Wednesday, September 27, 2023

 

Ann left the room at about 7 a.m. today for more breakfast meetings. After she left, Bob went to the supermarket, returned to the hotel, and got ready for the golf outing to support the GAPNA foundation. The same group plays every year at different locations. This year we were playing golf at the Audubon Golf Course.

Since not everyone is an excellent golfer, we play a game called 'best ball.' Here's how it works: In a foursome, each player places their ball wherever the best shot within the group landed. This way, the outing remains enjoyable for everyone..

The course's website features drone footage of the entire layout. After viewing this, I decided to bring plenty of golf balls from home because they are twice as costly when purchased at the course. We were able to rent golf clubs there at a reasonable rate. There were numerous water hazards scattered across the course, so I asked at the front desk about the presence of alligators. The response was quite casual, "Of course, they do. Just about any water in New Orleans contains alligators.'"

Maybe the water did contain alligators, but they never bothered us. The water also attracted a wide variety of very interesting birds, including an Eagle. It was a public course contained within a nature preserve and a really nice public course. 

The golf outing was much fun, except for one problem... it was hot and humid! I had never played in such conditions before and I had to really slow down. Even with the electric cart, it was a real workout, At one point I began hearing voices..."Bob, this is your primary physician, don't you agree that it's time to lose some weight." When I returned to the hotel I needed some recovery time. However, it was a great time. And... Bob/I won an award for the longest drive on the 18th hole. Pure luck, but those days at the driving range before leaving for the trip paid off. 

The fairway- we had eight players in our group.

You had to be careful of alligators at the water hazards!

There was some kind of a "fake meteorite" in one of the fairways. It's amazing what people place on golf courses. However, the park where we played had been in existence since the 1800's.

Our group.- best team.

The prize for the longest drive on the 18th hole

A set of bookends.

After I/Bob recovered from the golf outing, we went for a late dinner in the hotel, returned to the room, and both of us collapsed within 10 minutes. 

By the way, there is a Beyoncé concert this evening at the Superdome across the street from the hotel. We found out from our last trip to NOLA that she owns a home in another part of town.  Dozens or hundreds of guests checked in our hotel during the afternoon. They expect to return to the hotel and spend the night rather than return home immediately after the concert. Based on impromptu conversations while waiting for the elevator, people came in from all over Louisiana to see the concert. From the twenty-fifth floor of the hotel we could see the traffic trying to make its way into town. People were still coming in an hour after the concert had started. Parking was available but at $45. per car unless you were willing to walk about a mile to the concert. In fact, our Uber out to the golf outing was only $20. to get there, but coming back into town just before the concert the price doubled. The Superdome is enclosed and it was impossible to hear anything from the outside.

Photo taken from the hotel from the outside of the Superdome

Stay tuned, more later.