Melanie's version

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The trip to Cut Off, Melanie’s version

We had the continual breakfast at the motel, then set off on our next adventure! We went from Gretna to Raceland. At Raceland we went south on Louisiana Highway 1. We went south all the way to Grand Isle. Grand Isle is known for its fishing. There we got to see a truck drive into the water with a trailer on it. No the people in it did not drown or get wet; they had a boat on the back of the trailer. As they backed into the water the boat just floated off.
On this trip to Cut Off we had a special mission. We drive down to the house. Poppy tells me to go Knock on the door. So I go over to the door and do as he said! A sweet little old lady comes to the door and peeps out to see me and Poppy standing at her door. She says hello and invited us in! Poppy put his hands on her shoulders (at this time I realize poppy is two times as tall as this gal) and said “you came to my house in Hattiesburg, Mississippi” In the sweetest voice she said “Robert Russell”
They just hugged each other! She told us to sit down, and then she called her husband who was at the church doing some work. (Have I mentioned their names yet? Mr. Harry and Mrs. Gloria Danos are some of Poppy’s friends from back in 1952) While Mr. Harry is on his way Mrs. Gloria starts to cook some shrimp. These shrimp were about two inches long and fat. (not 2” fat) She put the fat shrimp in a large pot with salt and a dash of spice and h2o and nothing else. Then she made some sauce to dip the shrimp in. When Mr. Harry got home he recognized Poppy right off the bat! Mrs. Gloria took the shrimp out of the pot and on to a plate. We blessed the food and dug in Mrs. Gloria and Mr. Harry got the Shrimp with the heads on and gave me and Poppy the ones without. I thought this was very nice because the ones with heads were scary. We ate and ate and ate till there were no more!
It was so cool the stories they said. Poppy would start one and then Mr. Harry would finish it. I just listened and listened as the stories grew more and more exciting. I was in awe at the things that had happened! After we finished our wonderful lunch Mrs. Gloria gave us all a Zebra cake for desert! That just topped it off my favorite Little Debbie and shrimp!
To understand this part you have to under stand that Mr. Harry and Mrs. Gloria have a lot of family. (They have great grandkids) They have a beautiful picture of almost all of their family! In this picture were twenty eight people. Mrs. Gloria said they were missing some of the grandkids. Remember when I said they have great grandkids well the grand kids have kids so that is like missing two families!
We talked some more and the but there is one part I must tell you, Mrs. Gloria and Mr. Harry speak french! O Mr. Harry asks me if I knew any. Well I know a couple of words like tres bien (very good) and bonjur (hello) and cochan (pig) plus the phrase laissez les bon temps rouler ( let the good times roll). So I pick the most impressive one, the phrase! I quietly say “laissez les bon temps rouler”. He said “Who taught you that?” I said (thinking I had messed it up and said a bad word) “Poppy” He had the largest grin on his face! Then he said “He taught you that, I taught him that”. We laughed.
Then the clocked ticked and it was time to go. So soon I know I was sad and wanted to stay forever! Listening to the stories, telling jokes and good food! Earlier that day we had told them about Corn and Crab soup we had at a restaurant. She went to a cabinet and pulled out her cook book. She wrote down the recipe For Corn and Crab soup. Our family cannot get enough of that stuff!
We said “goodbye and thanks for the lunch and company” hugged them up real good and set out on our next adventure---sleep! The Best Western in New Iberia.

I guess all you can say is Laissez les bon temps rouler

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