2014 Zoe's Back, Greek At Large Dec 19 2014

Zoe’s Back, Greek At Large

Ok, I just remembered something fun that happened. We get to Vicksburg and everybody’s draggin real bad on accounta we dint have no food or water for about a thousand hours. And the van and the big giraffe truck circle around this old town lookin for a diner. Everybody’s got their head in their rectangles tryin to communicate with somethin called yelp and it anit cooperatin. Then somebody finds the best ‘’best diner in vicksburg’’  Jim’s Diner. So we go find Jim’s and it looks pretty much like the resta the town, shut down. No not shut down but real dark and tired and long in the tooth, shut down. But you know Mischa she dont say no to nothin, especially if the diner is named after her dear father.... so she gets out and pokes around. Lo and behold, right there perched on the edge of the Mississippi river is Jim’s diner and it is open for business! Just dint look like it.

So we pile out and we all get some interestin looks from the locals, most a whom are workin in there, sorta. I guess we dint exactly look like typical southern ladies saunterin in there half crazed from the incessant drivin, and the big weight hangin on us all.

Anyways theres a big guy in the middle of the place pointin and wavin at the waitresses, directin traffic i guess. We come to find out this is the owner, and his name aint Jim! It’s Gus!   Gus, Mischa says to herself, hmm.   Then we start orderin food and theres rice pilaf, rice pudding, grilled fish, green beans in tomatoes  garlic and onion sauce.  Mischa keeps on hmmming to herself. Then she hears Gus talkin Greek! right there in the middle of Vicksburg, and he’s doin it with a big brawlin southern accent! Egad, she said to me, that aint really right. Anyways turns out old Gus is quite a character and he’s got pictures all over his wall of movie stars and politicians, writers and musicians, all kinds a famous people who stopped in over the years. And his daughter Koula’s  featured in most a them. She’s there lookin like they is all old buddies from way back.               

Yeah Laura starts talkin to Gus and we was there for about three years listenin to his stories. Sounded like he had quite the life:

he had movies shot in his diner; president’s kissin babies; bank robbers hidin out; jealous husbands shootin up the place; ship captains gamblin their fortunes away in the back room; a few ‘ladies of the night’’ livin upstairs; and oh yeah, he ran an orphanage too in the building next door!

I guess ya just cant judge an old book by its cover, cause if youda seen that place just drivin around like we did, youda never thought twice about it.

But we all had a real good lunch and left with a bellyfull and an earfull to last us the rest of the trip. 

After that, I think we all felt a little of the weight liftin off us. Cause we creaked open ourselves to old Gus, and he did it back. Made leavin home a little less painful for a minute.   Anyways  I gotta go on my nature walk, so   until later!