Greek Fest and NOWFE 2017

Riley’s last day of school was also the start of Memorial Day weekend. That meant it was time for Greek Fest and NOWFE.

Like last year, we went out to Greek Fest on Friday night. Dana and her fam (and Lynn and some of her friends) joined us. Dana, Lynn, Andrew, and I had signed up to run the race, but we decided at the last minute to run the one mile instead of the 5K. We figured it would be more fun to start drinking free beer earlier, which it totally was. But I did run the entire mile instead of doing my intervals and came in with a time of 10:25. Dana and I actually crossed at the exact same time. Awesome!

We met back up with the guys and the kids once we were finished. The kids had been busy while we were gone: making sand necklaces, playing on the inflatables, and begging to go on a canoe ride. They had a blast like they always do!

While the kids played, we feasted on calamari and gyro for dinner. And of course I made sure to take home a box of my favorite Greek pastries. Such a fun night. Opa!

The next evening was the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience. I hadn’t been to NOWFE since 2015, so I was really glad it worked out for me to go this year. Kenny stayed home with the boys while Nola, Nopsi, and I met Dana, Lynn, Jeff, and Erin out at its new venue: Mardi Gras World.

I had never been to Mardi Gras World before, so I was really excited about the change in venue. But while it was pretty and neat to be right on the river, the space was WAY too small for the amount of people in attendance. It was very crowded and super hot inside the building. Hopefully they learn for next year and move it back to the Convention Center or the Dome.

We managed to have a great time anyway, though, as we do. It was Dana’s and Lynn’s first year attending, and I think they enjoyed themselves. We also saw Ashley and Greg, who were there for their first time. We tasted so many great things, including crispy crawfish rice from Besh Steak, five-spiced duck breast from The Grill Room, cobia ceviche from Johnny Sanchez, smoked whitefish on a wonton from I don’t know where, and a fleur de sel caramel tart from M Bistro (I had two of these).

 

 

Oh, and there was wine! We almost didn’t save enough room for libations, but we tried a number of wines that I really liked. Alias pinot noir, Cherry Pie pinot noir, Natura cabernet, and Hahn GSM red blend were my favorites.

  

We didn’t all stay together the whole night but it was fun reuniting every now and then to compare notes. And to take pics.

I came home with a full belly, a list of wines to find, and the 2017 NOWFE poster by local artist Christy Boutte. I think it will look mighty nice framed in my dining room next to my other NOWFE posters.

Two fun events to officially kick off summer! And lots more to come.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!