Jeremy Thompson Catholic PhD in Biblical Languages, Programmer, Runner

If you are willing to venture out of the city, South Louisiana has a fantastic brewery that is open for the public to visit.  The Abita Brewery is across lake Ponchatrain in Abita Springs, LA.  This is just a guesstimate, but it would probably take you an hour to get there by car.  If you the have time and inclination to make the trip, it would be worth your while.  Just be sure to check their times.  They are somewhat limited on Weekdays.  However, if not, you can find Abita Beer just about anywhere in New Orleans where beer is served.  Make sure to give their signature Purple Haze a try.

I saw John Hobbins give a restaurant recommendation earlier today.  So, I thought I’d give a few myself.  Here are my three favorite local restaurants on a grad school budget:

1. Mother’s
2. Cafe Maspero (You’ll need cash)
3. Camellia Grill

These places are no frills, but you can get great authentic New Orleans cuisine.

Ken Brown and I are planning to meet at the conference registration desk at 10:30.  I’m a local so I’m going to plot out a little sightseeing.  I’ve got to head back to my home Friday around mid-afternoon to start making arrangements for my family for the weekend since I’ll be gone a lot to the conference (I’ve got two young daughters and my wife doesn’t like to be home alone with them too much after dark – not that we live in a scary neighborhood.  Getting them set to stay at my mother-in-law’s house).  But, we should get to hang out for a couple of hours.  If you want to join us, e-mail me at freeotaudio@me.com.  I’ll give you my cell number just in case you need it.  Not crazy about putting that on my blog.

If anyone attending SBL would like to see some of the lasting effects of Hurricane Katrina, I can offer you one suggestion.  You can MapQuest this address from your hotel:

2313 Gallant Dr.

Chalmette, LA 70043

Then, you can drive and see the empty slab that is all that is left of my childhood home. One of my best friends and college roommates, Matt Faust, made a short film called Home, which won the short film award at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.  Here’s a link to his blog where I think the picture in the top left hand corner gives you a bit of idea of how if feels when you’re looking at an empty slab is all that is left of your home.

The further you get out of the city the more lasting effects you will find.

If you’re bringing kids to SBL or love Disney, there is a new exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art.  It is in town in relation to the release of Disney’s new film The Princess and the Frog.  It is called “Dreams Come True” and you can find out more about it HERE.

If you’re attending SBL and are trying to find a good site to check out for the latest on the city of New Orleans, I’d recommend NOLA.com.   As someone who lives a little bit outside of the city but who wants to keep up to date, this is the site that I check most frequently.  For example, if you want to keep up to date on the recent severe weather we’ve been having (I wouldn’t worry too much about it), this is a good place to go.

A couple of people have asked me about the weather for SBL since I’m a native.  This SITE has our past average temperatures for the month of November.  We seem to be right around average this year.  It has been pretty mild with overnights in the 50s-60s and daytime temperatures in the 60s-70s.  We can go way higher, but I’m hoping the weather stays around average so everyone can really enjoy their time in the Crescent City.  If you have any other questions, check out my post HERE.

I thought I’d create a blog post for which the comments section can be kind of like a forum for those attending the Society of Biblical Literature meeting this year.  I grew up just outside of New Orleans in St. Bernard Parish, and I know the city relatively well or least better than you if you’ve never been here.  I’ve lived in Southeast Louisiana for my entire life. So, if you have any questions for me, feel free to post them below…

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PS – If your first question is if you can stay at my place for free, the answer is “no.”  Sorry, that’s not a reflection of Southern hospitality.  It’s just that I’m already hosting my friends from Stellenbosch afterward.