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Reunion 2016 in the French Quarter

New Orleans, LA

 

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New Orleans was a great venue and the weather was perfect for this reunion of the O2-A Night Rustic group.  We had 8 members of our elite group attending and all brought spouses or significant others.  Initially there was a bit of a transportation problem, not for lack of the same as many forms are available in the city, but rather the need for expediency as the long-tested forms of streetcar, bus and taxi were long-suffering in wait times for arrival to board.  Hoppy (R-45) Hopkins changed all that upon his arrival.  He introduced the group to travel by Uber, which was an awesome revelation for this group’s travel needs during reunions.  In fact, Hoppy may just have nailed down the position of Transport Honcho permanently for our future reunions.  He showed those with smart phones (not all had them) how to use the Uber App and with some “buddying up”, away the group went in a super timely manner to and from all our subsequent events.  Thank you Hoppy!  What a cool tool and super economical, as well.

 

We had great accommodations at the Homewood Suites by Hilton in the Business District, just a block or so outside the French Quarter.  We all had at least 1-bedroom suites and the premises were immaculate.  We even received a complimentary Social Hour with beer, wine, and appetizers on Thursday evening.  Each day we were there, we received a complimentary hot breakfast buffet as well.

 

Several points of interest and activities were put into the Events schedule: Dinner at Acme Oyster House the first night; A luncheon cruise on the Mississippi, a visit to the French Market, and dinner at Pat O’Briens Courtyard Restaurant & Piano Bar on the second day; Coffee & Beignets at Café Du Monde, lunch at the Gumbo Shop, beer tasting and a tour of the NOLA Brewing Company, and dinner at House of Blues on the third day; Admission to the National WW II Museum took up most of the fourth day followed by our traditional Closing Dinner Banquet that evening at the Domenica Restaurant in the famous Roosevelt Hotel in the French Quarter.

 

In between all these events, there was plenty of time for self-guided sightseeing, shopping, or just restful snoozing in our comfy “digs”.  Everyone expressed to me what a great time they had, which immediately prompted me to issue the following assessment regarding the above battle plan:

 

“MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!”

 

I would like to thank all those who attended and I highly recommend to every member of our Night Rustic Group to plan on attending the next reunion.  There is a very strong bond between us which is nearly inexplicable.  We need to keep renewing that bond by getting together as long as we are able, and time is becoming “of the essence”, given our inevitable aging. 

-- Capt Zeke D, Reunion Chm.

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