Since I'm a man of simple tastes.

I'd like to have my current job and live on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain in Louisiana. My humidor would be filled with Arturo Fuente Cigars, my liquor cabinet would be filled with Knob Creek whiskey, my pantry would have everything needed to accompany the meats in my freezer for all the Cajun dishes that I love. I would have Poche's pork boudin twice each week with seafood gumbo and fried softshell crabs on the other days only to be broken up with jambalaya and red beans and rice until I said differently.

My 24' Sea Ark boat would be well stocked with gas, bait and tackle as well as sustenance. The red fish and speckled trout would shiver every time that I set foot the deck and the shrimp and crab would just surrender, rather than face my trap or trawl.

Man, I miss my home state of Louisiana when I taste the delights that I bring back from my visits. Just finished off some boudin that I cooked over a pecan fire and served on French bread.

Dream big!

I would have to say Portola Valley or Woodside even though its in California. One reason is the location and its important for me to be close to family and friends.

You remind me why Louisiana is one of the fattest states. EVERYONE talks about food and eats like the worst crap imaginable.




<======= was born in Louisiana.




I could really go for some Johnny's Pizza right now. Best damn pizza in the world

I visited the home of a very wealthy man in Morocco, his garden was the closest to heaven I've ever experienced.

Set near the middle of his home, in an atrium-like 3-story "hole" this man has the most relaxing place on earth to visit.  I got a sort of tour from his housekeeper when I stayed over once.

No shoes allowed, not that he asked me not to wear them, the housekeeper simply knelt down and removed my shoes for me.  I found out later why, pretty good reason too.

It was a large circular outdoor area set in the center of his home so that an open-air walkway opened into the garden from each cardinal direction.  I noticed that the doors to the garden were actually two sets.  the option to close one set from the outside that was a very pretty decorative (and heavy) bent-brass gate or a floor-to-ceiling heavy wooden gate that opened from the inside (I think for private parties).  

No ceiling... 6"x6" thick beams made from some sort of dark hardwood crossed overhead to provide a lot of shade, but allowed a lot of non-direct sunlight.  The housekeeper told me that it was designed by the owner so that the sun never once touched his plants below but provided them with enough light to grow well.  It also provided to help keep the light levels and temperature even no matter what the season.

Keep in mind that Morocco is pretty damned hot during their summers, the garden was easily 20-30 degrees cooler and provided a lot more shade.  Remarkable really.

In the garden itself there were four trees set in large above-ground solid stone planters, each planter was a sort of football shape so that the outside edge made a circle that followed the walls about ten feet away.  Each planter held either a lemon tree or an orange tree and a lot of jasmine.  

Besides their intoxicating smell, the best detail about the trees is the fact that each holds 250 minuscule hand-made silver bells.  Each bell is hand-tied and moved periodically so as to not harm the tree, they pick up and ring at the smallest breeze... it's a light and subtle sound when you first enter the garden, but after you notice them, you can't seem to think of anything else.  The effect is very relaxing.

The ground is covered with beautiful round river rocks (obviously not locally procured) and there is a layer of running water about an inch or two under the rocks.  If you stand at the north or south ends of the garden, you can hear the water entering or exiting the garden under the rocks.


The sounds, smells, the entire environment was amazingly simple and all of the elements"flowed" perfectly into each other (if that makes sense).  The light level matched the sound level matched the temperature matched the smells.


It's the best place I've ever been.

I'd like to have a place like that some day.

As a half-cajun, I have to recommend  www.cajungrocer.com for all of your hometown food fixes.  I've got a freezer full of Comeaux's tasso and andouille.  The boudin didn't last very long.



Damn I miss visiting Louisiana.   Fuck New Jersey.





 

I try not to think of it.

Right here. Women adore me and fish fear me.

I need about six of them.

One would be where I live now, but just a bigger house outside the city limits.

One would be around Tremblant, Quebec.

One would be a beach somewhere.  We haven't found the best spot yet.  Kailhua, Oahu is at the top right now.

One would be in the South of France, Nice maybe.

One would be outside Geneva.

I'm sure there would be a sixth, we just haven't been there yet.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed my garden.

Just got back...The back woods of Wayne County West Virginia..

You want to live next door to "The Larry?"

is made of bacon and win.

Anywhere that I do not have to put up with people unless I want to.

Elk County, Pa

At my parents house, surrounded by my family.

a close second is anywhere in the Sierra Nevadas, especially in Sequoia or Kings Canyon NP.

Tough, tough.

I absolutely loved Bonaire....but then I loved Oberammergau, too.  Neither were exactly "perfect" though.  Better for vacation trips, I think.

Have to say some country like eastern-central WV (around Elkins), although some country like Washington state or Maine has would work just as well.  Low population count, lots of free country to roam through, a lake and river within fourwheeler range to visit, an ocean within a reasonable day's drive, and an airport within two hours.  House, nothing special....I can make do without much.  Give me a garage for wrenching, a nice covered range pavilion, and a basic two-storey house (hell, even just a rancher with an elevated bedroom for a nice view), and I'd be happy.  Wood fireplace for the fall and winter, a/c for the summer (blood like ice water, hate the heat), big front porch to sit on and read....sounds exactly like where I want to be right no.

I'll leave the exotic places for vacations - home would be somewhere I could sink my toes into the dirt and feel the roots of the trees and mountains.

Yes I want to disturb him with my private outdoor shooting range and super cool off road track for ATVs and dirt bikes etc...

I wish Northern California wasn't such a left-wing haven, because it's the most scenic area of the country I have seen.  The redwood forest near the Russian River was the most tranquil place I have ever set foot.

California if we could just fix a few little things.

There's a spread across the street from his place for sale. Go for it!

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Woodside/750-Mountain-Home-Rd-94062/home/1072504

Liberalism destroyed a true paradise. Temperate rain forests, snow capped mountains, lush fertile valleys, sun drenched beaches and arid desert all in one place. A land with everything a man could want, rendered intolerable by the people who live there.

I am working on it but I would rather get a smaller, crappy, older house on a large plot then do it up how I want it. To me a big fancy house like that is useless unless you can harden and fortify it quickly in cases of national emergencies or acts of super coolness.

It's not all that bad.

Any given twisty road on any given warm sunny day.  When I get on my SV650s nothing can touch me.  It doesn't matter how bad things are at home or in my life.

That spread is probably $10 million for the home and $20 million for the 3 acres of land it sits on.

I've been there and found it to be so.

It is Aztlan now.

Move on. The green democrat douchebags will soon follow the out-migration when they see how completely unsustainable that shithole has become. Get somewhere competitive (preferable) or red before the locusts clean California's plate completely.

My idea of paradise in California in, say, 1966.

Even then, it was on it's way down.

Okay, maybe 1945 is better. War is over and the crazies have not yet moved in from New York and Boston and other locales back East.

My perfect place is on the "inside" of a woman.

The Southwest US is Aztlan; not just California. And most of NorCal has not yet been invaded by the Mexican hordes. It's still a great place to live. Although, I do miss the desert.

Some place along the Oregon coast, or near the Oregon Blue Mountains.

I did see some pretty places on the way to Sequoia National Park that would be lovely to live in.

I had no idea you were black... or that you spoke French so well.

You went to the wrong places.

It would be great to have a bigger fridge and some way to keep Ma from coming down to the basement while I'm baitin'.

This woman's FACE HOLSTER...


And MY face...!










...

My house in Corolla, North Cackalacky, nothing more relaxing than the sound of surf hitting the beach, and looking out as the sun sets, seeing dolphins playing offhsore.

Perhaps Jim Handy could write a card better describing such a scene?