Noah's Gumbo

A big chill means a big bowl of Gumbo.

I sneaked out of bed and down the hall to curl up on the sofa and have some quiet time. Carrie will discover that I have fled and will soon be hunting for me so I'll quickly dial the TV to CNN, sip my coffee and turn up the thermostat to heat some of this cold air.

I can hear the lawn mowers roaring as even in this chilled morning, lawns are being tended.

I don't think there is ever a break here in lawn work. Oh, I don't do any during these months. At best, I'm a lazy gardener. I can see lawn bags bursting at the seams stacked beside the neighbors mail box where the city truck will pass and carry it away. Maybe there is a dead body inside and maybe that's the reason I don't have lawn bags beside my mailbox. I don't have any bodies to dispose of. I would prefer this line of thinking on my part then to question whether I should be in the back yard now bagging up leafs and debris.

The hours passed, a couple of them, before Carrie appeared in the hallway, her knuckles dug into her face trying to erase the sleep from her eyes. A chocholate milk later and an hour of cartoons and she was ready for breakfast.  I asked her what she wanted, fully expecting her to mention something like cereal. "Gumbo" she said. 

"Noah's" I said. Noah's is a little diner that popped up here about a year ago. Out of the way and off the tourist paths, Noah's caters to the locals; the lunch crowd of business men and women. Firefighters, police officers, hospital employees and farmers who are in town on errands. 

The floors are concrete and a large open room with a buffet set up is visible as you enter through the front door.

 A steam table displays the specials of the day. Smothered chicken, pork chops, smothered steak, jambalaya, turnip greens, smothered potatoes, smothered cabbage, cornbread dressing, black eye peas and red beans and rice spread down the steam table where the ladies ladle up your requests. Gumbo is served every day, winter and summer. 

A bowl of Gumbo is $7.00. I find this a bit expensive for a bowl of chicken, sausage and rice.

Carrie enjoyed it. We called her mother and when she found we were at Noah's and she hadn't been invited, she placed an order to go. 

Carrie finished her brunch and we picked up the smothered chicken "to go" order and headed home. April phoned later raving about the food.  

If you should ever be passing through Lafayette, dial in "Noah's" on your GPS and eat some real native home cooking. It's worth the drive.