New York native Melissa Johnson may find herself a few pounds heavier when she returns home this week.

    Johnson was in Meridian – as well as several other areas of the state and Memphis, Tenn. – to visit her friend, Meridian Star photographer Paula Merritt. It was her first visit to The South and in addition to taking in local sites, Johnson also wanted to experience real Southern cuisine.

    “I wanted to come down here for the food,” said Johnson, who resides in Olean, N.Y., which is south of Buffalo. “I wanted to try out different foods I hadn’t had before.”

    No. 1 on her list: crawfish – followed by catfish and barbecue ribs. Johnson got her first taste of Southern cuisine shortly after her arrival in Mississippi at a restaurant located outside of Jackson.

    “I had fried catfish on top of a giant crab cake, covered with crawfish and shrimp. It was amazing!” she said.

    In Meridian, Johnson tried fried alligator and fried green tomatoes at The Hungry Heifer.

    “The fried green tomatoes were surprisingly good; but why don’t they do fried red tomatoes?” she asked.

    “Because you can’t fry them when they’re ripe; they’ll fall apart,” Merritt answered.

    Johnson also made several local food purchases to take back home, including pecan rolls and cheese straws from the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. And Merritt gave her a black iron skillet so she could try her hand at frying chicken.

    “I’ve never fried chicken, so it should be interesting,” she said. “But I wanted to do it in one of those skillets so that it would be like it’s done in The South.”

    The two traveled to Memphis, where Johnson enjoyed lots of barbecue ribs at several locales, as well as a giant mound of bread pudding covered with bourbon and whipped cream at King’s Palace Cafe.

    “Oh, my God! That was incredible,” she said.

    She also got down to some good blues music at B.B. King’s Blues Club on Beale Street, which she described as “phenomenal.”

    And while food and fun have been a big part of her visit, Johnson said it also has been an insightful experience.

    “I was caught off guard at how friendly everyone is. Everywhere I’ve been everyone seems so happy, genuinely,” she said. “Comparatively to where I live – where people don’t say hello on the street and they go about their business – everybody looks happy, whether it’s the homeless guy on the street to the waiter in the restaurant.”

    Although Johnson is scheduled to head back home today, there may be a delay in her plans.

    “I’m going if I can get back with the blizzard that’s going on there,” she said. “Right now, it looks like where I’m landing there could be a foot to 2 feet of snow.”

    But she doesn’t seem too disappointed that her  visit may be extended. In fact, Johnson is already making plans to return in summer 2011.

    “I’m thinking about coming down during the Neshoba County Fair,” she said. “I probably won’t be prepared for the heat, but I’m looking forward to it.”