Special Remedial Edition and Event Notice..

Well, in the last posting about Le Refuge, I mentioned a couple of times about “getting old”; another feature of same is the loss of memory (and I can’t remember the other..)

Anyway I was taken to task (by MFO) for failing to include notice a neat event that will take place tonight over in Leonardtown.  I give people stuff for late notices, and this certainly qualifies, but maybe better than no notice at all.

Dr. Ralph Eshelman is a nationally known historian who has written many books on history and cultural resource management.  We are lucky to have him living in our area, and even more lucky that he will be speaking tonight on “Steamboats and Wharves on the Patuxent River”.  I believe it will cover the late 19^th and early 20^th century when steam power gave way to other forms of aquatic propulsion. 

His talk will begin at 6:30 in the “Commissioners Building” which I believe also goes by the “Chesapeake Building”.  It’s the newer of the two where the Board has lived lately.  I have heard him speak before, and it’s worth going out for.  It is presented by the St. Mary’s County Historical Preservation Commission and is free and open to the public (as they say).  Since I am fairly well acquainted with the chairperson of said Commission, I’ll be there..

Unsolicited feeder comment:  given the start time, the question is, when do you

DFD?  before or after???

Lunch in a Safe Haven

You know you’re getting old when you figure out what day it is by looking at your daily pill box… which hole is empty??

Yesterday we found (well, by design, more later on that) ourselves on the Virginia side of greater DC around lunch time so we decided to take lunch before returning to the land of chains.  We were near Old Town Alexandria and saw Le Refuge, a restaurant I had heard about and always wanted to try but never visited.  It’s right on King Street; with kind of an unassuming front, looking like it has been there for years, which, in fact it has!  We were a bit surprised that they were open, as most respectable French restaurants are closed on Monday.  But we were glad they were, and went in.  Due to the relatively early hour there were few tables occupied and MFO and our friend were seated at a nice table that afforded us a good view of the restaurant.  It also cried out “been here forever” with has all sorts of “stuff” on the walls

Kind of puts you in mind of our own French Restaurant, Café Des Artistes.  

We were soon greeted by our server, a mid-aged gentleman who delivered two separate menus (regular and specials) and asked if we wanted something to drink.  The menus were all encased in plastic, tri fold for the regular menu and single casing for the dailies.  The other side of the specials menu contained a rather uninteresting wine by the glass list, which looked like it had… been there forever..  whites were a sauvignon blanc, a white Bordeaux, and a chardonnay.  There were a few more reds, but I stuck with the white Bordeaux.  MFO tried the sauvignon blanc, and our friend stuck with a beer (Stella, as I recall).

Turning to food, there were several daily specials mostly of seafood one of which was “fresh soft shell crab” at which we kind of raised our eyebrows, but did also include coq au vin, and pot au feu.  The “regular” menu contained most of the French dishes you might expect.  After a bit of thrashing around between Poissons and Viandes, I settled on “Escalope de Veau Francaise”, described as sort of a Piccata presentation, and our friend also stayed on land with a Filet du Porc au Roquefort.  We also decided on a shared a starter of Mousse De Foie Gras De Canard Au Cognac.    By now, I would hope the alert readership can figure out what we had.  MFO staying light had two appetizers, a beet salad and stuffed mushroom caps.  Our entrees came with choice of salad and we both took Salade Caesar.

It will be (painful and) difficult for me to describe the meal.  An unfortunate side effect of this miserable, never ending, coughing and hacking &%^$#@ cold/flu I keep having is that my senses of taste and smell have become almost non-existent.   I keep hoping that “maybe today” I can taste something.  Well, yesterday still was not that day.  The Pate was mostly texture to me, although a hint did sneak through a bit. The presented main course plates were fairly nicely put together, but certainly not nouvelle cuisine style, mine containing about four palm sized veal cutlets, quite thin, with a nice sear on them, and a nice (looking) sauce, some Dauphinoise potatoes, and little serving of what I was told was red cabbage and onions..  looked good.  Our friend’s pork was nicely cooked and a fork traded sample had a nice mouth feel, but the Roquefort could have been mayonnaise as far as I could discern.  I can think of no worse affliction that to have your sense of taste eliminated.

One oddity (?) was that when our plates were served, we were told that the plates were very hot. (thank goodness NOT by the standard “watch that plate…” speech).  Just a statement of fact: The plates are hot.   And indeed they were!  Pretty much couldn’t touch them.  There was a large temperature difference between the plate and the food.  The food was just at a good temperature and it showed none of the usual signs of being tucked under a heat lamp like skin on sauce, or dry top of entrée.  A bit of research uncovered that fact that some French restaurants would keep the plates in the oven and get them out just before plating or holding the item just short of being done and finish it in the oven before adding sides and sauces.

So I THINK the food was good.  My computer says their website is “dangerous”, so I have not been there,  but a reference from the Washington Post says: “The menu is retro; the specials are up-to-date; the side dishes are reliably good”.  Don’t think I could quarrel with that.  One time visit, one day, yadda yadda, bu I think they seem to be kind of resting on the “been there forever” reputation.  They did not make the Washingtonian’s 100 best restaurant list for the past two years..  Probably some better French options around.  Still, I was glad to go..

The Acronym Graveyard

Mercifully, there is I think a “graveyard of phrases”, where the corpses of things like: take it to the next level; game changer; jaw dropping; and so forth are resting peacefully.  Being a sports person, I would wish that soon we will see (basketball) “three ball” taken off life support.  As far as I know Brent Musburger, is one of the few (only?) user of the phrase.  And some of those comments might apply to Brent himself, but we won’t go there.

Anyway I think it is time to open an annex for acronyms.  And as a lurker on FaceBook, I would like to commend LOL to an eternal rest.  We get it, okay? It is in virtually every clever post, I guess put there to make sure us sluggard readers know they are joking.  BFF about ready to go? LMAO is maybe next, although that is a bit more colorful.    I see recently there has been a proliferation to TBT, which to be honest I had to go look up to find it’s meaning.  Does that mean the writer is sometimes lying to us?  In looking it up, I found others.  Do you know BOF means “Whatever?”  back to the top: you know you’re getting old when….

C U L8R!

DFD

Just a little of this and that...

Well, it has been a week since I’ve pestered you, but it has been a busy week here in Lake Wobegon.   I have been fighting a losing battle with the germs that kept MFO down for almost a week, so have felt pretty bad all week.  And, as a few may remember or know, I also write a little piece for the Tourism folks for their website.  Although they update it monthly it seems like their deadline is every week so that absorbed time and brain power as well.

In casting about for a suitable subject for them (I can’t really rant about the power poles, or proliferation of chain restaurants for instance) I somehow delved into Rye Whiskey (ingredient of original Manhattan).  Imagine that.  During prohibition, St. Mary’s County was very active in the business of making and “distributing” the illegal spirits.  Even before the fateful day in 1919, Maryland was famous for its Rye Whiskey, and in fact there were many products called “Maryland Rye”.  I found it very interesting to read about the history, and fashioned my “view” out of that.  Of course I couldn’t do an extended treatise there, and won’t here, but you can read at least what I found out if you go to the tourism site and scroll down to "blogs, and see my charming face.   Select “latest post’ and enjoy..

Speaking of power poles, I still can’t get over the atrocity of those damn power poles.  Right through the middle of town (in this case, mostly California).  Some local politician even said on facebook something about they were working for us to bring more efficiency.  And I just discovered (doing my usual due diligence) that our local power company SMECO has a site devoted to the "Southern Maryland Reliability Project" that tells us how we will benefit from this upgrade; complete with maps, timeline bar charts, and details of the project.  I was especially taken with the tab about the “upgraded poles” (which features a picture much like ones I posted in the previous blog) and  leads off with the sentence: “The Southern Maryland Reliability Project’s poles have been engineered to the highest standards and balance functionality with visual aesthetics”. Really?  Looks like function over form to me…  I think functionality tipped the balance hands down.. And they even list the benefits of those poles:

Average height of new poles will be 140 feet with 800 feet between poles

Average height of existing poles is 75 feet with less than 400 feet between poles

Taller poles means fewer poles – nearly half as many as the existing line.

Galvanized steel to naturally blend into the horizon

Gee, I feel better already… “naturally blend into the horizon”  sure, you betcha.  What crap.   Ever heard the phrase: “Lipstick on a pig”?  And either today (Friday) or shortly a helicopter will appear to link all them together with big black wires..  that certainly will help the blending..  If you would like to learn more about how we’re better off, here’s the (IMHO) ridiculous site.

Traditions

And lastly, right about now as I write this, (4 pm on Friday) the annual ritual of the opening of the Tiki Bar on the Solomons  will be taking place.  Mai Tai’s will be flowing; people will be partying, and lots of the three “B’s”… Beer, Beads, and Boo…other things”.  It truly is a traditional southern Maryland phenomenon.  Just not for me.

Well, there must be something else, but time is approaching to do research on Rye Whiskey and Manhattans.  They say a cure for the flu is to drink plenty of liquids…  doctor is always right

DFD

ps, i don't think there is a new chain this week!!

Power over the People

Well, despite highfaluting slogans from our local development folks like “carefully controlled development” and “doing what’s smart” the line between our community and Waldorf continues to blur, and the process of Waldorfization seems to be in full roar.  And now it isn’t limited to the ground with chain restaurants popping up in front of you like mushrooms after a rain, we can now cast our eyes skyward and see

these things ...  which also seem to have sprouted like surprise lilies.  To turn a phrase: “Now you don’t see them, now you do!”.  Well, Mr. Bottom Feeder, what’s the harm of those (giant ugly) things if they’re out in the country where nobody can really see them?   Wrongo, oh powerful one.. Here is a view of the new skyline over Hickory Hills, (home of Nicoletti’s Pizza)

Or, turning around and looking north by La Quinta Inn

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Those poles are just a few hundred yards off Rte. 235, and in fact, it appears that they will cross over to the other side of 235 somewhere in the vicinity of Cracker Barrel (we use box stores for geographical reference now) and head for the river.  And don’t forget those are not Christmas ornaments hanging on them

They are pulleys that will help them install the big heavy wires that will string the poles all together to make them even more obvious (and obnoxious).  And during construction, the pieces and parts litter the ground like bones from a giant prehistoric creature

And somehow it’s fitting that the remains are temporarily resting here.  Waldorf, I tell ya

I try to stay kind of current on local stuff, but I swear to gosh I never remember anything about a hearing or public information meeting.  I can’t believe they just did that.  It’s just awful.  MFO tells me I won’t see them after a while.  I am not sure I agree.  I don’t even know who is benefitting by them.. certainly not anybody who cares about how their community looks. and here's looking at you, kid..

And while I am on a roll here about ugly, our newest chain, Golden Corral which is of course

speaking of lines....

and is moving right along, yes sir!

You might remember when I ranted about them a bit ago, I commented on the brightness of that (opening soon) sign… well, you should drive by the place at night!  That golden strip around the roof lights up!  Brilliant gold..  sigh…..  I’m sure it will provide enough light to see the power poles, or maybe that’s where the power is going

“doing what makes sense!”  ya you bet..  what makes sense is to

DFD

Choose Civility!!

One of my (local) friends and I talk about having “civilized” lunches (and I’ve probably mentioned it), meaning not something in a bag, pushed through a window, or handed over a counter; but a sit down, tablecloths, silver, glassware, and most importantly: no schedule!.  So “civilized” behavior has become sort of my goal whenever possible.  Well, last Saturday, was a very civilized day for me.  

It was the weekend of the 2014 edition of the Smithsonian Craft show, and I wanted to talk to our “clock guy” who was an exhibitor.  We have a small problem with our clock (which is probably trivial to all but engineers), so I called him and he said to come up, and we'd chat.  Using that as an excuse I arranged to meet my long time friend up there for lunch and then “do” the show.  MFO was still under the weather and didn’t want to make the journey, but was well enough to stay by herself for the day.

So I got in the Flutter Mobile II, set the GPS and off I went.  By this time, I pretty much know the route, but it is always comforting to have the electronics on your side.  I stopped off in Dunkirk to get a Starbucks, and saw one of the people working there that used to work in our local shop.  Nice to see her.  A relatively easy 40 minutes later found me at his apartment, a few blocks from the mall.  I cleansed the rigors of the road with a civil glass of chilled Prosecco, fruit, and some excellent aged Gouda, a cheese we both greatly enjoy.  Properly refreshed we started out on foot with no particular lunch destination in mind.  He lives not far from the Eastern Market district and we headed in that direction.  Between the wonderful weather, the cherry blossom festival, and the popularity of the area, the streets were packed, mostly with people just enjoying being outside and with friends and family.  We stopped in at a little place called Sona, a wine and cheese store which also serves sandwiches (and wine and cheese!).  They had a lovely selection and we sampled a couple of cheeses at the (strenuous) urging of somebody behind the counter.  After that we went next door to another little store called “Sapore” which specializes in “artisanal oils, vinegars, and sea salts”.  They had rows and rows of containers for sampling all of the above.

A similar experience here at home would be the “Cooking Items” aisle at Giant, except you’d get arrested if you tried to taste.  A bit of a stretch, but how nice to see what I would call a civilized shop in DC.  I bought a bottle lime infused olive oil for MFO, a flavor she is particularly fond of, especially at cocktail time.

From there we proceeded over to the Eastern Market with its outdoor stalls of produce,

and “stuff”, for browsing and people watching…

Nice Hat!!

We then went inside to look at the rows and rows of cases

Of anything you might want or need

While I’m not sure everything is authentic or local, a lot of it is.  A great place.  Kind of like our local farmers market on Steroids!

We then wandered over to 8^th street, where there are a lot of restaurants, none of which I knew as chains.  Every cuisine you might wish for, many which had outdoor seating and it all made for kind of a café scene.  Most are casual, so DFD isn’t much of an issue (I certainly verified that!)  Just a lot of people enjoying friends over food.  Very nice.  Kind of Parisian.  Anyway my friend finally wanted to take me to a place that features Belgian Cuisine

It is pretty highly thought of, so we went inside (skin cancer kid here) and got a table.  The lunch menu contained a lot of stuff you might expect, mussels, frites, and (duhh) Belgian waffles.  Normally you would think that there would be fairly heavy stuff, and you would be correct.  Note the second choice of sides...  wish i could have seen one!!

Knowing we would be doing more walking, I decided to stay light, and eschewed the bucket o’bacon and went with “Prei Soep” a described as Leek Soup, smoked salmon, and crème fraiche.  My friend went with a waffle..  It was fairly noisy inside, I suppose bistro like and it was pretty packed.  They did a good job of taking orders, and it appeared food moved fairly rapidly.  They had of course a huge selection of beers, so I went with a Belgian.  Our food arrived in a timely manner, not rushed, but just about right.  My soup was smooth and very flavorful.

It was served in a civil manner, with the ingredients brought in the bowl, and then the soup was poured over it.  I like that.  The waffle was, well, quite as you might expect

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This one was topped with mangoes, peaches, figs, and mascarpone cheese.    I would like to go back for dinner sometime, they had some very unusual dishes (unless you are Belgian, I suppose) on the menu, like: STOOFPOTJE VAN KONIJNEBIL ..Braised rabbit legs, turnips, bacon, pearl onion, potatoes, carrots, prunes, mustard beer sauce.  Not your light dinner fare!

Anyway we left the restaurant, returned to the car, passing a Metro Station and the normal street musicians playing their hearts out

and drove over to the National Building Museum, annual home to the Smithsonian Craft Show.  I know I’ve waxed eloquent about this in the past, but it is a show that features the top of the line crafters in the US.  I was pleased that our “clock guy” Jim Borden was selected for the second year in a row.  His wooden clocks are amazing (note I am not using this term for food, I think it is warranted here).  Ours was having a little clocking problem, like when the minute hand was exactly on “twelve”, the hour hand was lagging a bit. Drove me nuts.  I explained the problem to Jim who promptly took me over and showed me how to fix it, right in the middle of the show.  By and large, I find the crafters are very friendly, and in Jim’s case he is from Zumbrota, Minnesota..  really nice guy as you might expect, ya, you betcha!!.

I also have mentioned that the prices are pretty extraordinary to go with the extraordinary objects.  Here’s a shot of some little glass things about the size of a salt shaker.  They are a wire frame with glass powder and then fired.  They are indeed beautiful and my grab shot doesn’t do them justice, but mostly I took it for the price tag in the lower right of the image.

And, the little red dots are the universal sign of “sold”.  So you are looking at over ten large.    But, it only costs fifteen bucks to get in and enjoy the objects even if you can’t own them!

So I would say that I had a pretty civilized day with a good friend.  There are certainly advantages (cafes, shops) to living in a place like that, but of course there are also associated disadvantages (traffic, parking).  I guess it is nice to be able to drive to civility, but maybe not live there.  I am sure there are more occasions there to

DFD

PS:   there is a Brian Ganz Piano Talk tomorrow (noon, SMH).. bring your small change, there is a fee…b*****ds… not sure I’m going, we’ll see..

Goodnight, Annette, wherever you are

Back when I first began writing the Bottom Feeder, I tried to hang around (as much as they would tolerate me), people at work who wrote for a living attempting to learn as much as I could.  People such as the marketeers, PR folk, and the like.   One of the terms I picked up was “green” in reference to stories.  That term was applied to stories that you could essentially publish any time and they would still be of interest.  Stories about say, climate change, or the civil war are pretty much in that category, but a robbery or restaurant closing that happened yesterday isn’t quite as interesting a year from now.

So anyway, I may be taking “green” to an extreme here, but I want to go back to last May (at least before it’s THIS May) to sort of follow up on a story I started then..  You may recall we took a road trip to Providence, RI so MFO could attend an archivist workshop. While there, we dined at a little place I found called Chez Pascal, and had a wonderful dining experience.  I did blog about it at the time, but as you possibly might remember, it was there that I came across a cocktail called a “Clayburn Martini”.  It was described on their menu as: “Plymouth Gin with a splash of Lillet, and a lemon twist”.  We inquired as to the name of the drink and were told it was the special drink of a regular customer, a Ms. Clayburn and was named in her honor.  On a whim, I tried it and really (really!) liked it.  It was served “up” and that experience may have been the impetus for my current preference for that presentation rather than on the rocks.  It’s just nice.

Intrigued by the drink, when I got home I messed around a long time trying to duplicate it. I purchased a bottle of Lillet and Plymouth Gin

and went to work.  A noble project, having no choice but to consume multiple tries of mixtures of 3 to 1, 4 to a half, and so on.  Kind of like Cook’s Illustrated..   After many tries, I finally had what i thought was a reasonable facsimile, although I still kind of wondered what a “splash” was considered, and what proportions were actually used at Chez Pascal.  Also I wondered further about the namesake of the drink.  So I sent a note to the restaurant asking about the drink and any information on Clayburn, and much to my pleasure, I got a very nice note from both the bartender and the owner in return, who were able to fill in a few more facts.

Annette Clayburn was a regular at their bar, visiting many (three to five) nights a week.  She suggested the recipe to the bartender who made it for her, and that is how she would begin her evening.  She passed over a year ago, and occasionally Chez Pascal will honor her by putting her drink on the menu.  We were fortunate that it was included on our visit.  Their bartender also contributed the fact that she would normally request Plymouth Gin, but occasionally would have it made with Junipero.  The Junipero is more fragrant (and expensive) than the Plymouth and also packs more of a punch with a hefty 98.6 proof!  That of course led to more experimentation.  In small sessions.   So aside from the lemon, a Clayburn Martini Kit would include:

My research ultimately settled on the Plymouth version, made with about 5 parts to a scant one of Lillet, a thin slice of lemon peel, stirred in a shaker of ice and strained into a classic Martini glass.  As for the “splash” the bartender said that she views a “splash” as a quick tilt of the bottle into the shaker.  Apparently Annette didn’t like her drink too sweet, so Deb said it was more of a gesture than a taste..

I can think of no more fitting an epitaph than to have a drink named after you.. I should be so honored.  It makes me glad that the folks at Chez Pascal will (hopefully) continue the tribute to her by offering the drink now and then.  I’ll bet if you go there and ask for it, they will make it for you.  And if you are ever in Providence, be sure to dine at Chez Pascal, you won’t be disappointed.  I of course never knew you, Annette, but you must have been quite a lady.  Somehow it is fitting you were in Providence, I hope you still are and are being served your drink..  Here’s to you!!

And I can only imagine that you were always

DFD

Footnote:

I browsed through some of my “Martini” books for perspective on the subject, looking at hundreds of recipes (for such a simple drink – a lot of them were silly). I ran across the fact that none other than that quintessential man of the world James Bond had what came to be known as a “Bond Martini” (now sometimes called a Vesper).  In Ian Fleming’s novel Casino Royale, Bond ordered a “Martini” made with:

Three measures of Gordon’s Gin (remember this was 1953)

One of Vodka

Half a measure of Kina Lillet (the company has since dropped the Kina)

Shaken very well until it’s ice cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel

Bond and Clayburn… do you suppose?????

Subs of Fire

(all words today!! no pictures)

You might remember that I used to rant about the “reviews” of local restaurants that routinely appeared in Friday's weekend insert of local newspaper.  It did lead to meeting the author of those pieces who turned out to be a pretty nice guy. And (with his help) I did finally realize that “review” was not the correct word for the piece, maybe something more like: “infopiece”; or to be more snarky, free (?) advertising.   Formula was to basically talk a little about the owner(s), sort of highlight the menu and pricing, include a picture of something, and invariably have positive reports about the reporter’s experience.  He eventually left for new horizons, and since then the volume of “reviews” has drastically decreased.

Well, last Friday’s weekend insert contains a similar piece about the new Firehouse Subs recently opened in part of a carpet store on the Route 235 raceway.  One thing about the previous articles that I did appreciate was that he never wrote about a box or chain store.  It was always an independent, which I applaud.  Well, I think they may have abandoned that policy with the latest entry about Firehouse.  That of course brings up the dialog of what is a chain and what is an independent restaurant. A few thoughts:  “How many stores do you have?”  Firehouse boasts “over 700 locations and counting”; “are they local?” a map of the US shows a pushpin for each one, heavily populated east of the Mississippi, but quite a few on the other side as well;  “Where is your headquarters?”  Firehouse is located in Jacksonville, FL.  Given all that, I would think that one could make a strong case that they are indeed a “chain” with local franchisees.  Well, then why are we now reading about what i would consider a Chain restaurant

Perhaps it has something to do with the thing that distinguishes this particular chain from the myriad of other sandwich outlets (Subway, Potbelly, Quizno’s, Jimmy John’s – hey! We don’t have one of those…Yet) is that they want you to know that it was “Founded by Firemen”, which the other's can't claim.  Subway: Founded by Businessmen!  

And, I may have this mentioned before, I’m not sure of the relation of firemen and food.  There used to be the folklore that they are good cooks because they have a lot of time on their hands between fires.  Even if true, I'm not sure that applies anymore in the era of volunteers. The story says our owners came from the construction business.

While I have never eaten in any of those other sandwich chains, (well, okay I have had a tuna sub at Subway on occasion) I suppose the quality of the food could be a discriminator.  I notice in the latest article (that started all of this) reports that they steam their meat.  I guess that might be unique.. A quote from one of the owners: “…with the steaming process it really brings out the amazing flavor of the meat. And with fresh produce, it makes an amazing sandwich”.  By the way, that word “amazing” in relation to food is right on the cusp of being added to my list, so using it twice is a bit much for me.  I seldom find food “amazing”.  I guess you would have to try one to see if steaming meat has any effect.

So I guess the question that arises in my mind is: “should I patronize them in preference to other choices just because they tout their allegiance to firemen?”.  I did do some poking around their site and didn’t see anything about direct support of fire people. They do have a community foundation, but community giving is available at all those others as well.  Your money, your choice.  So anyway, as I say, pick your spot for your personal reasons, but there are plenty of other real independent sandwich outlets around.  And I guess for sandwiches, I will back off a bit on

DFD

Round 'em Up!!

Way back when, I occasionally documented the demise of our “corner” McDonalds, here at the intersection of Millstone and 235, across from San Souci, home of the demon infested stoplights.  I have to admit I kind of miss the place, as the Feeder (true confessions) would occasionally swing in for a quarter pounder with cheese after a late meeting, and if you caught the fryer timing correctly the fries weren't bad.  Speaking of McD, have you seen the commercials lately for their dollar breakfast items, one of which is a sausage muffin with “a fresh cracked egg”?  What the H is a fresh cracked egg?  The evil little brain of mine kind of figures that is corporate hooey speech for something that is anything but fresh..

But, I digress.  First there was the McDonalds.  Then one day the equipment showed up

And in short order McDonalds was as flat as the griddle used for those freshly cracked eggs

And then…… it sat.....time passes....it sat.  the following image was taken on the 24^th day of August, in the year of our cheeseburger 2013.

I would say August 24th qualifies for the “summer 2013”  look open to you???

More time passes…. Then sometime in November more activity

Then somehow there was a flurry of activity (working Sundays) moving earth and pretty soon, here it is in all its glory

If there is an uglier building (IMHO) around here, I don’t know where it is.  It might not be SO bad if it were in a shopping center with buildings of a similar age and style, but unfortunately it is situated next to that gray cinder block building that houses Twist, Day’s Off Deli, and the tag and title place.  the Twist folks have tried hard to dress up their corner, but still you have:

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So, now when I come home from the north, I spend my (very long) time waiting for the demons to turn the light green looking at:

Really attractive, eh?  Waldorfization marches on..

And I don’t know if you've noticed but lately we are being beset with TV commercials for Golden Corral,  letting you know “every night is a special night” (Monday: shrimp and seafood; Thursday: best of BBQ, Tuesday $2.99 Kid’s Night , and so on. And somewhere in the commercial telling me they only use “just picked” produce, there is the phrase “and we only use USDA Sirloin”.  Notice the lack of mention of grade of said sirloin?  Scary.

And according to the sign below the shield in the street sign, (green above) they will be “Opening Soon”.  Oh, and that sign is one of those that is so bright you have to avert your eyes, even in daylight.  I suppose it will improve safety on Route 235 at night as it will be bathed in light from it.

I can only imagine that when “soon” occurs, the place will be packed with diners.. or maybe eaters.  

Here’s a diner at our backyard feeder lately

And, you will note that she/he knows that a requirement for this feeder is that you will be

DFD