We ate our watermelons on a picnic table in the backyard. The slats on the top allowed the juice to drip through to the grass below. Much less of a mess than eating it in the house.
I don’t know if it is a practice elsewhere but in Texas—we always put salt on the melons. :-)
Yes, I put salt on watermelon and BLACK PEPPER ON CANTALOUPE.................It’s a Southern Thang!............