This is how we do the watermelon crawl...

A close friend of ours turns 30 today, so a group of us went to Crechale's restaurant last night to celebrate. For those of you who don't know, Crechale's has been around FOREVER; it's an old-school place that hasn't changed its decor or menu in decades. Pretty much everything they serve is some variety of fried seafood. It's worth the trip just to hear them sing the birthday song then break into a rousing rendition of "Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here." Anyway, Crechale's is located in what we affectionately refer to as SoJo--South Jackson. We rarely venture that direction and prefer to stay in our bubble in NE Jackson. Let's just say we feel a little more secure in our neck of the woods, although I'm going to use the term "secure" loosely since this is Jackson we're talking about. After dinner was over, we began discussing where to continue our celebration. Someone at the table mentioned that there was a karaoke bar in the vicinity. The birthday boy agreed that it would be fun, and off we went.

Did I mention that said karaoke bar is right off Ellis Avenue? The Ellis Avenue that's always headlining the news. As in, "Three car pile-up on Ellis Avenue." Or, "Armed robbery on Ellis Avenue," and last, but not least, "Gunshot victim on Ellis Avenue." You get the picture.

We pull into the gravel parking lot and file out of our cars. The lady at the door tells us there is a $7 cover, but it's "All the karaoke you can sing." We bargain our way into $5 cover and we go in. Wow...let's just say we stuck out like sore thumbs.

There were about 25 bar patrons including ourselves, but we didn't get the memo that you were NOT supposed to have on a dress shirt, but you WERE supposed to wear your confederate flag do-rag. They didn't accept debit or credit cars, and we had already used our cash to get in, so in order to buy drinks, we had to pay with a check. A CHECK. I repeat: we kept a bar tab open with a check. It was that kind of place.

However, I may secretly belong in SoJo because I had a great time. It was a complete and total blast. People with cowboy hats took the mike and sang "Watermelon Crawl." We took the mike and sang, "Don't Stop Believin," and "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," among others. One of our friends is a HUGE Tina Turner fan--she saw her in concert last year--and she got up and did "Proud Mary" complete with all the talking at the beginning. Two other girls were her back-up singers and synchronized dancers.

If you ever want to put on your dancin' shoes and have a legendary night, head on down to "The Horseshoe" karaoke bar. You'll be glad you did...if you don't get jumped in the parking lot.