Less controversial topic- Crawfish boil- must have corn and new potatoes.

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And what dark Muffaletta, it's time come round at last, slouches towards New Orleans to be born.

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"Out of Spiritus Muffaletti"

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It's probably been mentioned above, but I don't think that I can recommend Deanie's Seafood in Metarie highly enough. Best barbeque shrimp in the whole freakin' world.

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There's a Deanie's downtown, now, too. In fact, I think there are two - one affiliated with the Deanie's in Metairie and another upstart Deanie's. Might be spelled differently. I'll look into it.

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When my wife & I drove to Alabama for Thanksgiving, we took I-10 through New Orleans just to eat lunch at Deanie's, adding about 2 hours. But DAMN! It's that good. If the one downtown is up to snuff, by all means, y'all should go.

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The Seaport Restaurant on Bourbon also had some amazingly good barbecued shrimp a few years back. Though it was a dive whose cleanliness was inversely proportional to the good flavor of the food.

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it was a dive whose cleanliness was inversely proportional to the good flavor of the food.

This is often true. It doesn't pay to think about it too much.

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Oh, our shoes stuck to the floors like in really poorly maintained public restrooms. All was forgiven once the shrimp scampi was brought out, though.

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OK....and back on topic for a second...

I'm working out the details of the contract now. I've gotten most of the kinks ironed out, but there was one misunderstanding that I wanted to ask about now--we can also address it again in a few months when we have a better idea of numbers.

There are definitely appetizer possibilities, but they are not free. Ack. My apologies; this was my gaffe.

Anyway, there are a whole lot of hot and cold hors d'oeuvres options (and yes...muffalettes are one of them), and I do think it might be nice to have a few nibblets at the Prom. I thought maybe we could wait and see how much money we raise in the general fund, see how many people (privately, of course) let ND know they could use some help with the room costs and/or buddy or triple up for rooms, and then decide if we have enough left over for some food.

I don't need to give them our decision on the "menu options" until the month before the F2F, so April will be decision making time. If we end up not having the extra cash, we will just have the normal cash bar--no harm, no foul. I did decide (following Heather's generous example) that I was going to buy at least one appetizer for everyone to munch on as my own little contribution, so we'll have at least one thing to eat.

Something to note here--since we do have to reach that $1500 minimum food/beverage consumption that night, having an appetizer or two might help.

Wait a sec...am I doubting (some of) the Buffistas' ability to consume alcohol? Never mind.

In terms of the contract, here are some final important details you should all be aware of:

• We have a block of rooms reserved for each night. Here are the numbers: Thurs. 5/19--10 rooms. Friday and Saturday 5/20-5/21--19 rooms. Sunday 5/22--5 rooms. These are ballpark numbers, I know, but I'm walking a fine line. If I reserve too many rooms and we don't fill 90% of our reserved block, we end up being responsible for the difference...so it will be first come, first serve for room rates. However...if the rooms fill up quickly, I can also probably negotiate with Marvin for more at the reduced rate. The absolute cutoff date to get the reduced rate if the block

doesn't sell out early is April 20, 2005.

• To make a reservation, call

1-800-535-9111 or 504-581-7300. Please identify yourself as part of your group (4th Annual Buffistas F2F Meeting) when making reservations. You cannot make a reservation at the reduced rate online; you'll have to so it by phone. (From the contract): A first night’s deposit by check or credit card will be due 10 days after the reservation is made to guarantee the room. Individual cancellations or changes must be received by May 6, 2005 or a first nights room rate will be forfeited.

• Rates:
  

Singles Doubles Triples Quads
$109.00 $109.00 $129.00 $149.00
My guess, though, is that you could get away with booking a double and having a third person sharing one of the beds. Not that I would encourage such sneakiness, of course.

I think that's about it for now...I'll be signing the contract tomorrow and faxing it off now that I've gotten it adjusted with Marvin. Anyone who's very ambitious can make their reservation anytime starting next week. Just be sure to follow the procedures outlined above.

Another flurry of information to follow at the 90 day mark...so I'll be back around February for phase two.

Questions? Comments?

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