Best New Orleans house painter, Jeff Gagnon

This doesn’t have much to do with traveling, but here goes… I have an excellent house painter to recommend in New Orleans. Heck, I’ll scream it from the rooftops. He did a terrific job with my house Uptown (Carrollton), despite a few roadblocks that popped up.

Many neighbors have complimented us on the exterior paint work, and others have raved about this painter’s professional, easy-going attitude.

This recommended New Orleans house painter’s name is Jeff Gagnon of JLG Installations.

Jeff’s slogan is “Committed to Rebuilding Better,” and it shows in his work ethic and in the work itself. You can expect quality workmanship at a reasonable price. He clearly cares about New Orleans, and is doing his part to bring it back stronger than ever. Of course, he’s also a huge Saints fan.

You can contact Jeff at JLGinstall@cox.net for a painless painting estimate if you are in the New Orleans, Metairie or surrounding areas of South Louisiana. He also installs windows and does other handyman-type work.

Please e-mail Jeff, and tell him Dave Baker sent you.

Here’s another review I wrote for the reviewer website Yelp: Jeff Gagnon New Orleans LA Housepainter

OK, so we didn’t exactly plan for our trip to go this way. Things just sort of suddenly spiraled into action late Monday night. I’ve been calling the whole ordeal Operation Blizzard Escape.

When Julie and I, getting ready for bed, glanced at the weather report online, our jaws dropped. “Monster Storm Approaching Northeast,” the headline at Accuweather.com screamed. “Blizzard… Whiteouts… Travel to be severely impacted.” This “February Fury,” as the Weather Channel had already christened it, would be dumping 12 to 18 inches of snow on New York City, and bringing with it punishing 50 mph winds, on the very day we were supposed to take off for our winter vacation to Mexico.

I will be jetting back to Mexico on Feb. 10-14 with my valentine, Julie. This time we’re heading directly to the coast: Isla Mujeres, off the Yucatan Peninsula on what has become known as “the Mayan Riviera.” This trip should be a timely escape from the winter yuckiness here in New York.

Isla Mujeres is a tiny island (5 miles long, half a mile wide) in the Caribbean within a drunken frat boy’s throw of Cancun. Well, it’s about 8 miles away from Cancun, at any rate, but far quieter. We’ll do a little snorkeling, maybe a day trip to the Mayan ruins at Tulum (about two hours away), commune with the iguanas… but generally just take it easy.

In other news, I’ve added a “subscribe” option for this blog (on the right side of the page). Just enter your e-mail address, and you’ll be notified each time I post a new blog entry. Cancel at any time.

(click on photo to enlarge to its full glory)

To say it’s about 90 degrees (falling only to 80 at night) doesn’t even begin to describe just how hot it is here in St. Thomas, heart of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Heck, I lived in New Orleans for six years, but I wasn’t prepared for the ponderous blanket of humidity that hugged us today as Lucy and Florent exchanged vows outside. Despite the heat, their late-morning ceremony was quite cool: simple and heartfelt. Julie took note of how even the minister snapped a few quick photos of the bride and groom at the gazebo overlooking the Caribbean Sea. It’s hard not to get carried away when you’re surrounded by such natural beauty.