Bubba Melanson

With Rhea, Jon, and Sam still here on Saturday we decided to go out for a traditional southern breakfast. We headed out to the the Cracker Barrel. The place was packed as the University of South Carolina Gamecocks were playing the Clemson Tigers. Once again the food was good and the service was OK. I think everyone had a good time. The real story for this blog begins when I arrived at the restaurant. I got there a few minutes early with Isabelle since we had to take two cars to get all six of us there (not enough room for all the carseats!). I stepped up to desk to get our name on the list for a table and the head waitress wrote it down. Then she told me it should be spelled Melancon and pronounced in French! It turns out she is from Louisiana and here maiden name is Melancon. We talked for a bit and she told me more about where she was from. Her parents still live in Louisiana but her grandparents were the last in her family to speak French. She said it was not exactly standard French (I told her I knew what she meant). She came by the table a few more times and to say hello and check on our meal. When Isabelle decided to play shy with her and wouldn't say her name the waitress christened her Bubba. Bubba is used both as an term of endearment and an insult down here, although the most interesting item I found on it was about a fish named Bubba the Grouper. I knew I'd meet Cajuns down here eventually but I didn't think I'd make connections this easily. I told the waitress I'd be back to quiz her on where to visit for more Melans(c)ons in Louisiana when we start planing our road trip to the Gulf Coast. It may not be for a year or two but it definitely needs to happen. We did brave a little of Black Friday. Jane and Rhea made a run for Target just before lunch and then Jon and I hit Lowe's in the afternoon. It wasn't too bad but the staff in the stores were defiantly frazzled. I heard this morning there was even a death on Long Island at a Walmart when an employee got trampled by the "frenzied Black Friday shoppers". In California two men pulled guns on each other and shot each other to death after two women got into a fight. On second thought maybe we'll stay away from the big box stores for a while. Friday was a beautiful day and I took advantage of it to put up the Christmas lights. On Sunday I got a few more items up and finish the lights. I have a plan involving some stars and lights that should be pretty unique. I'll post some pictures here when I get them done. Rhea and the family left on Sunday morning. Isabelle was very sad to see them go. Here we are Monday night and they just got in to Quaker Hill in Connecticut. It was a long drive with lots of traffic but I hope it was worth it. I know I enjoyed having them around for a few days. Hopefully we'll see them more often now that we're all on the same coast.