Aww, Gappy’s. What a place. Sitting on the banks of the Chickasawhay River it was a place that once visited, you were sure to never forget. As a child, with my imagination as my best friend, I can remember the interior vividly. Now, I have no idea what all Mr. Gappy did before he became the proprietor of that fish camp, but after seeing all the amazing animals and fish hanging on the walls, my mind went wild with the stories he could tell. I looked at that SwordFish and saw him standing on the deck of a small fishing boat with the waves crashing all around; the sea mist hitting him in the face and with the strength of three men he was fighting that fish with all his might. Up in the air that fish jumped, whipping its tail and throwing its head like a mad bull at the rodeo. As determined as that fish was to get away, I could see Gappy was going to win. His eyes were set; his face had turned to steel, and he would go home with this trophy of the sea and tell the tale of how he had conquered the beast.
“Jenny, this way.” someone was calling me out of my wild adventure and over to one of the tables to be seated. My family had not brought me there to see all the exotic creatures displayed so grandly. They had come to eat; and eat we did. “All you can eat” seafood buffet, it didn’t get any better than that. So here we go, all of us, to the huge piles of famous southern fried goodies that awaited us. I, being one to never shy away from a good meal, filled my plate with all sorts of things from the smorgasbord before me and made my way back to the table to begin the task of making it all disappear. As my father was sitting next to me talking to his sisters and mother I was busy making a happy plate until I came upon something that I all of a sudden realized must surely have made it to the seafood buffet by mistake. I looked for my napkin and must have caused quite a stir, because my father turned and asked me what was the matter. As I removed the contents of my mouth into the napkin I exclaimed, “That was a frog leg!” His calm reply, laced with humor was “Yes... Did you not like it?” to which I replied with all the zeal of the child I was, “That ain't seafood, that's pond food!”
...I can't really tell you just how long ago that's been. I just know it's been a long time.
Imagine the look on customers' faces when somewhere along the seafood section of a grocery store my father comes across frog legs and bursts out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, just like he did that night so long ago.
🙂