Leigh (pronounced "lee")

To celebrate the occasions of the day (my sister's graduation and my mom's birthday) our family decided to get a little Texas culture by visiting the Texas Roadhouse. What an experience. I know that these resaurants exist across the country, but there was just something about going to one that was actually in Texas. For those of you who have not been so privileged to dine at such a fine establishment as this, you are greeted first by the sound of some good ol' country music shaking the walls even before you enter the building. As you enter the door, the next thing to note is a diamond shaped yellow sign warning you that there are peanut shells on the floor. Next thing you find is peanut shells on the floor with a big barrel of peanuts in the corner of the waiting area far from any trash recepticle. To greet you is a black girl named BobbyJoe who asks you if y'all would like to sit down for a spell till a table is clear. After cracking a few goober peas, and discarding the shells on the floor between your feet, you will be seated by another polite girl in jeans who asks you where y'all are from and if there's anything at all she can do for you. Your waitress, whose name is Leigh (pronounced "lee") then comes by and makes similar small talk till she pulls a pad of paper from her denim pocket to jot down all your drinks. After all the sweet teas, lemonades, and cokes are recorded she heads off and you get a chance to really look around. First off, you notice that you have a new supply of peanuts in a tin bucket on your table. You have an extra empty bucket as well, but I don't know what that was for.

If you have not guessed yet, this is exactly what happened to us. So from here on out, I'll describe it in the first person retrospective viewpoint, rather than the second person play-by-play viewpoint.

The pounding country music was as loud as ever, and really immersed us in the atmosphere. All across the wall are caricatures of country singers, NASCAR racing hoods sponsering several beer labels, as well as the neon signs for the various beers supported. Were it not for the undesirable taste and smell, intoxicating nature, and poor associations with beer, I just might have gotten one. Leigh came back quite promptly, along with a couple of unnamed guys to help pass around the drinks. She then took our orders, chatted for a bit and headed off again. (random comment: Just as I'm writing this, I burped and it tasted like the peanuts that we had there) We chatted, took a picture of a stuffed armadillo, tossed some peanut shells on the floor. Leigh returned with our soups and salads, while looking out for any refills she could give on drinks. "Could I have a Sprite instead of a Coke?" I asked her. "Sure thing, honey... was there something wrong with your Coke?" She returned with our drinks, including my Sprite. "Hope that tastes a bit better!" she remarked. After waiting a bit longer, anticipating our meals, I commented how I find it frustrating that whenever I go out to eat, I will have just about finished my drink when the meals come. They will forget to ask about refills right then, and won't come back for a while, because we are busy eating: so I get stuck being thirsty for fifteen minutes or so. No sooner had I finished saying that, Leigh comes up from behind me with a refill for my Sprite, with our meals following shortly after. What a wonderful place! Not to mention the food was incredible. And plenty of it too. For the first time in a while, I actually had enough food on my plate to pack it up for later. We were almost finished when darling Leigh came around with some friends to sing something that resembled a "Happy Birthday" to my mom and some congratulations to my sister. All in all it was an awesome experience. It was a great way to taste Texas!