A Random Post

Everything is packed except for the cold storage food which will go in in the morning before we leave. Take the cat to boarding, fuel up the van and we will be on the road!! So excited!! So, as I take a well deserved break for all my back breaking work, I cruised down my facebook wall and something caught my eye that sparked a most delightful memory and I thought, "I must blog about this!"

the famous sign!

The year was 1999, the place was Pensacola Florida. I was there to meet my 7 week old grandson, (my first grandbaby) and spend time with my daughter and my son and also meet my grandson's daddy. I had one week to cram all the loving and spoiling I could possible do and visit a few classic places. The Blue Angels Flight Museum, Fort Walton and, of course, the beach.

Oh, and one place that my daughter had swore would make me swoon.

they let me have a menu too!

The place was Po' Folks, a family restaurant, that specialized in southern home cooking and the one item on the menu that we just had to try was Fried Green Tomatoes. Both my daughter and I loved the movie of the same name and I had tried a couple of times to make fried green tomatoes but they were a soggy sloppy mess. I was looking forward to eating at the restaurant and especially this southern treat!

We decided to go to dinner together my last night in town, the whole family. My kids dressed up for the occasion, my son-in-law even donning a tie!  We cruised down to Po' Folks and eagerly made our way to the door. Only to be told as we stepped inside that the restaurant was closing in about 10 minutes and they were no longer seating anyone for dinner.

Major bummer!!

My daughter quickly turned on the charm and with no shame, begged them to reconsider serving us. "My mama came all the way here from Washington and we told her all about this place. She just wants some of those delicious fried green tomatoes so bad!"
I tried to look as winsome and hungry as I could. We all held our hands together, pleading looks on our faces. "Couldn't we at least get some fried green tomatoes to go?"

still wishing I could make these!

The waitress caved and said she'd see what they could do in the kitchen. With less than a minute to go before they locked the doors, she was back with a large, greasy, steaming, brown paper sack.

We stood out there in the parking lot, crowded around the trunk of my rental car, the sun fading from the sky, the humidity making our eyes swim. With napkins we carefully picked up the hot delicacies, shoving them in our mouths, regardless of the heat. Oh. My. Word. They were SO GOOD. Two large orders of fried to perfection, mouth watering circles of breaded green juiciness. The bacon grease dribbled down our chins and our arms but we didn't care. It was heavenly. Like po' white trash we stood in that parking lot, snorting, stuffing, licking and sighing, until every last crumb was gone.

When the feast was finished we leaned against the car with satisfaction. We weren't full and we had plans to find another place to eat but we had certainly had our taste buds tantalized and for right now we were all quite happy.

In the morning I would have to say good bye to my children, kiss that sweet baby, choke back tears and board my plane to fly home. But for that moment, I looked at my little family, faces shiny from the grease, and felt a deep contentment surge through me.

~April 1999, with my son, my daughter and my grandson~

You wouldn't think a tomato could do that. But a moment shared can.