I prepared this on the stove top (olive oil):
I had some avocado with salt with this.
Cheraw, SC is about 1.5 hours SW of Fayetteville, NC. My first visit to the Fatz Restaurant, in Cheraw, was back in November of this year (2015). My waitress was Ashley, and the overall experience was excellent! I had onion rings, and one of the provided dipping sauces was a Chipotle Ketchup, which was sweet, with a little heat, and a definite Chipotle flavor. Ashley was attentive to my experience and I left a good tip, for me;-)
Today was my third visit to the restaurant. I was seated and told that Ashley would be my waitress. Moments later, the hostess changed her mind and as Ashley came to my booth, the hostess pulled her off and directed her to serve someone else. Ashley leaned back to me and said, “Someone else will be here to help you shortly,” smiled and walked away. Another waitress came to wait on me.
I ordered unsweet tea, although I would sweeten it with an off brand sweetner. I had viewed the Lunch Menu online before my visit, and had decided to order the veggie trio. The Kale Slaw, Red Potato Salad with Fresh Dill, and Sweet Fried Brussels had looked good so I ordered them and I also asked for some onion rings. Later the waitress would return and ask if a substitution, for the red potato salad, would be okay. I asked if I could get a baked potato instead and she went off to inquire. When she came with my food, it included a baked potato, sour cream, butter, bacon bits and a mixed shredded cheese blend… kale salad, fried brussel sprouts (with onions in a sweet balsamic vinaigrette). The onion rings had arrived just a little before my entree.
It was all good! The kale salad and the fried brussel sprouts & onions had good flavor, as did the baked potato. I put some of the bacon bits on my potato, but I also put some in the kale salad. Good flavors.
My waitress did not return until almost the end of my meal. She asked if I wanted a tea to go but I asked for a water & ice to go. She came with my water and I signed the Visa receipt and left a small tip.
I do like Fatz and so far the food has all been good. *I forgot, they have a bread appetizer that is also good.
ADDENDUM [02/19/22]: A short time ago, I was looking at a Google Maps view of Cheraw, SC and in the area where the FATZ Restaurant had been, the building was still there, but it wasn’t labelled as FATZ any longer. I checked, and I think I recall that this restaurant closed, for good, a couple of years ago.
I don’t like crowds, but for some reason, I wanted to go to the “Rooms to Go” Showroom Grand Opening in Dunn, NC the first time I saw the commercial on TV. I know it is an important event for the area.
Although the main parking areas were already filled by the time I arrived (about 30 minutes after the 10 am opening), I saw an opening along the side of the road, just about in front of the main entrance. It was about 1.5 car lengths and was easy to slip into the parking space. Short walk and then the crowds. Relatively painless though, because I wasn’t going to wait in line for the crystal glasses they were giving away.
[NOTE 04/21/24]: It’s amazing to me that the grand opening of the Rooms to Go Supercenter was back in October of 2015. I had gone to the grand opening and braved to crowds, not because I thought there might be something that I wanted to purchase, (not how Michael Connelly uses the word ‘purchase’) but because I realized this business was a major boon to the local economy, and NC in general, along I95. Just as the opening of a Walmart Market in a “black” neighborhood had also been supportive of the local economy. (I think the Walmart Market only lasted about 2 years. Two years exactly before closing, but it had been a positive effort by Walmart.)
So, I’ve passed the R2G Supercenter many times since the grand opening, but never had a desire or need to stop in again. And, really didn’t have a good reason last Friday, April 19th, but just had the time & energy to stop in to see if there had been any changes. I think it was Andre (who said he also lived near Goodyear in Fayetteville) who came up shortly after I entered the front door and I told him I was “just looking.” Andre was a young black man, maybe late 20s or early 30s, and well spoken and friendly. I mentioned to him that I had come in the first hour the Supercenter had been opened. He looked a little surprised, but at the time I didn’t realize that the difference between that time and my current visit had been almost 9 years.
After talking with Andre, I walked around the floor, took a few pictures, and saw a few things that were of interest (Although at my age, what do I really need to buy?). Played with some lights that might be good for reading. Looked at an interesting bookcase, a large multi-screened video display on a wall, and a couple of chairs, and an outdoor dining set. After a comfortable visit, I left.
[end NOTE]
Connelly uses the word “purchase” several times, and in several novels to mean, “find footing,” I think. As when Harry is chasing a bad guy in an underground tunnel and there is wet flooring, and he tries to find purchase (footing). *Some time ago, I was reformatting an Agatha Christie story, “And Then There Were None,” that I had found online in a simple text format and putting it in what naturally was almost like a TV script. I wouldn’t be surprised if Christie hadn’t actually written the story with radio or as a play in mind.
But, as I reformatted the Christie story, she repeatedly used hyphenated words that I have never seen as being hyphenated, or probably never should be. That was irritating, and I think in my reformatting, I actually un-hyphenated (unhyphenated) them. So, now in reading some of Connelly’s novels, he uses several abbreviations that I know should not be abbreviated “in that way” or actually not abbreviated AT ALL.
**The funny thing is that as I have read more and more, and now most of the Bosch novels, I have come to really dislike Harry Bosch, and in some ways would find myself like Irvin S. Irving, in his feelings toward Bosch. Harry thinks nothing about pulling out his “lock pick” kit and breaking into anything, being it a bosses locked door, or a file cabinet, or a possible “perps” residence. “No Warrant Harry” And Harry will rag on a fellow detective who has released case info to a newspaper reporter, but thinks nothing about promising to keep autopsy findings private, but then immediately calling a journalist friend and suggesting they take a look at those autopsy findings. That is what Harry did to an “interim” medical examiner he was screwing, and she hadn’t even had time to wash his stink off before he made the call. That’s when I began to think of Harry Bosch as “that lying sack of dog shit.” If I had been a co-worker that he did that to (made a promise and then blatantly broke it), I would have never trusted Harry Bosch again. And that Harry Bosch, that “whore spawn,” could go about making judgements on the efforts of his fellow LAPD detectives, like Chu or Edgar and judging their level of commitment “to the mission.” Oh, “whore spawn” and by a father who never wanted anything to do with this son of his, because he had a new life with a wife and Harry’s half-brother, Mickey Haller, who would eventually become “the Lincoln Lawyer.” Or how about in the “Black Box”? If Connelly hadn’t stepped in and killed off the remaining bad guys (except for the actual murderer), Harry would have never been able to make the “shit stick” because of all the laws he had broken in getting “the confession” and other illegally obtained evidence. The Lincoln Lawyer would have easily gotten those bad guys off because Harry Bosch doesn’t even fake believing in or adhering to the law.
Why does the Master Climber have radical calm? Because of the Fall Gear he is wearing.
I went to my dentist this morning to have a filling filled. It only took about 30 minutes and I was out, with a filled tooth and the right side of my mouth and tongue numb. This was the magazine that I picked up shortly before going back for the procedure. I thought it funny to have the “Fall Gear” directly below the “Master Free Climber”.
A few years ago, I drove out to a motel along the I95 highway near Fayetteville, NC for dinner. This was just for something different. When I looked at the menu, I saw that there was “French Onion Soup” as an option. My eyes lit up! I hadn’t had French Onion Soup in years. Not something you would make at home, and rarely an option for the restaurants that I normally visited during a week. I’m not sure when the first time that I had this soup, but my mind navigates toward my time in Louisville, KY and Gary Golden.
Gary was at Southern Seminary in the early 1980s when I was there. Gary was a “foodie” years before that would become a popular term. We shared an apartment for a while. During this time, I think he made some French Onion Soup. He ended up becoming a campus minister at Dartmouth (I think it was Dartmouth.) He was from Texas, Texarkana, where his mother still lived. One Christmas Holiday he drove down to Alabama and picked me up. We then went to Texarkana. He left me at his mother’s house while he went out to visit his old compadres.
I think we left his mom’s house on Christmas night and drove through the night toward Lousiville. Our route meant that we barely crossed through Arkansas in the early morning night. As the sun began to rise, I was driving and Gary was asleep… the sky became a beautiful burgundy tapestry, sort of like a beautiful old sofa, rippled and dimpled by tacks.
I think we spent a night at the Seminary and then drove across several states and spent a night with another friend of Gary’s in Maryland (maybe DC). Finally, we ended up in Vermont where Gary was living while ministering in NH at Dartmouth. We spent a couple of days at Gary’s place, and did not go out much. He had a wonderful view of the countryside for a great distance as the house was raised on stilts and there was a deep snow covering the land. *Deep may be a relative term. This would have been deep for the North Carolina coast where I grew up.
After a few days, Gary drove me down to Boston. I think the night before I was to fly out of the airport there for Jacksonville, NC. It seems that this might have been 1984. We ate at a restaurant in I think, Faneuil Hall Marketplace. I don’t recall the name of the restaurant, but I ordered both Boston Scrod and Boston Baked Beans. They don’t really go together, but I wanted to be able to say that I had eaten both. I’ve had better baked beans as these I seem to recall were under cooked and hard.
I think Gary and I stayed at a motel near the airport, although maybe not. I was reading a book on the airplane. I think it was Dune, and I recall hoping that we would land safely so that I could finish it. We had been above the clouds that morning and the sunrise was beautiful, but as we neared Jacksonville, we dropped down into the mist with no visibility until we were almost on the ground.
It must have been Mary Ann and/or Ray that picked me up at the airport. I don’t recall the visit much, but I flew out of Jacksonville for Charlotte at the end of my family visit. It was a quick flight, rising to a pinnacle and then almost immediately dropping at a similar angle to land. I recall looking down on the Carolina countryside which was not very far below. I don’t recall the friend that picked me up at the Charlotte Airport, but I think he had been one of my tennis buddies in Jacksonville and was going to school in the Charlotte area. The flight had taken about 30 minutes in the air, but I think it was an hour and a half on the ground before we were off the plane.
I took the bus from Charlotte and arrived at the main bus station in Atlanta, GA. The parents of a friend (from Lineville, AL) had driven to pick me up in Atlanta to take me back to Alabama. Their daughter was supposed to pick me up, but she had gone off to do other things.
I think this holiday was when I managed to go through 26 States in 15 days. If I had driven across the River in Louisville, I could have added another state (IN).
—
A few days ago, I thought of making some French Onion Soup at home… in the slow cooker. I had done this at least once before, several years ago. It had turned out well, and going online, I was reminded of how easy this can be. I had bought some Swiss Cheese slices, and then some yellow onions (so I wouldn’t waste the last of my Vidalia onions), and I think I purchased a box of Beef Broth, although the one I used, I had had for some time.
I might have fixed this yesterday, but in the morning I had turned on my dishwasher as I left to drive to Raleigh. I had my slow cooker crock pot in the washer. To my surprise, when I returned, I checked the dishwasher and the crock and saw that it was still dirty. I checked the other dishes and they had not been cleaned either. I looked down and saw there was no detergent in the first tray, but the second tray was still closed. This was proof that I had started the washer, but something odd had occurred and the process had stopped somewhere along the way. I restarted the process and this time, it completed successfully.
This morning, perhaps closer to noon or 12:30 pm, I got the crock out and started chopping some yellow onions. I used a couple of large ones, and a medium sized onion. Some olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar, freshly ground pepper and a little powdered garlic… turn on High and go off to do other things. After several hours, I added the box of Beef Broth and a little extra water, and some salt. Later, I went to sleep during the afternoon.
I awoke about 6:30 pm.
Eventually, I got out a soup bowl (with small handles). I sliced some French bread and buttered the slices, adding some powdered garlic and toasted them up. While they were toasting, I got out the Swiss Cheese slices. I ladelled some soup out of the crock into the bowl, placed the toasted bread across the top and finished by adding the Swiss Cheese, and a little grated Parmesean over the top. I put the broiler on HI and put the bowl on the top rack of the oven. I checked several times, not wanting this to burn, and noting smoke coming off of something in the oven.
I got out a dinner plate and took the hot bowl out of the oven with my pot holders and took it and a spoon to my easy chair in the living room.
I dipped the spoon into the cheese, bread and soup and lifted it up, the cheese stringing high above the bowl. I blew on the hot soup and then into my mouth. Delicious! So easy to make. It takes a little time, but so worth it.
Okay, so it’s about time for some more “home made” Chili. Same slow cooker, but I’ve now found some special flavors that I like… The dried Spanish Chorizo and extra Paprika (alot of Paprika), with a little sweetner.
WRAL.com
Charles B. Aycock was the Governor of North Carolina at the turn of the last Century. He was a Democrat, and followed Republican Governor Daniel Lindsay Russell. Russell was a distant relative of mine. He and his wife are buried in a little, neglected cemetery between Swansboro and Belgrade, NC. I say neglected, not because someone mows the lawn periodically, but because since my first visit years ago, the ornate iron fencing surrounding the small cemetery has mostly disappeared. I guess “grave robbers” are stealing the wrought iron to sell.
During the election campaign for Daniel Russell, he was often caricatured in the News & Observer as a hideous creature, sometimes even portrayed with claws, instead of hands. Russell wasn’t what might be considered a handsome man. He was tall, and “large boned,” and he did have almost “bugged” eyes, so creating an unpleasant image wasn’t that difficult. The News & Observer of that time was obviously racist, and pretty unashamedly so… so Charles B. Aycock would not have been an enemy of the publication.
In 1972, when I first attended college at UNC-Chapel Hill, I was housed in Aycock Men’s Dorm. I was on the 3rd floor and my first roommate was Keith Smith, a UNC Senior. I only attended UNC-Chapel Hill for two years, before I had to go elsewhere. Not their fault, but mine… being a Fall partier, that in my last weeks, became a Spring partier, and an “almost every night of the week” drinker.
During the warmer times of the year, when we had our windows open, my third roommate, who’s name I do not recall (but he was a young, accomplished tennis player with Arthur Ashe composite rackets), and who loved to put strings of profanity together, would call out of the window, “Lewis… Lewis… Lewis,” (getting louder with each call) and finally from across the quad, a male voice from Lewis Dorm would respond, “What”. And, to which my roommate, and later myself would reply, “Eat Shit!” Funny what entertains one in college.
Writing this also reminds me that we rarely had our 3rd floor window closed*, and that was because during warmer days, we needed the breeze, and during colder times, our uncontrollable radiator put out more than enough heat (too much) to have the window closed. *I do recall a few days, with snow on the ground that we finally closed the window.
Aycock Dorm was eventually combined with the next door, women’s dorm (I don’t recall that name.) physically, with the small space between the two buildings being built in & bricked. *I also recall that years after attending classes, but before the buildings being connected, I parked my car and walked into the dorm. i started upstairs, and made it all the way to the 3rd floor doors before realizing that the dorm had been converted to a women’s facility. The cute little door message board was the dead giveaway of the change.
On those times when I travel between Fayetteville and Greenville, I am reminded of Governor Aycock as I near his birthplace, which is a State preserved/run Park. Wonder if eventually someone will think to try and stop State funding for the Aycock Birthplace.
In reading about Daniel L. Russell and Charles B. Aycock, even though one was a Republican and the other a Democrat, they both were friendly and respected one another. I seem to recall that they amicably rode a train together, and when Russell left the Governor’s Mansion, he left the place in good condition, and well stocked for food… not as Russell’s predecessor had, leaving the Mansion with a bare pantry and strewn on the lower floor with empty liquor bottles.
*Note: I also recall that quite often the thick aroma of marijuana would waft up from below (I guess 2nd floor.) and be sucked into our dorm window. I did not try MJ until I was attending UNC-W (late in my college educational process), but for about 11 months during that time, I tried it quite frequently, and learned to experience “the munchies” and the paranoia that goes with its use.
[NOTE 01/31/25]: I just re-read part of what I wrote above and realized that I’ve recently retold the same story, and that quite often I’ve recounted the same points. I thought them interesting ten years ago, and again just a few days ago. The cussing roommate, calling out to Lewis Dorm. The window open most of the year, and combining the two dorms into one long one. [end NOTE]
I found two of these glass tumblers at an antiques store in New Bern, NC. They were the first two things my eyes focused on as I entered the door. I went to them immediately and took the two of them up to the checkout counter, and then spent about another hour looking through the rest of the store. I recall that the clerk took off about a $1 per glass, and they weren’t expensive. Very pretty gold rim. They are slightly smaller than the Libby Catawba glasses I have (of which all but about two have been broken in my dishwasher). 
Outbound Plane – Suzy Bogguss
As far as being sexy, this is one of my favorite music videos.
Bill Gibson, II 