Catfish and Hushpuppies and the Best Massage Ever!

Usually, when I'm visiting my mother in Columbus, GA, a meal at Ezell's Catfish Cabin is a must.  You can get "all you can eat" whole catfish, fried in cornmeal batter, with unlimited cole slaw and hushpuppies for under ten dollars.  I think their hushpuppies are the best I've ever eaten - full of onions, corn and jalapeno peppers.  For those of you who aren't sure what hushpuppies are, they are a Southern dish, made of cornmeal, flour, eggs, salt, baking soda, milk, and water, and can include whole kernel corn, onion, spring onion, and peppers.  The batter is crisply fried in hot oil.

Different stories have arisen as to how the name came about but they all have to do with bits of the fried batter being tossed to the dogs to quiet them, hence, "hush, puppies."

I was so disappointed at Ezell's this time because they were not serving the whole catfish due to the excessive heat the past few days.  They said the catfish were not up to quality because of that.  I was content, however to eat shrimp, a whole plate of hushpuppies and their great cole slaw.

These were once swimming in a lake, river or stream somewhere in the South!

Ezell's is your down home type of setting - no fancy linens or candelabra here!

Yummy high calorie, high fat hushpuppies!

 

Cheese grits ( or Georgia ice cream! ) and catfish fillet 

I was supposed to leave tomorrow to return home to San Francisco, after ten days with my mother here in Georgia.  Last night, though, she begged me to stay longer.  We still have so many things we did not accomplish, the most important of which is getting her to a doctor.  I finally decided to change my flight and to stay another week.  I figured the one hundred dollar change fee will be less expensive than trying to fly back next month, which I really cannot afford to do.  I need to get back and try to find work but I kept thinking about all my mother has done for me in my life and that made the decision easier.  So I will be here until November 11th.

Today, I decided to go and get a massage.  Jennifer Stanton Clifton, the daughter of my friends, 

Luther and Beth Stanton is a licensed massage therapist.  She was booked up at her normal place of business but she was nice enough to let me come to her home today.  I hadn't had a massage since before the news of my impending job loss in February.  I have both spinal and cervical stenosis and I've suffered from chronic back pain for over 20 years, since I had extensive back surgery after a fall in the operating room where I worked.  Hydraulic fluid had

leaked from one of our surgical tables and I slipped on it when I went running out of the room to get blood for the case.  

At any rate, Jennifer did some deep tissue work on me - definitely a bit grueling at times - to work out all the knots - but it was the best massage I've ever had.  I am a bit sore tonight but I can move better than I have in months.  I will definitely go back for another massage before I leave Columbus!  My problem is, how am I going to manage monthly sessions with her when I live 2500 miles away.  Jennifer was telling me that Bob Hope once said that the secret to his longevity was that he got a massage every day of his life.  If I had his wealth, I would definitely indulge myself!  I am also regretful that, in all the years I've been visiting, I never had Jennifer give me a massage before!  All that time wasted!  

Next time, pehaps, I'll see her at the Joseph House, in the historic district of Columbus, which houses an art gallery, showcasing the work of Southern artists and also offers massage therapy to clients.  I stopped there today to see the art work on display - lovely pieces in all types of medium, some very reasonably priced.

 

 The Joseph House