Four Good Things About the Move

A Friday Hodgepodge

Our latest move, from northeastern Florida to the New Orleans area, has been our most hectic. This morning, I'm taking some time out to focus on a few of the things I look forward to when it's done.

1. There is an active Arsenal supporter's club there called -- what else? -- the Krewe of Arsenal. (Interestingly, this will be three cities in a row where meeting up for the games will be in an Irish pub.)

I stopped going to the local club in Jacksonville during the pandemic and look forward to doing this from time to time again, especially with the magic head coach Mikel Arteta has been working over the last couple of years.

2. During my time here in Florida, I discovered a new favorite beer, Abita's Andygator.

We will soon live a short drive away from Abita Springs: Might there be a brewery tour in the not-so-distant future? The answer would appear to be yes.

Oh, and I just noticed there's a link titled, "Join the Brew Krewe."

3. Since we'll be suburbanites, you might shake your head at the thought that the Van Horns, foodies that we are, will have to make do with chain restaurants.

That is largely true, but (a) we like the local cuisine and (b) some of the chains are New Orleans-based. A couple are already familiar since we lived in Houston, where there are also locations. (I drove by a Copeland's last week.)

Verdict: We should be fine.

As a bonus, both places I've gone to with limited beer selections had Andygator as the "beer snob" option. Not a bad local default, if that is indeed the case...

4. It will be very easy to be in touch with our families here. My wife's folks have a place on the beach near Pensacola, which is only a three or four hour drive away, and they still have lots of friends in the area.

My family is about that far away in various parts of Mississippi. Rumor has it that even my mother, who doesn't travel much these days, might be tempted to drive down and see the place once we're situated.

She'll have to: We plan on having a couple of grandcats to go along with her grandchildren.

-- CAV