The Huffman family at the grand opening of their new Suburu dealership on Dixie Highway last week. L to R Dow Huffman, his mother and matriarch of the clan Ethel Huffman and the rest of the family: Kameron, Kim, Rylee, Shannon, Myreete and Shane. A huge crowd turned out to see the new showroom and the new cars.

By a coincidence of scheduling there will be two high profile events presented back to back at the end of this month to benefit Louisville’s Heuser Hearing & Language Academy (HHLA), a preschool for hearing impaired children ages 3 to 6.

On May 3, the Woman’s Club of Louisville’s Health Committee is having an exciting evening of cocktails and a live auction at the home of Mary Lee and George Fischer. Located on the top of Waterfront Park Place, 222 East Witherspoon, the Fischer’s spectacular, art-filled home with its Jon Carloftis designed garden terrace overlooks the river and all of downtown Louisville. Carloftis himself will be on hand to answer questions about the garden. WAVE-3 news anchor and celebrity Dawne Gee will also be on hand as will Mary Lee and George’s son, the honorable mayor of Louisville, Greg Fischer.

Host Dr. Shiao Woo and Dr. Carolyn Freeman, president of PROS

Janice Mueller and her committee have been knocking themselves out to make this evening very special. In addition to cocktails and hors d’oeuvres there will be a brief live auction with some really desirable items such as a dinner for ten at Vincenzo’s, University of Louisville tickets; a night at 21C with breakfast at Proof and a couple of really high-end items that can’t be announced yet.

The evening is sponsored by Porcini and Farmer Children’s Foundation, Dan Schusterman, and Dr Julene Samuels. Tickets are $100 and can be reserved by calling Jo Ann Daus at 502.897.5730. Proceeds are earmarked for HHLA scholarships.

Then, on June 1, luxury merchandise icon Louis Vuitton with Heuser Hearing & Language Academy will host an invitation-only Garden Party and Trunk Show from noon to 5pm at Running Water Farm, 8515 Brownsboro Road.

Front Row Tiffany Barlow, Jen Bowen,
Back row Debbie Marr, Mona McCubbin, Jenny Headley, Britt Bachmann, Leea Bridgman with her baby daughter Leea.

LUXURY

The event will exclusively feature Louis Vuitton’s legendary leather goods, ladies ready to wear clothing, watches, jewelry and sunglasses. In addition to selecting merchandise to purchase, guests will be welcome to tour and enjoy the extensive Running Water Farm gardens.

All interested parties are welcome but must obtain an invitation in advance by calling 866.VUITTON or contact events@us.vuitton.com by email.

Debbie Marr is the committee chair for Heuser. Members of her committee include Bridget Lavin, Leea Bridgeman, Jenny Headlee, Bridget Williams, Rosemary Kirkwood, Tiffany Barlow and Jen Bowen.

KILGORE TOUR

The Kilgore House & Garden Tour, sponsored by Bowling Nursery and Blue Grass MOTORSPORT, is Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19, 10 – 5 o’clock. It features 6 beautiful gardens and 2 beautiful homes.

There is something for everyone as they say. Beautiful homes, mature landscapes, perennial beds, waterfalls and koi ponds, exotic trees and plants, native wildflowers, and charming oasis for relaxing here and there.

Celebrity garden designer Jon Carloftis.

PROS CONGRESS

Last week an unusual and rarified international organization held a four day congress meeting here in River City at the Brown Hotel. Bet you are not familiar with the Pediatric Radiation Oncology Society. (PROS). Neither was I, but I sure was impressed with the members that gathered at the Old Louisville home of Dr. Shiao Woo for some relaxed socializing during one of the evenings they were here. Shiao and his partner John Shaw Woo are great entertainers and John’s company, G Meals catered the event with some really deliciously healthy hors d’ouvres.

The aims of the congress were to exchange knowledge and data and promote research and education, and to assist members from developing countries in the selection of appropriate radiation technologies and the proper use of them as well as the necessary training of personnel. Got that? Neither did I, but the guests were charming and even included former UofL Med School Dean Ed Halprin.

Craig Sherman and Rick Heath celebrating Derby at the Wenzel Party.

Well, that’s over for another year! Now we can enjoy the fruits of our labors. The house has been cleaned, painted and fluffed. The yard and garden are in picture perfect (well, almost) shape. Company (and the asparagus) has come and gone and so have the leftovers.

Don Wenzel had his annual Derby party at his beautiful place in Prospect. Each year he has added something wonderful to either the yard and or the house. This year, he has added a second floor addition to the back of the second floor hall that is a beautiful, greatly expanded version of a curved oriel window.

His veranda overlooks an elegant swimming pool with magnificent classical urns and pots around it. The back yard slopes down to the wooded creek that feeds into Harrods Creek. Don also has a pea-gravel floored, brick walled, open-to-the-sky, extra dining room that I covet.

Don Wenzel with his daughter Gracie and her friend Elsa Clenny.

Enjoying the party were Craig Sherman, Rick Heath, David Roth, Peggy Mudd Rudd, Ben Small, Michael Judd, and lots more local friends and bankers from out of town.

IN TOWN

Sandra Frazier had a most lively party at her home on Cherokee Road. She is so smart. A truck comes the day before the party and picks up most all of the furniture on the first floor! You’d be amazed at how many more people can be comfortably accommodated inside and then there is the backyard with its tented bar. A plus is that the wonderful old house, at one time the home of culinary legend Camille Glenn, has wide window sills and depending on the size of your derriere you can sit on them!

Everyone you ever knew – and then some – attended, including Mary and Stephen Klein, Tracy and Jonathan Blue, Jane Ramsey, Barbara and Bill Juckett, Joey Seay, Fran Jasper, Beaver McMahan, Kaye Durnell, Babs and Lee Robinson, Christy Brown, Gill and Augusta Holland, Debbie Scoppechio and Rick Duffy, Hollis Starks… I could go on and on.

Tracy Blue, John and Vivian Korfhage, and Jonathan Blue arriving at the home of Sandra Frazier.

OAKS FINALE IN SIMPSONVILLE

Pam and David Ray’s home in Simpsonville is called Spring Valley Farm and everything about it reminds you of Spring. At this time of year the ½ mile drive up to their red brick colonial home is surrounded on both sides by winter rye that looks to be six feet high. David said the rye was sewn last fall by a Piper Cub plane right over the top of the soy beans. Ahh, that is some technology. It will be harvested next week in time for the soy beans to come back up.

The Rays always invite a charming group, mostly from the neighborhood and a few out-of-towners. Joe Henderson, their friend from the FBI, was there with his wife Julie Harper Henderson for the weekend. Karen and Craig Larimore, JoAnn and Tom Ferguson, Bill Livingood, Gail and Steve Boyle, Jean and Ben Matthews, Blair and Hunter Louis, Sherry and Lawrence Jelsma, and Walter and Ann Herd were among the partygoers.

Pam served a traditional Derby menu featuring beef tenderloin, yummy cheese grits, asparagus, green salad with mushrooms and red onions, and fluffy rolls. Her trifle dessert was heaven and included lots of fresh fruit, whipped cream and pound cake.

John Reisert, Stacy Robinson, Carl Mittelsten and Carl Simpson.

The Slice is a celebration of the spice, style and soul of Louisville and was held last Saturday evening in a big white tent at St. Augustine Church at 13th and Broadway. It is one of the official, non-profit Kentucky Derby Festival events. It offered both Southern cuisine and music influenced by Louisville’s “melting pot” of cultures.

Harry Dennery was there with his Krispy Krunchy Chicken. It is a Cajun recipe and it was good. Harry is from New Orleans, you know.

Cartie Arvin and her mother Essie Arvin.

The Slice Charities raises funds to support community service organizations which provide emergency food, prescription drugs, housing and utility assistance to those in need and scholarships for education to the residents of West Louisville and elsewhere.

This year, The Slice: Spice, Style & Soul will salute social services of West Louisville. Hosea Mitchell, president and CEO of The Slice Charities of Louisville, Inc. says “We are happy to have Jennifer Hoffman, winner of Amazing Race 18. She’s also an ESPNU Analyst. Hoffman is no stranger to The Slice. She actually attended the year she won the Amazing Race but she was not allowed to tell us then. We will also welcome Kimberly Cecil-Jones. Both of these ladies work hard in our community and we are happy to have them be our guests.”

The board consists of Hosea Mitchell, chair; Father Patrick Delahanty; Janet Geurin Muller; Margaret Staples; John E. White; and Jermaine Higgins.

Sherlene M. Shanklin and Harry Dennery.

The honorary chair of The Slice this year was our very own Angie Fenton, editor of what you are reading now! Everyone loves her and she had a handsome date too!

The co-chairs of everything from décor and food to marketing to ticket sales and more were Carol Belser, Doris Logan, Kathryn Whitlock, Lee Ewing, Malcolm Pullen, Annette Cowden, Verna, Doris and William Goatley, Gregory Wilson, Sherlene Shanklin, Janie and Robert Henderson, Welma Yocum and Rose Ellis.

The Slice had wonderful “swag” bags for each guest. They had small bottles of Four Roses and two small boxes of divine candy (consumed before we got home!) from DB Bourbon Candy and Serenity Delights furnished by Robyn C. Stuart.

Speaking of Four Roses – have you been to see their facility near Lawrenceburg on the banks of the scenic Salt River? The Distillery was built in 1920 and features a unique Spanish Mission-Style architecture. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They operate continuously, except for the summer months. But tours are year round.

They’re Coming Back!

Save the date – Saturday, June 1, 2013 – for one day only. Yes, a famous French fashion house founded in 1854 is returning for one day only with a Garden Party and Trunk Show at Running Water Farm. This fashion house only sells its products through standalone boutiques, lease departments in high-end department stores and through the e-commerce section of its website.

They are returning to Louisville to host this one-of-a-kind, unique event to benefit Heuser Hearing & Language Academy. Products to view and purchase will range from luxury luggage and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, sunglasses and more. Watch my column for upcoming details and how you can attend this event at no charge.

Jean Shewciw, hostess Janet Falk, Lori Osborne and Cindy Carcione.

Last Friday evening, The Fillies held their 57th annual Derby Ball, A Fillies Affair to Remember, Galloping with the Fillies, at the Galt House. The ball was chaired by Barbara Hood with Nancy Rust as co-chair. The evening benefitted the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation.

Cocktails were served in the foyer which was decorated with various Gallapalooza horses while guests were entertained by the Louisville Boys Choir.

The ballroom was lovely with banners of jockey silks overhead, an elegant throne and the “wheel of fortune” on the stage with five numbers on it. The tables had beautiful centerpieces of a silver trophy filled with red roses, a nod to the Kentucky Derby Trophy. Going along with the idea of the trophy as a wine cooler, there were bottles of wine from Lovers Leap Winery, the official wine of the Derby Festival ball, on each table.

The 2012 Queen Kaelyn Gault presided over the Royal Court. The princesses were escorted in by Knights of the Derby Court. As each princess was introduced she drew a number from the royal pouch. The princesses were Chelsea Diamond and Dominique Luster of Louisville, Katherine Gardner of Greenville, Allison Grant of Harrodsburg and Cameryn Jones of Goshen.

Fillies Ball Chair Barbara Hood.

The wheel was spun by Becky Fangman, president of The Fillies, and Cameryn Jones was randomly selected as the new Kentucky Derby Festival Queen! Cameryn is a student at the University of Kentucky and is a member of Chi Omega sorority. She has been named to the Dean’s List five times.

The princesses are Chelsea Diamond, who attends Transylvania University, Katherine Gardner and Allison Grant, both of whom attend the University of Louisville, and Dominique Luster, a student at UK.

The president then inducted Patsy Allen, Col. John Aubrey, Wendy Jacob and PJ Cooksey as Dames and Knights of the Derby Court. They were “knighted” and presented with their gold “orders of the court” by Queen Cameryn.

Dinner was served and the dancing began to the music of The Crashers.

And a good time was had by all.

Mark and Debbie Marr, Fillies auction chairman.

THE GIRLS

Janet Falk and her daughter Carolyn Sharpe gave “the girls” a treat. They hosted a luncheon at Janet’s home, “Sunny Acres,” in Oldham County last week. They filled Janet’s charming home all the way to the screened porch with tables and flowers.

Janet is a renowned cook and Carolyn was taught by the master. It was a wonderful buffet of more salads than you could count and included shrimp, curried chicken, divine tomato aspic, slaws and on and on. They filled the buffet and another table.

Barbara Dunham, Jean Boland, Winona Shiprek, Pam Anson, Charlene Verdi, Kate Underwood, Eleanor Goldberg, Janet Ames, Barbara Tway Partlow, Sue Baughman, Karen Buchannan, Susan Juhl, Lisa Leet and Karen Sadlo were among many who had a marvelous afternoon in the country.

Becky Fangman, co-chair, Barbara Lee Hood, Fillies Ball chairman.

Five Hundred or more people will attend the 57th annual Fillies Derby Ball, one of the Kentucky Derby Festival’s oldest and most elegant events, this coming Friday at the Galt House East. The Fillies, a volunteer organization that works closely with the Kentucky Derby Festival (KDF), is host of this formal event, which is themed “Galloping with the Fillies.”

The Derby Festival queen will be chosen by the traditional spin of the wheel, and the royal court established with the four remaining princesses, two handmaidens, two pages and four newly-knighted outstanding citizens of the community.

Becky Fangman, president of The Fillies, said, “The Fillies Ball has always been the premiere social event of the year in our community. It is a magical evening and we wait with anticipation to find out who will serve as the queen and court.”

Masters of the Ceremonies will be Lynda Lambert and George Lindsey of the popular “Lambert & Lindsey” morning radio show on 102.3 The Max. This year’s orchestra is The Crashers.

John Guarnaschelli with three of his staff members, Freda Manion, Kim Casey and Kelly Casey.

Cocktails are at 7, The Queen’s Coronation will take place at 8 p.m. and dinner will be served at 8:30.

Proceeds from the event benefit the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation. Contributing sponsors of the Ball are Brown-Forman, Treyton Oak Towers and 102.3 The Max.

The queen and her court serve as ambassadors to the community for the Kentucky Derby Festival and will attend nearly all events associated with the KDF and the Kentucky Derby itself.

Tickets are still available at $175; a corporate table of 8 is $1,700; and a corporate table of 10 is $2,000. For tickets, call 502.572.3856.

The royal court includes Chelsea Diamond of Louisville, Transylvania College; Katherine Gardner of Greenville, University of Louisville; Allison Grant of Harrodsburg, UofL: Cameryn Jones of Goshen, University of Kentucky; and Dominique Luster of Louisville, UK.

Barbara Lee Hood is chairman of the ball; Nancy Rust is her co-chair.

The Fillies was established to support the Kentucky Derby Festival. Their mission is to produce the Derby Ball, coordinate the Princess Program and publish the Official Derby Festival Program. Their membership is limited to 250.

Birthday girl Missy Buschmann with her mother Susie Schmied.

GUARNASCHELLI  LECTURE

The 2013 Guarnaschelli Lecture at Bellarmine University last week featured award-winning author Roger Rosenblatt. Rosenblatt was introduced by Bellarmine president Jay McGowan (who is a hard act to follow!).

Rosenblatt read passages from some of his 16 books. Mostly they dealt with growing up in NYC, the death of his daughter in her 30s, his affection for her young son and trying to cope with this tragedy.

His essays for TIME and PBS have won two George Polk Awards, the Peabody and the Emmy. He is the author of six off-Broadway plays and 16 books, including several best sellers. He is a Distinguished Professor of English and writing at Stony Brook University.

Some previous Guarnaschelli Lecturers that I wish I had heard were Isabel Allende, Wendell Berry, Ken Burns, John Dunne, Norman Mailer, Joyce Carol Oates, Salman Rushdie, William Styron and Harold Wilson.

HATS ON!

Gabriel Amar for Frank Olive will be back in town showcasing his collection of fabulous hats at Heather French Henry’s Showroom at 1357 Bardstown Road. The collection will range in prices from $99 to $650.

Amar routinely contributes to local charities and will donate to the following organizations at various times/days in Heather’s store: Horses and Hope, Heather’s veterans organization, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation,  the Younger Woman’s Club and the Crusade for Children.

Missy and Will’s son Reagan held by Debbie Maupin.

DERBY GLASSES

Looking for unique Kentucky Derby souvenirs for yourself and guests this year?  Fabulous Finds at 2101 Frankfort Ave. has loads and loads of Derby Julep glasses from years gone by at really reasonable prices. The shop is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  You might even find an original, unique Derby hat while you are there.

BIRTHDAY!

Missy Buschmann was having a special birthday (40) and all she wanted was a Louis Vuitton handbag.  Well, her husband got her a very special one. Guests had come early to surprise her when she returned from an outing.  After greeting everyone and after dinner she saw her LV handbag, only it was a cake! She loved it just the same.

Made by Adrienne & Co. Cakes Today on Court Avenue in Jeffersonville, the most adorable cake was exactly the size and shape of the most popular handbag.  Even the signature texture or grain of the brown leather was perfect. Missy had a grand time at her party but probably next time she will expect a real LV!

Jamie Estes.

It was not all that long ago that Louisville was close to being a culinary wasteland. Cissy Gregg’s column in The Courier-Journal was the one and only go-to place for food ideas. Later Elaine Corn brought her wit, style and energy to food writing. And then there was the wonderful Sarah Fritschner who not only wrote but championed the local grown concept and brought attention to farmers’ markets in church parking lots.

Now think back some 40 years and not to put them down, but before there was a Fig Tree on Broadway at Third Street or Casa Grisanti on East Liberty putting a million watt spotlight on fine dining, Louisville looked to The Old House, Kunz’s, Hassenour’s, Bauer’s and Gruber’s for their fine dining pleasure. And they are all gone. Of course there were The Brown and Seelbach hotels along with a number of country clubs, but none of these choices were putting Louisville on the map in the way that Cincinnati’s Maisonette and Pigalle and Indianapolis’ St. Elmo Steakhouse were. Those were destinations and folks from Louisville left the state to go there for dining adventure.

WDRB 41’s Candyce Clifft interviewing Estes PR Sullivan University Clients Chefs Long & Castro

Then something happened to change it all in the form of Kathy Carey and Michael and Don Grisanti. (I am sure there must have been others, but they don’t immediately pop into my mind.) Those are the names that many of us still give credit to for stimulating a heightened awareness and appreciation for food and service innovation when we chose to pleasure ourselves with food outside our own kitchens.

Maybe Louisville’s astounding leap into becoming a real hot bed of restaurant development and innovation would have happened anyhow, but good, subtle strategic planning certainly can make the outcome more predictable.

Everyone knows that running a restaurant and creating a Broadway show are two of the toughest businesses in which to score a sustained success. Those that do succeed often times have some “magic” working behind the scenes. Louisville was fortunate when Daniel May and Philip Cooke, moved their FSA group to Louisville. Of service to the food industry, FSA not only had national clients, but local ones as well. The local clients benefited from their professional promotional expertise and there began to be a growing sense of food and restaurant awareness and appreciation as a result.

Within the group was FSA Public Relations and it had a shining star in the form of Jamie B. Estes who worked there for nearly 10 years polishing her skills and handling such clients as Kinkead’s in Washington D.C., TRU in Chicago, Louisville’s Seelbach Hilton, Brown Forman’s Woodford Reserve, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, the American Institute of Wine & Food and the Council of Independent Restaurateurs of America. Emeril Lagasse, Julia Child, Martin Yan and Jacques Pepin were some of the culinary stars for which she created and executed public
relations promotions.

Ghyslain Maurais instructing Suillivan University students.

Then in January 2004, she struck out on her own to form Estes Public Relations located in an impressive, three story red brick “pile” on Frankfort Avenue in the Clifton neighborhood. The location serves not only as the center for her ever-growing business and staff, but also as home for Jamie and her charming husband, Kevin, a Louisville native, whose remodeling skills helped to shape it for business purposes as well as making it a home for the couple and their canine “children.”

An Alabama native, Jamie is a University of Alabama graduate with a master’s in communications from the University of Kentucky. She has served at both Kentucky and the University of Louisville teaching organizational communications, public speaking and interviewing skills. A quiet, soft spoken person when you meet her, she has offices in Louisville, Chicago and Beaufort, S.C. The agency is described as providing marketing and public relations for those in the culinary, travel and lifestyle industries across the country. She has an entire team of cookbook publicists.

Keeping her Louisville clients in the public eye is really where we have benefited. They include the Bristol Bar & Grille, Brown Hotel, Distilled Spirits Epicenter, Doc Crow’s Southern Smokehouse & Raw Bar, La Coop, Bistro aVins, Lilly’s, Seviche a latin Restaurant, Sullivan University National Center for Hospitality Studies, The Summit and Woodford Reserve. Other clients include Honolulu Fish Company in Hawaii, Idaho Potato Commission, River Oaks in Memphis, and Carriage House in Chicago to name a few. She has handled more than 45 chef appearances including a number from Louisville at the James Beard House in New York.

Jamie is a founding board member and public relations chair of Bourbon Women, past president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council. She has served on the Junior League of Louisville Sustainer Advisory Board, and is a member of the Heuser Hearing Institute Board of Directors. She has also chaired positions with other community groups as the Kentucky Arts + Design Museum Bourbon Ball, Clifton Center, Dare to Care, March of Dimes, Younger Woman’s Club, and is a member of the board and marketing committee of the Clifton Center.

This quiet, effective powerhouse is a real Louisville asset and fun to know.

THE FILLIES

A Fillies Affair to Remember: Galloping with the Fillies, benefits the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation on April 19 at the Galt House. The foundation is a non-profit agency dedicated to providing assistance for many charities in our community.

Cocktails are at 7 p.m.; the Coronation of the Queen is at 8 with dinner at 8:30 and dancing until 12:30 a.m..

Chairman Barbara Hood has enlisted Pat Gray, Merilyn Coslow, Robbie Steder, Jo Graves, Trish Osborn, Beverly Pendleton, Bonnie Taylor, Mollie Smith, Suzanne Thompson and Becky Biesel along with Vicki Hillerich, Dianne Carli, Carroll DeHart, Nancy Rust, Kathy Henderson and a host of other Fillies to work on the ball.

J. Harrod’s proprietor Mike Francis and bartender Leslie Pearson divided their time between thirsty customers and keeping up with the score.

In Prospect last Friday evening, before and during the University of Louisville game against Oregon, fans gathered for dinner and to cheer the team on at J. Harrod’s (also jokingly known as the Republican Country Club). That evening, proprietor Mike Francis had his hands full as he was up against a real triple-threat competitive challenge.

It was Good Friday and many regulars were in church. The Louisville Orchestra was playing a much-anticipated concert featuring music with a Mexican influence. And the NCAA basketball tournament semi-finals were in full swing.

As everyone in this part of the world already knows, the Louisville Cardinals were playing an important game against Oregon that evening. The tough part was that the game was scheduled for right at the hour that Mike and his kitchen count on serving lots of customers.

What does a guy do when faced with this sort of challenge? Turn the television over the bar up a little louder and hope that those that show up are basketball fans. The good news is they did show up and most were basketball fans and they all were cheering for the Cards.

Mike Francis has had his share of luck of all sorts. He has been in business long enough and successfully enough to no longer be in danger of being a “flash in the pan” as so many restaurants can sometimes be. His customers are very loyal, and they love his boneless fried chicken and his bar pours good drinks.

A couple of years ago, he had reason to wonder how long his customers’ loyalty might be tested when the bridge over Harrods Creek on River Road was closed for what seemed like a lifetime. Business was off considerably for a long time. One has to wonder why folks west of Prospect only knew the River Road route to a good meal. Hello! Anybody ever heard of U.S. Highway 42? It runs right through the middle of downtown Prospect. Oh well.

Eventually, a renovated, widened bridge was reopened, and traffic began to flow to the east again. And for Mike, that challenge is now over.

Back to Friday night. For a while our Cards had their share of ups and downs and this had a positive impact on the bar business. Eventually, all was cheers as the fans with smiles from ear to ear wished Mike and his staff a happy evening and went home to look forward to Sunday night’s game with Duke.

Since The Voice is a weekly paper, you must know that this column was finished up on Sunday evening after one of the most emotionally-challenging games this columnist has witnessed. With the score fairly close and then to see the Cardinals’ Kevin Ware carried off the floor with his right leg broken in two places was heart breaking for all to see. I am sure it was his parents’ worse nightmare. The tears of all the players and coaches were tough to watch.

Then to see the other players rally and play their hearts out by scoring more points in a single game than they have during the tournament – posting an 85 to 63 win over Duke – was thrilling. Of course, this puts our Cards into the Final Four in Atlanta. Go all the way, Cards!

Fran Brennan and Paula Sherlock were among the Cards’ cheering section.

Hard Rock Derby Festival Pin

Last Saturday, Louisville’s Hard Rock Café hosted a reception at its Fourth Street Live! location to unveil its 2013 Kentucky Derby Festival Hard Rock Café pin. The co-branded pin, the popular café’s first collaboration with the festival, will serve as a Pegasus pin and gain the wearer entry to all Kentucky Derby Festival Events where a Pegasus pin is required.

The pin was released to the general public on Monday, April 1. It was designed by Hard Rock Louisville’s Tonya Pacey who is a server at the café. Pins are $12 and are available at the Hard Rock Café, 424 S. Fourth St. It will instantly become a collectible as is so much Hard Rock merchandise across the world.

With a total of 141 cafes, 18 hotels and nine casinos in 58 countries, it is one of the most globally recognized companies in the world. Beginning with an Eric Clapton guitar, Hard Rock owns the world’s greatest collection of music memorabilia, which is displayed at its locations around the globe. Hard Rock is also known for its collectible fashion and music-related merchandise.

With the Kentucky Derby Festival gearing up to begin very shortly, we all need to support the festival by buying pins, attending events and showing festival sponsors how much we appreciate what they are doing for our community.

Carla Sue investigated Sunbury Canon.

Well, this week of our Seven Seas Mariner South American adventure started off with even more excitement than usual. During breakfast, the captain announced that there was a medical emergency and a helicopter was approaching and would be picking up a sick passenger from the top deck! The helicopter hovered overhead and lowered two doctors to our ship, where they examined the patient. They confirmed the opinion of our ship’s doctor that an evacuation was appropriate, strapped the patient to a stretcher and raised it up to the hovering helicopter and flew off to a hospital in Cayenne (wherever that is). The rest of the day we were at sea.

The next day we were scheduled to anchor in the bay at Devil’s Island, French Guiana. This small island lies six miles off the coast of French Guiana. It was almost inaccessible and held political prisoners such as Alfred Dreyfus in isolation. It operated from 1852 to 1946. Unfortunately, the seas were too rough to be able to tender in to shore.

That evening was the “Jimbo’s Truck Stop Diner,” an evening of good ole’ food, trashy costumes and lots of fun. Some of the notes on the invitation included “You might be a redneck if your home is on wheels and your car is on blocks” or “your brother-in-law is your uncle if you’ve ever barbecued spam on the grill.” Among the public service announcements were, “Illiterate? Write today for free help!” and “Stay inside the lines: Remember our local police have begun a campaign to run down jaywalkers.” All of the servers were in outrageous truck stop costumes and wigs, and so were
half the customers!

The yellow submarine at St. Barts.

The next night, the total opposite of Jimbo’s was a small elegant dinner for six hosted by Canadian Michael Coghlan, the general manager of the ship. That was followed by a guest performance by his wife, lyric soprano Stephanie Baldwin, in the Horizon Lounge. She is not only beautiful, she sings like a bird and was Miss California in 2001 and a semi-finalist in the Miss America Pageant. It was a fun, wonderful evening.

Then it was off the next day to Bridgetown, Barbados. Once on shore we went out to see Sunbury Plantation. It is over 300 years old and recreates life on a sugar estate in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is both charming and slightly shabby. Open windows and high humidity contribute to its musty charm. We learned the history of Sunbury and were treated to canapés and samples of homemade rum cocktail recipes.

Then our shore excursion continued on to Orchid World. Use of the word “World” might have been somewhat more enthusiastic than appropriate as it was a bit of a disappointment. Not so many impressive orchids as other flowers. Next was an old military fort. It just may be that our perceived image of Barbados in advance of arrival set us up for disappointment. It is definitely shabby and yet the guide kept telling us how expensive the houses were. It looked kind of dumpy to me.

Our next stop was Gustavia, St. Barts. Like in Barbados, I was less than impressed. Except for its gorgeous beaches and beautiful blue and green waters, it is not a pretty island. Less than eight square miles, it is in fact a bit scruffy and overgrown. They do not encourage cruise ships and do not allow large hotels. They must all be small boutique hotels and they limit the amount that may be constructed each year. The shopping areas are loaded with high-end (Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Ralph Lauren and on and on) shops.

Sampling cocktails at Sunbury Plantation on Barbados.

Ballet dancer Rudolph Nuryev had a small house overlooking a beautiful bay and Jay Leno is building a place there. The most impressive thing I saw was a very short airport runway for small and private planes.

After a tour around the island in a mini-van taxi (they don’t permit busses), we did have fun riding in a submersible boat, the Yellow Submarine, looking at the sea life.

Sunday was our last scheduled stop and it was at San Juan, Puerto Rico, a candidate for 51st statehood. Christopher Columbus discovered Puerto Rico in 1493 during his second voyage. The Taino people – a group of Arawaks who had reached Cuba, Hispanolo and Puerto Rico – greeted his party and took him to the river where they offered a gift of gold ore. The mineral was abundant in the riverbed and while the nuggets were considered attractive ornaments there was no association of monetary value to them, at least in the western sense. Columbus was delighted. He informed his Spanish benefactors of the riches and named the bay Puerto Rico (“port of the riches”).

The island owes its prosperity to Juan Ponce de Leon, one of Columbus’ lieutenants who returned, claimed the island for his own and changed its name to San Juan in 1508. He later discovered Florida. He is buried in San Juan Cathedral.

The 300-year-old Sunbury Plantation house on Barbados.

Attacks by non-Spanish explorers and continual struggles with native peoples who realized their homeland was being usurped caused the settlers to fortify the city in 1521 with thick walls and various fortresses to protect San Juan Harbor. By 1800, the city had been attacked and burned on many occasions, but no one had managed to wrest the territory from Spain. Great sugar plantations were producing the island’s wealth. The gold deposits had long ago run out.

During the 19th century, things began to change in the Caribbean as one nation after another abolished slavery. Political parties were formed in Puerto Rico for the first time, and by the end of the century, independence was granted, but autonomy came just in time for American troops to land on the island. The Spanish American War at the turn of the century resulted in Spain ceding all territory in the Americas.

The Foraker law, establishing civil government and free commerce between Puerto Rico and the U.S., was approved and residents of the island were granted U.S. citizenship in 1917. The island has a flavor more like Latin America than the United States.

The reception center at the Bacardi Distillery in Puerto Rico.

We arrived at the downtown pier in San Juan right on time only to find that a city-wide bike race had strangled traffic and prevented our scheduled tour of the old city, but didn’t prevent our visit to the Bacardi rum distillery.

WOW! What a beautiful distillery. The first thing you see are two wind turbines. The electricity they generate is used for some parts of the production and they save over $75,000 a year. The distillery campus is spacious and elegant with great swaths of green lawn between the buildings. The welcome center reminds you of one of architect Calatrava’s buildings. Inside, we enjoyed many different tastes of drinks made with rum. The family-owned business was moved from Cuba when Castro came to power. The current president is Joaquin Bacardi, III. He is the fifth generation to head the business. The museum was full of interesting portraits, old photos, early distilling equipment and memorabilia. The main building is cream-colored and has a defined Art Deco look.

Our visit to this Caribbean paradise was nostalgic for Brad. In 1962 while in the Army Reserves, he was stationed at El Morro fort in Old San Juan with his Army Reserve Unit. While we didn’t get to visit it firsthand, we sailed right by it on our way to Miami and home.

Since leaving in early January we have sailed 16,898 nautical miles which is 19,445 statute miles, on a Regent Seven Seas “Circle South America” cruise around the South American continent. We are looking forward to Spring in Kentucky.

The Civic Court Building in Manaus, Brazil.

It has been five days since the Seven Seas Mariner entered the 200-mile-wide mouth of the Amazon River. Nearly 1,000 miles later we have arrived at Manaus, the largest city in and on the Amazon. Founded in the late 19th century, Manaus is at the confluence of the Solimoes River and the Rio Negro. It grew due to the discovery of the enormous amount of rubber trees and the use of the rubber they produced. The city became sophisticated along with its great wealth and for a time was known as “Paris on the Amazon.” Henry Ford even established his own rubber tree plantation, “Fordlandia,” to produce rubber for the making of tires. The city sits in the middle of the largest tropical forest on the planet!

From Manaus, a city of nearly two million people, boats rather than buses serve the communities that are up the tributaries surrounding the city. They deliver goods and supplies, take children to school, take residents and fishermen to surrounding towns and to their jobs.

It became cultured. Their Opera House, built in 1896 at a cost of two million dollars, is one of the most spectacular buildings in South America. It took 16 years to build and has just been restored. It is elevated and has the feel of the Paris Opera House, although it is not as big.

The much-loved Teatro Amazonas Opera House in Manaus.

There is an elegant dome covered in multi-colored tiles. The building itself is stone that is beautifully cut and came as ballast in ships from Europe. Both the interior and the exterior are of French influence.

The rows of chairs are of beautifully designed, carved mahogany and have flip-up seats. The second, third and fourth floor boxes are in a horseshoe-shaped tier that is just as elegant as any in Europe. Most of the interior is of white marble carved to a fare-thee-well! The exquisite chandeliers came from Paris.

At one time it was a wealthy city of colonial design. The market place is a copy of the iron one designed and built in Paris by Eifel (of Tower fame). The English-built Customs House is beautiful too. It was built with materials that came over as ship’s ballast.

It must have been a fabulous city in its day. They had elaborate entertainment, mansions, dressed fashionably and sent their dirty laundry to Europe to be washed and sent back! It was the first South American city to have trolley cars and street lights. It was Paris in the jungle!

A caiman that was briefly captured before being released.

For one of a number of our off-ship excursions we got on double-decker boats and sailed down river to witness the merging of the different colored waters of the Negro and Solimoes Rivers where they join to form the Rio Amazonas. They run side by side for more than four miles without mixing. The separation is caused by the difference in temperature, pH, density and flow rate of the waters from each river.

The Rio Negro is transparent and the color of black coffee. The color is the result of dissolved minerals. The Solimoes is muddy because it dissolves its bed of hard pan clay and washes it down river along with everything else. In fact, the Amazon Rainforest is sitting mostly on hard-pan clay covered by only two to three inches of good soil. As a result, the roots of trees and bushes grow laterally and those along the edge of the river eventually fall in from erosion and are washed along.

This continually changes the navigability of the river and as a result we have had two pilots on board who know the river and will stay with us until we exit the Amazon. The water of the Amazon flows with such force that it pushes “sweet” water 200 miles out into the salty Atlantic.

The lovely mahogany chairs in the Opera House.

At sea the Mariner makes her own fresh water. This is done by a desalinization of sea water by evaporation and condensation process but to do this we need to have clean sea water. In the Amazon, the river water has a lot of sediment, so it is not possible to use our onboard system. Therefore, water is very precious and we are asked to minimize the use of water in order to save fresh water as we transit the Amazon.

After dinner my husband Brad left for a nighttime caiman spotting excursion. The group took one of the large river boats upstream for an hour to a floating restaurant that served as the rendezvous spot with small motorized canoes that hold 10 passengers. With one local operating the outboard motor in the rear and a “spotter” with a flashlight in the front, off the “hunters” went. The flashlight is used to sweep the waters close to shore for a pair of reflected red eyes. Once spotted, the canoe heads straight for the eyes, the spotter goes into the water and grabs the caiman. Two feet long on average and looking just like a miniature alligator, the catch is brought into the canoe for all to hold and photograph. I was told all of this because, trust me, I was with friends in the bar having a pisco sour.

The meeting of the waters, the muddy Solimoes and the clear but dark Rio Negro that form the Amazon.

After overnighting in Manaus we took one of the riverboats, a miniature version of the Belle, and sailed into the Rio Negro. There we got into long motorized canoes and headed into the jungle for several hours. It was fascinating! There were enormous water hyacinths, tapirs, river otters, lily pads, giant and snowy egrets, a cabin or two, lots of monkeys, a pink dolphin, a manatee and white bark trees. The trees had dark water marks up nine to 12 feet from the rainy season. There are also several species of sloths, spider monkeys and howler monkeys. The jungle also holds between 900 and 1,000 species of bromeliads and orchids! There are over 900 species of birds and a Jesus Christ bird – it walks on water! The parrots and parakeets fly by twos.

The next day we headed down the Amazon and stopped for a few hours at Parintins to take in a performance of its famous Boi Bumba Folk Show. Parintins is a town that sits on Tupinambarana Island in the middle of the Amazon. It can only be reached by boat or plane.

Wow! As we entered the Convention Center we were given a Caipirana, a delicious cocktail that is made with Cachaca – a potent liquor made from sugar cane, lots of macerated limes, sugar and ice. It is guaranteed to put everyone in a great mood. The Boi Bumba is part of a huge three-day folk festival and is the biggest celebration in the Amazon. It combines elements of theater and circus with drumming, singing and dancing. The festival enacts the legendary tale of the kidnapping, death and resurrection of an ox, a metaphor for agricultural cycles. In Parintins the event has become a competition between two Boi teams, each with several thousand members. Tens of thousands of people descend on Parintins to see the parades in the Bumbodromo, a stadium-like structure that holds 35,000 people. The teams are judged on their music, dance and costumes. It was loud, fun and fabulous!

The next day we stopped briefly at Santarem, our last stop on the Amazon. Rather than going into the middle of town, we took the opportunity to shop, this time at the arts and crafts booths on the dock.

The next day we were invited to a small lunch with the ship’s Canadian Executive Chef, where he demonstrated and served his fabulous recipe for Western Style Beef Tartar. If readers want a copy of this and his recipe for Vanilla Fudge, send me a note in care of The Voice.

Later in the afternoon was the ship’s “County Fair” around the pool on the top deck. We will officially leave Brazil and cross into the Atlantic on our way to Devil’s Island, French Guiana.

Fortaleza’s new “gothic” cathedral, made of concrete that is only 35 years old.

Being on a Regent ship is like being a princess in a fairy tale. Your every wish is their command. Food, drink, entertainment, shopping, spa treatments, concerts, lectures, bridge – whatever you want – is provided by the staff, with a smile. All of the wait-staff in four dining rooms greet you by name and a smile each time they see you.

We were at sea (no port calls) for two days until dinner time, when we docked at Fortaleza, Brazil. We spent a day here a few years ago and were enchanted by it. There was a big buffet barbecue up on the top deck with way too much noise and the temptation to eat too much. So we elected to eat downstairs in the main dining room, the Compass Rose.

The next morning we got on buses and went in to Fortaleza. We toured the seaside city with its marvelous beach and architecture. We saw the highlights of the town, the Cathedral and then stopped to visit the 100-year-old Jose de Alencar Theater with its spectacular wrought iron balconies and façade. It is used both as a theater and as a dance and drama school. It is decorated with lovely Victorian stained glass.

A local indigenous person wove a “critter” out of palm frond at Alter Do Chao.

The beautiful beach is the heart of the town. There was a stop at the Mercado, a local craft market. Then it was back to the ship and a wonderful Tex-Mex luncheon on the top deck beside the pool as we sailed away. The next day was a luxuriously idle day at sea.

We were continuing to head north when we “turned left” and entered the mouth of the Amazon River. Several days before, our wonderful lecturer prepared us for what we were about to see. She warned us that our “Tarzan of the Jungle” image of the Amazon was wrong. No vines and excessive growth hanging over the ship, no big wild animals, and no indigenous people peeping out of the bush. In fact, the mouth of the Amazon is 200 miles wide! That is not a typo!

Another amazing fact about Brazil is that 80 percent of the population of Brazil lives on 20 percent of the land hugging the eastern edge of the country along the Atlantic Ocean.

The Amazon is the convergence of two major rivers, the black coffee-colored Rio Negro and the muddy Solimoes (Amazon) at Manaus, and is the largest river in the world. Our lecturer pointed out that the Amazon Basin is a rain forest, not a jungle, and is as large as the contiguous U.S.!  In total, over 3,000 tributaries flow into the Amazon! The Rio Negro has a 4.5 pH and is acidic. As a result no mosquitoes live in it, and the indigenous population recognized this and settled there. The Solimoes has a higher, basic pH and is muddy because of the hard pan clay that is dissolved in it. Mosquitoes and other insects thrive in that environment.

The inhabitants along the river are called Caboclos and are a mix of Portuguese, African and some indigenous ancestors. For the most part they live in good communities up the tributaries. These communities are connected by a system of boats that function like a bus line and transport the inhabitants back and forth. The pure indigenous people were relocated to remote reservations in the middle of the twentieth century, to protect them mainly from diseases to which they have no resistance.

A local showed off her pet toucan at Alter Do Chao.

At our first stop we anchored at Alter Do Chao, a village near Santarem, Brazil, a city with a population of 150,000. We tendered in to find that it had many charming, pleasant people and functions as one of the largest “souvenir stands” in existence. Many on the ship chose this place to swim in the Amazon since there is a lovely white sandbar and palm trees.

The birds are spectacular. There are Hyacinth Macaws, Roseate Spoonbills and, the most interesting of all, Hoatzin or “Watson.” These two species have evolved to look like miniature prehistoric dinosaurs. They have claws on their legs which enable them to grab tiny critters for dinner.

There are marmosets the size of a cat, some so tiny they are the size of a finger and others who fit in a thimble! There are anacondas! There are poisonous blue tree dart frogs. On top of that there are 32 species of piranhas that range in size from a quarter to a dinner plate! There are also endangered jaguars and ocelots.

A child with her pet parrot at Alter Do Chao.

Continuing on the next day we anchored at Boca Da Valeria, a village located at an entrance to the Valeria River, an Amazon tributary. The village is located on the bank of a 400-foot hill and is hidden amid the forest lake lands. It contains a few wooden huts that are the villagers’ homes. Many of the villagers offer a tour of the surrounding area in their motorized canoes for $5, an offer not to be turned down.

What a fabulous experience it was buzzing along the shallow lakes with absolute primitive beauty all around. Several miles into the adventure the canoe, which was slightly leaky, pulled up in front of the boat operator’s home. An invitation was offered and accepted to come and see his home where his children, wife and grandmother live. A porch on the back side of the house served as an all-purpose living area. There was a kitchen with a functioning gas stove and pots and pans on the wall. A large sleeping area had eight hammocks and an area where a large pile of clean clothing was kept. An electric refrigerator and big screen TV also occupied the sleeping area and there was an electric washing machine on a side porch. It was a wonderful, eye-opening and humbling experience to have these sweet, simple people share their lives with us.

Tonight we sail for Manaus, a city of nearly 2 million people that once was called the “Paris of the Amazon.” Built on the revenue from rubber, it is now struggling. We are looking forward to seeing this large city on the Amazon which is more than 900 miles from the river’s mouth.