OffBeat congratulates Jim Lehrman and wife Virginia of Austin, TX as the winners of “Visit New Orleans” 2013 Best of the Beat weekend sweepstakes. Visit New Orleans and the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation partnered with OffBeat Magazine this year to offer a weekend trip prize package to one lucky winner and a guest. The sweepstakes prize package invites the winners to visit New Orleans for Best of the Beat Awards weekend. The contest ran on the Visit New Orleans Facebook page from December 5 through December 19, and the random winner was selected last week.

Best of the Beat 2013 Sweepstakes Winner, Jim Lehrman.

Jim and Virginia will be traveling from Austin to New Orleans on Friday, January 17 via Southwest Airlines and will stay the weekend at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in the Warehouse District. The two will enjoy dinner for two at Kingfish Restaurant on Friday and will party New Orleans-style with us at the Best of the Beat Music Awards show on Saturday, January 18 at Generations Hall as our VIP guests.

No newbie to New Orleans, Jim expresses the couple’s excitement about returning to visit the Crescent City again and experience the Best of the Beat, VIP-style. An avid fan, he writes the following in anticipation of their trip:

We have been to New Orleans 5 or 6 times for professional conferences and just to enjoy the culture, music, food and casino.  We are planning a trip back in February for a conference.  We never miss an opportunity to come, visit and enjoy. We have a friend who lived in New Orleans and was a chef at the Acme Oyster House.  We meet him and his lovely wife in New Orleans whenever we can.  Dudley and Charlene Carter are their names and they act as our tour guides, as well as,  enjoyable companions.

There seems to be music everywhere in New Orleans.  I love the blues and listening to the blues in a historic setting is even better.  The music scene in Austin is wonderful but not as bluesy as it used to be.  The blues in New Orleans has a sultry sound to it that helps melt away one’s troubles and worries.  I like jazz, R&B, rock, and Cajun but, oh man, the blues speak to the heart.

I am into the whole [Best of the Beat] experience with you folks.  This [prize package] is like another Christmas present for my wife and I.  There are some musicians on the line-up that I am not familiar with, so, this is a good chance to hear them and, hopefully, find some music that I want to hear more of and add to my music collection.

We like the Neville Brothers, so, if Cyril won best album or song or both would be fine with me.  I like the whole blues line-up.  Yes, yes, I know, I am biased towards the blues.  There is zydeco too and I like Chubby Carrier.  Or R&B, when done well, is hard to beat.  Shoot, it is hard to pick [who we think should win at Best of the Beat this year]. Actually, I feel like my wife and I are one of the winners this year.

It will be a weekend of eating our faces off…muffletta from the City Grocery, beignets from Café du Monde,  and Oysters from Acme or Drago’s .  We are looking forward to checking out the Kingfish restaurant and the goodies at the Best of the Beat.  There must be a Ramos Gin Fizz or two from the Roosevelt Hotel too.  We will likely cruise down to Jackson Square to see if Grampa Elliot is around and walk the Quarter.

Congrats again Jim and Virginia, and we’ll see you on January 18!

The 2013 Best of the Beat Music Awards takes place on Saturday, January 18, 2014 from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m. at Generations Hall (310 Andrew Higgins Drive). Performer line-up and online tickets available here. Get your tickets online before January 2 and receive 25% off the door price!

Jim Lehrman and wife Virginia of Austin, TX are headed to New Orleans for Best of the Beat!