Shucks!

Tuesday, Feb 28… 

We had serious tourist plans for today, but by the time we’d run all the errands it made more sense to wait a day and get an earlier start. So we went back to Shucks for lunch! 

But you are confused. Went back?  Shucks…? Didn’t they sell auto parts?  And didn’t they close?  All true. 

Let me tell you about Shucks in Abbeville, LA.

Yesterday’s drive was long. By the time we checked in and taken care of basic setup, we really didn’t want any more responsibility. Another camper had already tipped Greg off to Shucks, a local seafood restaurant, so we decided to try it out. It’s Tuesday, about 5:30, and the place is already half full when arrive. The menu is extensive, and Greg is a seafood lover and has been hunkering for a “Cajun crawfish bawl” (boil, if you’re not from the south), but tonight he orders the “drum stack,” a drum fish (redfish) filet topped with a huge crab cake (lots of crab, very little filler) topped with fried shrimp, and a vegetable medley on the side. Despite being raised by the Chesapeake Bay and living in Seattle for 30+ years, I am not a huge seafood junkie. But I do love crab cakes, so that was my choice, with onion rings (one of my standbys).

All the food was good, but other aspects of the meal were the real treat. Greg ordered non-sweet tea, and I asked for Diet Pepsi and agreed to Coke. Our server brought me a large class of crushed ice and a 6-oz green glass bottle of Coke – the same stuff some of us paid a nickel for back in the 60s. During the meal, Shucks’ owner/manager stopped by our table to schmooze. Quite the character, and it’s obvious why his restaurant is such a success – he’s personally involved in every aspect (recipes to marketing), and he’s a great people person. We had ordered cheesecake to take home. He’s like, “No, no – you must try the bread pudding. I’ll bring you each a sample. Wait right here!” So we did, and he came back with 2 mini-servings of bread pudding doused in hot buttered rum sauce. Yummy!  (The cheesecake was so-so, but I’ll eat almost any cheesecake. But he knew the cheesecake wasn’t his best offering and made sure we tried his specialty.)

When we went back for lunch, Greg had gator bites (tender, tastes just like chicken) and crawfish étouffée. étouffée means smothered, and the dish is kind of like a stew or gumbo with crawfish (or shrimp). I enjoyed corn & crab chowder w/ sweet potato fries. In a few days we’ll be in New Orleans, then Baton Rouge. Greg still has time to get his “crawfish bawl” - and oysters!

I needed steps for FitBit and
took a late night walk.

BlogThoughts... Mardi Gras. It's unbelievably huge across the south. Some shops were closed. (And there's no school tomorrow b/c it's Ash Wednesday.) One local gal told me she'd called a business today and got a recorded message that it was closed because "Mardi Gras is a national holiday." (And all these years I thought the Confederates had rejoined the U.S. after the Civil War.)