The Wright way to celebrate New Year’s Eve

Photo by Elaine Warner

New York has its dramatic, nationally televised ball drop on New Year’s Eve but it’s not alone. Not one to let New York have all the limelight, the South offers many of its own, although these tend to be more colorful, like the MoonPie drop in Mobile or the drag queen known as Sushi inside a giant red high heel that falls on Duval Street in Key West — and boy does she look good!

            My dear travel writing buddy Elaine Warner of Oklahoma alerted me to a fun celebration in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where a massive olive drops down from the top of the Price Tower into an oversized martini glass at midnight. Now, that’s my idea of ringing in the New Year!

            The Price Tower, by the way, is the only fully realized skyscraper designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Not a “skyscraper” by today’s standards, the 19-story landmark completed in 1956 houses businesses, a hotel and dining. The restored 19th floor executive office of H.C. Price and the H.C. Price Company Corporate Apartment are available for viewing on a tour as well.

            The New Year’s Eve event — if you wish to join the organized fun — includes hors d'oeuvres, music, dancing and a champagne toast for $45. Hotel packages are also available. Proceeds from the event will be applied towards supporting the building’s World Heritage Nominated landmark status.

Here are a couple more weird New Year’s Eve celebrations in the South:
            A 1,250-pound steel-and-copper acorn is dropped at 7 p.m. (for the kids) and then again at midnight at City Plaza in Raleigh, North Carolina, as part of the First Night festivities. This year marks the 25th anniversary and the day brings lots of fun activities.
            Atlanta goes all out for its New Year’s celebration and drops — what else? — a giant peach for the annual Peach Drop, while in Miami they drop an orange and listen to Pitbull bring in the New Year for 2016. In different places in Maryland they drop a duck and a crab. 

In Key West, always known for a colorful good time, there's also a giant conch shell that falls from the top of Sloppy Joe's Bar and a pirate wench dropped from the mast of a schooner in the historic seaport, in addition to Sushi.
            Panama City drops 10,000 inflated beach balls at 8 p.m. on to the families present at Pier Park and at midnight follows with a large beach ball for the hearty partiers. In between there's lots of fun activities. Watch the video here.
            Over in Pensacola, a lighted pelican with a 20-foot wingspan rings in midnight with fun all day and all night as well.

www.tripsmarter.com

A beer by any other name

We love beers with a sense of humor. Take Great Raft Brewing in Shreveport, for instance, home to Reasonably Corrupt dark lager, the perfect drink while enjoying Louisiana politics. Great Raft has several beers with weird and fun names: Grace and Grit, Southern Drawl, Creature of Habit, All My Tomorrows, At Arm’s Length (good for when creepy men come hitting) and Awkward Uncle (see photo), what they call their "boozy winter seasonal." We’ve visited this brewery twice, enjoying its enormous and hip tasting room, brewery tours and, of course, the delicious beers.
            If you visit the taproom, you can fill up a jug and bring these tasty beers home. But if you can’t make it to Shreveport, Great Raft beers are located in stores that sell craft beers throughout Louisiana; see their web site for details.

Underground Atlanta — Airport

Atlanta history exhibit
between concourse B and C.

I’ve moved around so much in my lifetime, there’s not one place I can attribute many years to — except maybe the Atlanta Airport. I’ve been through this transportation hub in the heart of Georgia so many times they hand me my mail when I arrive.

The Hartsfield-Jackson Airport has been ranked the world’s busiest airport. According to 2012 statistics, it services 260,000 passengers a day and almost one million flights a year. The old joke used to be, when you go to heaven you must first change planes in Atlanta.

What’s weird about this is I actually enjoy visiting my second home. I know where the good restaurants are, where to find the best reading material, where to sit and enjoy TV in comfort and relative silence — you name it. And if I have a long layover, I take the opportunity to walk the underground hallways from terminal to terminal.

This past Sunday I had three hours to kill and I arrived at Terminal A and needed to travel to Terminal D for my final flight. I took the escalator down to the subway stop and walked underground all the way to my destination. It’s great exercise and there’s plenty to see along the way. For instance, between Terminal B and C there’s the history of Atlanta in panels, photographs, videos and more. You can easily spend upwards of an hour reading all about the Southern city from its inception by Native Americans to the Civil War, Civil Rights and beyond. Also around Terminal B and C is a curated photography exhibit on “A Sense of Place” by 11 Georgia-based photographers.

According to the airport web site, there’s also 20 contemporary stone sculptures from 12 Zimbabwe artists between concourses T and A, but I didn’t venture that far.

When I finally arrived at Concourse D I was treated to a collection of artwork from some of the city’s schoolchildren, including exquisite paintings, drawings and photography from ages as young as 6! And since I still had two hours left on my layover, I picked up a falafel wrap at the food court and kicked back in a comfy chair to watch planes, luggage carts and other vehicles stream by my window.

So the next time you’re killing time in the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport of Atlanta, don’t curse your bad luck. Go for a walk and experience some culture.

Want to know more about the Atlanta Airport? Check out their website at https://www.atl-airport.com/.

Cheré Dastugue Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She also writes Louisiana romances and the Viola Valentine Mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Honoring the three-legged cat of Natchez

A limping cat showed up at the Natchez City Hall in 1979 and employees couldn’t turn away the adorable feline, giving him veterinarian care, food, water and a litter box. The injured cat lost a paw and his teeth but gained an enormous amount of love. Employees, including the mayor, were so enamored with the cat that he became a permanent part of City Hall and the town. "Tripod" was even the star of TV talk shows — including “P.M. Magazine” — and the recipient of gifts from around the country.

Former Natchez Alderman Hal Wilson, however, wasn’t too keen on having Tripod around; he was allergic to cats. He tried to have the cat removed from City Hall but his motion failed to get a second, according to a story in The Natchez Democrat. Former Mayor Tony Byrne then made a motion to remove Wilson from City Hall but the vote was split and the mayor broke the tie in favor of keeping the alderman around.

Wilson eventually changed his mind, the article states. He was the only one able to reach City Hall during a snowstorm (he lived downtown) and he and Tripod kept each other company in the empty building.

Tripod died on Oct. 9, 1983. But his legacy lives on. He’s buried on City Hall grounds underneath an oak tree. There was a full memorial service and Brookhaven Monument Co. and Natchez Monument Co. donated a headstone bearing his name. The engraving reads: " The City's Kitty."

Halloween blows in Grapevine, Texas

Photo stolen from Vetro newsletter

            We visited Vetro Glassblowing Studio & Gallery on a trip through Grapevine, Texas, during the Christmas holidays. Grapevine is the “Christmas Capital of Texas” so we were there to enjoy some of the 1,400 holiday events that occur every year, including making a holiday ornament.

Yes, that’s 1,400!

            The folks at Vetro (means glass in Italian) offer glass ornament making sessions, where visitors can pick out colors and stick a glob of glass into flames and twirl them around until those colors turn into a fun, beautiful globe. I wish I could say that my ornament of lovely sea blue and turquoise was all my doing, but those artisans working at Vetro had a lot to do with it. And really, that’s what you want. I think it would be pretty scary sticking a poll with glass on the end into a 2,000-degree furnace and then blowing air into this sweltering blob that suddenly expands — without someone there to help.

Here I am working hard on my holiday ornament.

            The Vetro folks are offering to help visitors set fire to glass again, but this time for Halloween. For $55 plus tax, you can create hand-blown pumpkins in a host of wonderful colors, either ones you pick or a pre-selected mix. The sessions will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 10, 17 and 24 and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 23 and 30 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Halloween, Oct. 31, 2015.

            Pumpkins will be available for pick-up the next business day after 3 p.m. unless it’s a Saturday and then available the following Tuesday.

            Want to see how it’s done? Check out this video of Vetro glassblowing.

Granted, making glass pumpkins isn’t that weird. But these blowhards are having a steampunk glass party that makes the weird grade for sure. Glass on the Tracks on Nov. 7 in Grapevine is a mixture of glass art demonstrations, live music and the Truth or Consequences Glass Art Auction, their twisted version of a live auction where what doesn’t sell, gets smashed in their glass guillotine.

Want to see a video of this as well. Click here.
            Want to make a pumpkin or attend the party? Purchase tickets at http://vetroartglass.com/.

No cats allowed at Beaumont’s Dogtoberfest

Courtesy of Beaumont's Dogtoberfest

            Beaumont, Texas, is going to the dogs.

            From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015, downtown Beaumont will be barking with Dogtoberfest, all happening at Central Bark, the green space between the Julie Rogers Theatre and the Beaumont Public Library. Bring your pooch and a plastic bag.

The fun begins at 8 a.m. with a Puppies and Pancakes Breakfast followed by the “Strutt your Mutt” Parade at 9 a.m. Contests include Master/Dog Look Alike, Cutest Dog, Most Talented Dog, Best Dressed, Best Tail Wagging and Best Howler (human and/or canine). In addition to the contests, Mr. & Mrs. Dogtoberfest 2015 will be chosen from the crowd and the winner of the Facebook Favorite (the canine receiving the most “likes” on the Beaumont Main Street Facebook page) will be announced. A style show showcases adoptable dogs dressed in Ruff Lauren and Canine Klein. Want to tell Fido’s future? Madam Poodle Paw reads paws. How about some pampering? There’s the Day SPAW and shopping at Neiman Barkus.

Courtesy of Beaumont's Dogtoberfest

For kids, there’s Pappy’s Barnyard with pony rides, a petting zoo and activities kids can do with their pets. A Bone Appetite Food Court exists near the Fountain of Woof and Puppy Dog Lane features dog rescue groups and canine advocates sharing information and awareness.

Admission is free but a minimal donation is required to compete in contests, participate in games and enjoy refreshments. All proceeds and sponsorships benefit the revitalization efforts of Beaumont’s historical downtown.
            For more information, call BeaumontMain Street at (409) 838-2202 or visit www.dogtoberfestbeaumont.com.

Here’s looking at Key Largo for a fun film fest

           If everyone in America threw a festival in honor of a film made in their city (or the story set in their city, more like it), we'd have festivals everywhere. And yet, a Humphrey Bogart festival in Key Largo works. I mean, really, a Humphrey Bogart festival in Key Largo!
            Who remembers Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Becall in the John Houston-directed film noir “Key Largo?” The story of a man finding a gangster running a friend's hotel who he confronts during a hurricane was set on Key Largo, the island south of Miami, and it’s here that film buffs can celebrate one of its stars in the third annual Humphrey Bogart Film Festival, Wednesday through Sunday, Oct. 21-25, 2015.

            Although the annual event — formerly held in May — celebrates Bogart's life and films, this year's festival honors the life of his wife, Lauren Bacall. “Key Largo” was the fourth and final film that paired the married actors. Click here for the film trailer.

Returning to co-host events and film screenings is Bogart and Bacall's son, Stephen Bogart, to be joined by Eddie Muller, a novelist and film historian nicknamed “Czar of Noir” and special guest Monika Henreid, a documentary filmmaker and daughter of “Casablanca” star Paul Henreid, who played Victor Laszlo in the famed movie alongside Bogart.

Festival highlights include indoor and outdoor screenings of several Bogart classics as well as special events including the Costume or Casual Cocktail Reception, Bogart Block Party and Seaside Soirée. Throughout the weekend, fans can view Bogart memorabilia, find festival collectibles and book canal cruises on the fully restored African Queen, the original boat from Huston's 1951 film of the same name that starred Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. The African Queen is docked at the Holiday Inn Key Largo, mile marker 100.

All-access and single-event passes and merchandise can be purchased at www.bogartfilmfestival.com.

In addition, the 2015 festival has partnered with the faculty and graduate students of the University of Miami Department of Cinema & Interactive Media to host a student short film competition and festival. Student film submission categories include film noir, crime, thriller, comedy, documentary, action-adventure and more. The winning films are to be shown during the festival. There will also be workshops on “Filmmaking in South Florida” as well as “Floridian Noir Storytelling,” a practicum hosted by award-winning directors Billy Corben and Tom Musca.
            For event information and schedule, visit www.bogartfilmfestival.com. For a video teaser, click here. For Key Largo visitor information visit www.fla-keys.com/keylargo or call (800) 822-1088.