Back From New Orleans

I got in late tonight from New Orleans, where I had a lot of fun with music, food, and of course darts. First the food. I started off for Friday lunch by indulging in the 80-shrimp po'boy sandwich at the New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Company. For dinner we went to Oki Nago, in Metairie (a New Orleans suburb) which had an incredible Japanese buffet with a lot of seafood delicacies. Saturday we went to the memorable Jazz Brunch at The Court of Two Sisters, featuring many New Orleans specialties, along with some spicy boiled crawfish. Then on Sunday, we ate at Lee's Hamburgers, a local place that does burgers right. What a weekend! It's time for a diet.

Next, the music. After The Court of Two Sisters on Saturday, we went to the French Quarter Festival, featuring some great free music set up on several stages. We listened to Charmaine Neville, and several bands while visiting with some old friends from out of town. Very nice.

Finally, the darts. I packed along my darts just in case I could steal away for long enough to play a few games. I noticed that my favorite dart bar, 3rd Base Sports Bar, 1302 N Causeway Blvd. in Metairie, was having a luck of the draw Saturday night so I was able to attend. Half the tournament proceeds went to benefit the family of a local dart player whose infant grandchild had tragically died recently. While I noticed a lot of the faces had changed, some of my old dart friends were there who I haven't seen in a long time. Hi to Theresa Marie (Tee), Gwen, Doug, Kenny, and all my old friends I saw at 3rd Base.

It was a luck of the draw doubles tournament, double elimination, best of three legs, 501/Cricket/301. Our first match was against a strong team, but my partner was on fire. In the 501, he hit a 180 and closed a 121 out his next turn for the win. We dropped a close cricket leg. In the 301, he hit a bull for the out while our opponents were waiting on a double. He was thrilled, as was I. As he cooled down a bit, I started contributing more in later rounds, with some steady scoring and a few clutch doubles. We made it all the way to the finals, where we finally ran out of gas against a strong team that opened with a 15 dart 501 game, taking out 111 and leaving us on 144. In cricket, we could not find the triple and it cost us. Still, it was a great night of darts.

After the match, I visited with Tee and Doug and played pick-up doubles matches until after 2 a.m. It was great to visit with friends who I had not seen in so long. New Orleans remains a great town for darts.