish that I do really like ., like MB Ambrosia . God thats good and I havent had it in a while

But as far as what youre asking , Ive tried H&H blends and I cant stand them and think they are pretty much garbage .. but .. of some Ive tried , I can relate to what you saying but I couldnt tell you the blend
Theres nothing like SWRA .. I mean , nothing . Its surprising to me there isnt

Sutliffs RL PR [ ace of spades ] has a little toping but thats not what youre asking . Im trying to think / type out loud here ... hmmm


There was a sutliff private stock blend that reminds me of what youre after but it didnt sell enough apparently , so its gone , though it was a bit aro forward

Ya know , what you mention is pretty much what Im after as well , many times . I generally mix things to achieve it . Like taking SWR or MBGE as a base and adding some regular black caveddish along with a flavored cavendish . Its about proportions and hit and miss . When ya hit , its really good

Ill keep my mind on it a bit and maybe Ill come up with something . Right now Im blank .

[Citizen B]

Frank Llaneza was a god...so many delicious cigars, especially ERDM.

I met him in Ybor City , where their office is . I stopped in there every few days to get product . I sold more villazon than I did Fuente . Back then the company was called Villiazon before they sold out to whomever . His daughter , whos name escapes me , was pretty hot and quite busty . She didnt smile alot and wasnt my type except for the busty part

Are you sure you're not talking about that time you went to Frank Frazetta's house?

[Ruffinogold]

While recently cleaning up my mom and dad’s house after their passing, I came across maps, brochures and videos that my dad had ordered from different states and sights across the country and from what I remember they didn’t ever go to any of those sights (which is sad really)

So now my wife and I might have the financial abilities to actually take a vacation for the first time in 9 years or so
We don’t know what to do or where to go
We don’t want to go out of the country
We don’t want to be in a boat far enough out on the water that we can’t swim ashore
We thought about going out to visit@Chef Benny and press out luck at casino
We thought about visiting @Citizen B and staying at his awesome b&b hotel
Heck I’d even be good with going down south to hang out with @Kevin Keith and checking out the ….. well whatever is down there lol

We have both talked about our endless possibilities several times and really are not overly excited about anything that could be fun. In our minds our vacation starts out as a two week vacation and by the time we talk about it it dwindles down to being a Daycation and even further down to thoughts of where to go out for dinner

My question is……
Are we getting old? Or are we just boring people?

Easy ... Go vist @Citizen B in New Orleans .... period

If you were boring , you wouldnt even consider a vacation