BlogNovember 17, 2023by Sandy Shahady

GASTON THE GATOR POSTPONES BRUMATING FOR NOVEMBER FOOD AND FUN

Hello friends . . . I was talking to our mascot, Gaston the Gator, the other day, and he reminded me that this cool weather makes alligators want to brumate . . . “BRUMATE??” I asked ???  “WHAT THE HECK IS BRUMATE???”  “HA HA!!”, he said to me!  You humans think you are so smart!  Figure that one out!  I was really embarrassed, but I Googled it.  It means the same thing as hibernate, except reptiles do it.  Gaston is such a smart aleck.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, Gaston”, I shouted!  And I told him:  “Well, ha ha to you mister smart aleck, because you will miss out on a lot of seasonal fun while you’re brumating.  “OH, YEAH???” he asked.  “Yeah!!”, I answered.  “Like what?” he taunted.  Well, for one thing, I said, stuffed mirlitons.  He looked puzzled . . . “what the heck is a MELATON?” he asked.  With my nose in the air, I told him that they are a type of squash, and that they are plentiful in November.  Stuffed mirlitons are to die for for, but, I told him, you’re going to have to postpone BRUMATING if you want to partake of them.  They are stuffed with shrimp or ground beef, combined with onions, breadcrumbs and seasonings.  YUM!!!  In fact, they are so popular that there is even a mirliton fest in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans!  Gaston looked dejected.

Gaston had aggravated me so much with his attitude,  I decided to really stick it to him.  I told him that there is also a PoBoy Festival on Oak Street in November. They have 60 – yes, sixty -types of PoBoys, and some of them you can only get at the festival.  Some examples are the Oysters Rockefeller PoBoy and there is one with smoked beef cheek.  If you’re in an Asian state of mind, you can have a deep fried bufflalo shrimp banh mi.  Gaston moaned “you’re killin’ me!!!

Aaaaaaaand, for you pleasure, there is an Elvis impersonator festival, which lasts over four days!  And I know how you love Elvis, Gaston!

Gaston let out a deep sigh, and said . . . “you win”.

Smile.

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