I would like to take a moment to thank everyone that came out to the Hubbell Library Tweet-up and give major props to Dan Hubbell for orchestrating it. I’m not exactly what you would call the outdoorsy type, especially in this summer heat and humidity. While I had drops of sweat trickling down my spine yesterday, my afternoon was filled with hanging out with friends, making new ones and learning about one of the city’s most beautiful and oldest neighborhoods, Algiers Point. It was such a pleasure to meet Dan’s father, George Hubbell, who, as we walked through the streets, gave us historical facts on the architecture and history of Algiers. There were so many photo opportunities, I often had to run to catch up with the group. I’ve posted my pictures on the NOLA Eats Flickr account, so please feel free and browse through them if it’s been a while since you’ve been to Algiers.
My Twitter friend Dan Hubbell asked if I would help him co-host a Tweetup he’s organized for the friends, supporters and the plain ol’ curious of the Hubbell Library in Algiers. I love supporting our libraries, so naturally I agreed. It’s this Saturday, June 26, 4:00pm – ’til. It’s all very casual and will be a fun way to meet some of your neighborhood bibliophiles and learn about the struggles the Hubbell Library is experiencing. Here are the details and a map:
Join Leslie Almeida (@NOLA_Eats) and Dan Hubbell (@muffuletta/@hubbell) for an early Saturday evening tweetup—starting at our temporary library branch and ending up at a neighborhood bar and restaurant! The purpose is twofold: so Dan can meet some tweeps he’s never met in person, and so you can get familiar with our struggling little library … and then go drink.
Meet us between 4pm and 5pm at the temporary branch library, in the carriage house behind the old Algiers Courthouse at 225 Morgan Street in Algiers Point. It’s less than a block from the Canal Street ferry landing—so, Eastbankers, you can walk or bike here. Bring your New Orleans Public Library card and help by checking out a book, a DVD, whatever. The library closes at 5pm!
Weather permitting, we can walk over to see the “real” Hubbell Library at 725 Pelican Avenue, which is closed for repairs. We hope you’ll love this historic Carnegie building (New Orleans’ oldest public library!) and get ticked off like us that the city hasn’t begun repairs. >:(
Anyway, then let’s walk over to the Dry Dock Café, 133 Delaronde Street, for some refreshments. It’s a nice little bar and restaurant just a couple hundred feet from the ferry landing.
We hope you’ll join us! Oh yeah, food!
Dry Dock has a really good menu, so some of us will probably grab a table or two and have dinner. Please consider joining us for that, too!
RSVP is not mandatory, but would be helpful, just so we know who to watch for and make certain we don’t leave anyone behind.
Note: this is *not* an official New Orleans Public Library event!
It’s tough for a local to keep track of all the cool food and beverage events happening on any given day, so imagine how a visitor feels. Visitors often ask where the locals’ spots are and locals ask me about delicious deals. To make it convenient for everyone, I created an event calendar to share my favorites. Some events are ongoing, others occur only annually, but they are all NOLA Eats approved.
To get a quick view of what’s going on daily, look over to the right-hand side of the website. For the full-sized web version, just click on the Events Calendar tab under my website’s header logo. If you don’t want to miss a single event, you can add the calendar to your own iCal supported calendar. A few of the most popular are Google Calendar, Outlook and Yahoo. Chances are, if you use a calendar application, the NOLA-Eats.com Recommended Events Calendar will be supported. Here’s how to add it to your Google Calendar:
Under your Calendar list in the bottom-left-hand corner of your page, click on Add. From there, click on Add A Friend’s Calendar, then enter my Gmail email — nola.eats@gmail.com. And that’s it! Tweak your preferences to your liking.
I hope you find the NOLA-Eats.com Recommended Events Calendar to be a great source of fabulous events and sweet deals. I will constantly add new listings, so if you have one you think the NOLA-Eats.com readers would enjoy, please feel free to email me.
This is HUGE and EXCELLENT news for the city of New Orleans. I received this press release and thought many of you would be interested in reading it. You can follow updates from the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau via their Twitter feed. They are @NewOrleans.
Unprecedented leadership positions with the U. S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, Destination Marketing Association International and the U.S. Travel Association makes New Orleans a top national player in the $770 billion American travel industry.
NEW ORLEANS – Feb. 24, 2010 – Stephen Perry, President and CEO of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), is one of only two urban destination CEOs in the country selected by the Obama Administration to serve on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and advise U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Locke and the President of the United States on all key matters relating to national travel and tourism policy.
As a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, Perry will provide recommendations and expertise on all matters related to the travel industry, including air transportation, airport security, Homeland Security, visa issues and State Department matters, congressional issues and legislative matters, international marketing, business travel, conventions and meetings and national travel industry advocacy, national regulatory and tax matters among many others.
The nomination is a tremendous honor for New Orleans’ hospitality industry, as Perry is one of 29 hospitality industry CEOs appointed to serve on this board. It places him among other tourism luminaries such as David Kong, President and CEO of Best Western International; Richard H. Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines; Chuck Floyd, COO of Global Hyatt; John Sprouls, CEO of Universal Parks and Resorts; Jeremy Jacobs, Sr. Chairman and CEO of Delaware North; Adam Goldstein, President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International; Sam Gilliland, President and CEO of Sabre Holdings; Joseph Saunders, Chairman and CEO of VISA; and a number of others.
Rossi Ralenkotter, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, is the only other CEO of a major urban destination marketing organization chosen to serve on the advisory board with Perry.
Perry also served on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board in 2008 under the Bush Administration and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, and is one of only two members asked to continue service with the Obama Administration board.
I think it’s obvious that king cake is A Pretty Big Deal in the New Orleans area. I’ve seen them loaded with babies, shoes and other trinkets, but never keys, let alone “Keys To The Court” — the Windsor Court, that is. I received this press release last week, but there is still time to snag these perfectly giftable cakes. To make things more interesting, there is now more than one winning king cake that could be delivered to a lucky recipient.
In honor of Mardi Gras 2010, the Windsor Court Hotel in downtown New Orleans is offering a limited supply of 100 Windsor Court Miniature King Cakes. Prepared by the pastry chef of the hotel’s award-winning Grill Room Restaurant, Shun Li, these delicious, four-inch cakes will feature traditional colors and a cream-cheese filling, accompanied by a set of special Windsor Court Mardi Gras beads. Several of the 100 cakes will contain a set of “Keys to the Court” that will allow the recipients to enjoy a complimentary two-night, weekend stay at the Windsor Court and dinner for two in The Grill Room.
The 2010 Windsor Court Miniature King Cakes can be ordered by calling The Grill Room at 504-522-1994. Cakes are $20 apiece, including shipping and handling. Orders will begin shipping this week.
RSVP is not necessary, but if you’re pretty certain you will be attending, give me a little wave in the comments section to help me plan accordingly. I want to make sure there’s enough sweets to go around. Hope to see you there!
Graphic design by long-time member, friend and artist/designer Windi Sebren
Combine new media & social networking with food & libations and you get NOLA Eats, a New Orleans-based social dining group and blog. Founder, Event Coordinator and habitual socializer Leslie J. Almeida writes about her favorites in New Orleans restaurants and nightlife while promoting a "live local" lifestyle.
You can follow more of Leslie's NOLA adventures by connecting with her on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.
