There Goes Another Huddle House

Huddle Houses

By Amy Louise Geertz Kriss

Both Shamus and Liam have been entertaining Mudie descendants for years.

When Jan lived in Florida (around 1998 ??), many drives were taken between Pittsburgh and Dunedin. Sometimes Buffy was involved and sometimes Abbie was involved. When Shamus and Liam were older teens, opinions about traveling just CLASHED. Mom liked to travel slowly and take lots of leisurely bathroom and meal breaks and she could easily turn it into a 2 or 3 day drive adding motels and everything. Shamus and Liam preferred to set speed records with a one-minute pee stop every few hours. Funny stories happened just because of the 

differences of opinions. 

Kirsten and Shamus today.

Abbie used to despise McDonald's

Huddle House

McDonald's

Nobody wanted Abbie to drive. EXCEPT that SHE was the one who OWNED the van! That's pretty much the only reason she was invited!!! Shamus and Liam were stuck with her and they would "dump her in the back seat" and rudely take over ALL the driving. One famous time, I was driving. I usually catered to ALL of MOM's wishes. I usually took my time, stopped at places where she could enjoy a relaxing meal. But THREE of us wanted a quick stop and she was outnumbered.  I stopped at an exit that had two choices ---- McDonald's and a waffle place, Huddle House. I knew Mom preferred drinking coffee from a cup and saucer instead of the dreaded styrofoam cup. But I drove right up to McDonald's. She used to HATE McDonald's and she actually said,

"SHIT!"

Tension happened, but we got through it and drove on.

But good old Shamus always knows JUST WHAT NOT TO SAY. For the rest of the trip, every time we passed the restaurant, he would say, "There goes another Huddle House!" 

Mom has been a good sport about this and it has become a family joke. She doesn't 

even HATE McDonald's anymore and we still laugh. There goes another Huddle House.