Mud bugs

Vaughans Lounge is kind of a magical place. You show up there, belly up to the bar for a $5 glass of wine or a $4 beer, and after a while someone might nudge you and say, "you know, they got a pot of chile over there." Or "Stick around, they doin' a crab boil. It's gonna come out in a minute." 

We showed up today and there was a stack of styrofoam food containers near the back bar, and after a while, the bartender, Krinkle, let us know they were full of steamed crawfish. "It's for the drag show later tonight," she said, "but these are ready now." 

We got a container of about thirty or so perfectly steamed crawfish. Our friend Ronald Lewis showed us how to eat them - break off the heads and suck the fat and juice out of them, then peel and eat the tail meat. A couple of bar-stools over, our friend L.J. was working through another big container of crawfish. 

The chef is Chris, who's been affiliated with the bar for decades. He makes chile and sloppy joes and spaghetti and red beans and rice and steamed crabs whenever the spirit moves him and the bar is full of customers.