Mudbug Weekend

Many of you probably don’t know what at mudbug is, let alone that there are people that eat them by the scoop full or in some cases, scoops. What’s a mudbug you ask? It is a crawdad or freshwater crayfish. Those little backward walking, in defense, critters that look akin to a lobster but on a 1/40 scale a delicacy in South-east Texas and Louisiana. Boiled in some Cajun concoction of spices and eaten with boiled potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, and Louisiana hot links. It’s a feast that people live the year to partake of, as crawdads have a season that they are prime for eating. Eating is a mild word in the case of mudbug eating, consuming is more appropriate, maybe even calling it a culinary event. I’ll explain.

My cousin and her husband have a crawdad feast every year over the Memorial Day weekend. They run a guide business and live in a lakeside fish sporting community throughout the year. These are normal people in all respects, unless you’re talking about their passions, those passions are fishing, drinking beer with whiskey chasers sometimes, and eating with large groups of friends, family, and invited guests, then we would call them fanatical about their fun for life. The event goes on all day for the mass of eaters and drinkers, but a full weekend for the family members that choose to stay for the weekend. This was my first time to be able to come. Able is probably a stupid explanation as in most cases we lived far away and Memorial Weekend events with family where with those we were around. But we moved to Texas four years ago and finally have made it for the weekend. A weekend that we may never miss again. Last year, we were set to come, but Dad had a stomach bleed, and he was too weak to leave him and he eventual ended up in the hospital for a couple nights discovering he had a bleeding ulcer. Much better now and doing well, we were excited to finally attend the event we had heard so much about and had been invited too more years than I would like to admit. I love my family in that they never give up hope for the ones they love. We made reservations at a new campground attached to the neighborhood they live in and one we have passionately become obsessed in buying a house in for them to rent to fishermen and for us to stay for all of the family celebrations that take place here.

This campground could be more explained to be a civic center parking lot on a hill. I’m not sure there is a level camping spot in the place and far from thought-out as there are no turn around areas and although they have plans to have two entrances in and out, currently there is only one on a road that I’ve seen worse but certainly when trailers are involved, most all have been better. A severe need of some asphalt on the hills and common driving areas. They do have large slots for each trailer, but there is absolutely no amenities other than proximity to the lake and the standard full hookups. But the hookups were not thought out very well as most trailers have their connection points mid-way on the trailer and these hookups are behind the trailer. Thankfully we had a twenty-five-foot water hose and thirty-foot electrical hookup. But will have to come back next weekend with my sewer extension making for a conservative weekend of water use and bathroom usage. I’m sure in time, if the owners can get enough users, that the campground will keep improving. But some things are now beyond the ability to improve like loose gravel on a hillside and trying to get a eleven-thousand-pound trailer moving forward making for a bit of a challenge with the accelerator pedal. We may never stay in this campground again, but we are always up for a new experience and this is one we have taken on and the trailer will be here until after July Fourth Weekend.

Back to the mudbug spectacular, and spectacle it was. Jen had never eaten a crawdad before. She had played with them maybe as a kid, but the thought of eating one seemed a little farfetched. As an adult she was certainly aware that people ate them, but I think it was a pretty far-off thought of eating one herself. Then I scooped some on a tray that was near the size of the lazy Susan on the kitchen table. We’re not talking a small scoop; we’re talking a scoop like you see in ice machines. I took about a half a scoop, but we saw people that would take two full scoops and then thirty minutes later would be back for two more. After it was all said and done, Jen was asked if she had any and she responded that no one showed her how. LOL, I offered, but I still think Jen has some memorizing thought that these are not food and much like pistachio nuts, it is more trouble to eat than the benefit in doing so. As we arrived, we saw a cousin eating her way around her personal family platter and was going through them at about a pace of one-a-minute. We were amazed and her platter was heaping with already eaten carcasses of these miniature lobsters. But then we watched two guys that never sat down and stood at the table that had holes cut out for discards. They were going through them at about a five-second pace, twisting the tail from the body, using a dedicated little finger to scoop the fat out of the body and licking their finger and then sucking the meat out of the tail and discarding the carcass into the hole on the table. It was like watching a championship eating contest. They both literally ate four scoops apiece not partaking of the sides until they were done with their mudbug feast. Then they certainly had their fill of hotlinks, taters, and cobs. I think Jen and I had as much fun watching people eat as we had visiting with the large group of family members attending, which was certainly the biggest treat for us. I kept thinking my kids would love this at least once in their life and was thinking of Kate’s husband and the adventure this would have been for him as he is always able to turn something like this into a story loved by his many followers. Maybe we will get them all to come when we actually own a house here. What fun that would be.

It has been a great weekend full of fun, family, and friends celebrating together over this important weekend. Let’s not forget that it is Memorial Day Weekend. There was many with hats and shirts commemorating our fallen heroes. We all owe our freedom to these men and women that have sacrificed the ultimate sacrifice in giving their lives for our freedom to have fun, argue politics and our differences, only to raise a beer together to our heroes of the armed forces together. Cheers to my comrades and thanks for a weekend of fun and second-day stomach aches. All was part of the experience that I hope to be a part of for years to come. Y’all come back, ya’ hear, or translated, join us next year!