While the calendar may say the first day of summer is June 21, the weather has clearly been saying otherwise… for some time now.
I always tell people that I’m thankful for the heat — that if it wasn’t for the sky-high temps and matching humidity, we’d be hosting visitors at our house year-round. Instead, summer becomes a time when we are set free to roam about, to let go of the tour guide/super host duties for a while and do some serious imposing upon our friends and family…those 60 degree temperatures in San Francisco are looking pretty good right now.
This summer, however, we have quite a few more choices when it comes to air travel thanks to a boom in new airlines and flights. Latin America has long been on my bucket list, so I’m particularly excited about the arrival of Copa Airlines, whose flights to Panama City begin June 26. In all, we’ve counted 11 new destinations added just in the past few months, including summer favorites Destin, Cancun, Orlando and Pensacola.
One of my favorite ways to cool off close to home is definitely with a muffaletta in one hand and a Pimm’s Cup in the other. In fact, Napoleon House was the first restaurant my family and I visited after we moved here a little over four years ago. This, of course, means it holds a special place in my heart, so I was very excited to talk to the new owner, Ralph Brennan, about his plans for the historic locale.
Like so many others, I share in the relief that no major changes are in the works. “My wife told me to sit on my hands,” he shared as we stood in the courtyard following a tour of the newly renovated Brennan’s. With all the work he’s been doing lately, I have the feeling that might be easy advice to take.
Finally, it is with great sadness that I report that our tourism columnist and blogger, Margaret Quilter, has decided to return to her home country of Australia. We wish her well in all of her future travels and hope they bring her back this way soon. Taking her place is a relatively new contributor to Biz New Orleans, Jennifer Gibson Schecter. We look forward to all the great things she will bring to the magazine.
Happy reading,
