The 2024 presidential race has obviously had some memorable moments recently.
That included the unfortunate assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, the resigniation of Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, President Joe Biden’s decision not to run for re-election, and Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the apparent new Democratic nominee.
If Kamala Harris were to make up ground in the polls and get elected president, maybe they could call her presidency “Kamalat” as an ode to John F. Kennedy’s time in office that was called “Camelot!”
Seriously, all that started me thinking that one trait I like in a president, regardless of party, is that he or she have a warm manner. I realize there are times for tough guys or tough women to lead, and that is particularly true with struggling sports teams and maybe in other realms. I understand the phrase that nice guys finish last.
But still, I prefer someone like Gerald Ford or maybe Jimmy Carter, as well as such recent politicians or candidates as Nikki Haley, Bill Haslam, and several of the seemingly warm male governors or senators being mentioned as potential Democratic vice presidential candidates.
Not only should they be nice, but they should also have a manner that makes all Americans proud to be Americans and want to come together at least in some form. In other words, they should inspire us. Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan come to mind in possessing those skills, even though their policies were a little left and right, respectively.
Of course, I realize special presidents come along only once a generation or so. Too bad we cannot get Dolly Parton to run, as I don’t know anyone who does not like her or would not respect her!
Joe Biden seems like a nice guy, but in this polarizing time he has struggled a little with inspiring the country. And not-so-quiet whispers about his age have also been a factor.
For some reason, talk about his age has made me think of the last couple of years of the popular Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Reference at the time was made to his lack of heavy engagement in his duties as he was getting into his late 70s, even though his public speeches were always well done.
The topic of advancing age reminds me a little of going into some of the Hardee’s restaurants near my Hixson home, often on a Saturday morning, and seeing 10 or so men about the same age as Joe Biden. But from what I overhear as I sit at a nearby table, these men are certainly not in declining states of health. In fact, they seem to have all the world’s problems figured out, especially political ones.
And there is no staying in bed late for them. I happened to be in the Red Bank Hardee’s before 7 a.m. last Saturday, and a dozen men were already sitting around enthusiastically chatting, as if they were 20-year-olds in a military barracks or dorm room in the afternoon.
As I might have mentioned before, I try to treat myself to a fast-food restaurant meal on Saturday morning, even though both the Bojangles and Hardee’s near my Northgate Mall area home have closed. Or sometimes I drive down to such bakeries as Niedlov’s on Main Street or Bread and Butter in Red Bank.
I usually take my own milk in a jar, and even a Coca-Cola if I am going to one of the bakeries. It is done simply to save money, and sometimes I don’t like those milks that come in funny containers, and I can’t figure out how to pull the aluminum foil covering off. Or I realize my milk at home is spoiling while I am paying more than $2 for one at the restaurant.
My wife, Laura, who usually gets up later than me, realized I was doing that and thought I was being eccentric, or at least showing poor taste. I started feeling bad and thought about forking over the extra money, but in recent days I saw someone bring his own coffee into a restaurant and another older man was carrying a 20-ounce soft drink bottle in his back pocket when he walked in Hardee’s.
So, maybe I will be quirky for a little while longer.
Speaking of fast-food or quick-service restaurants, I happened to notice the end of an era in that realm Sunday morning while on my way to the Hixson Dunkin restaurant to get a couple of doughnuts – another weekend tradition. I looked behind the building and saw that the old Long John Silver’s building had been torn down.
While the building had been vacant for years and the wood-like siding was showing a lot of age, it was still a shock to my system to see the scene. I think the restaurant opened about the mid-1970s and for a couple of decades or more was a very popular place to eat in Hixson. I remember stopping often on Saturday at lunch in the late 1980s – yes, I am a creature of habit – and getting some kind of combination of fish and chicken. I think they called the chicken “peg legs” or something like that.
I thought it might have been the first Long John Silver’s in Chattanooga, but a trip to the Chattanooga Public Library revealed one had been located at 5312 Brainerd Road since 1970. Others by the mid-1970s were at 3201 S. Broad St., 4533 Highway 58, 303 LaFayette Road, and 6408 Ringgold Road.
Evidently, today there are no Long John Silver’s in Chattanooga proper, with the closest in Fort Oglethorpe at 2837 LaFayette Road.
Well, I guess all we can say is bon voyage to the Hixson building and its distinctive and simplistic fish house or dock house architecture.
Many restaurants are still lined up to replace that one, including Mediterranean-style Cava at Northgate Mall behind Panda Express, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers on Highway 153 where Rib and Loin and Fehn’s were, and Brothers Bagel in the old Herschel’s barbecue/Padrino’s building at 3805 Hixson Pike.
Somebody recently asked in a conversation if we have enough chicken places, and that reminded me of a story I heard a few years ago about someone who had an opportunity to invest in a hamburger chain in that already crowded market. In fact, the person said sarcastically, “Just what we need, another hamburger joint.” Well, it turned out the restaurant chain was Wendy’s, so that person could have done well if he got involved early!
Sometimes you get excited wondering what is going into an old restaurant or business building, and you hope for the best in culinary terms. And sometimes what ends up being there is a little different. I was hoping some hot new national grocery chain might go into the Earth Fare in Hixson, but instead Blood Assurance bought the building for laboratory space. About the only person happy about that in terms of food was probably Dracula. But it is probably an obviously needed health resource locally.
Among the other eateries near me, an El Jinete Mexican restaurant has opened at the site of the former O’Charley’s on Hixson Pike across from Northgate Mall. I looked it up online, and el jinete means horseman in Spanish.
The parking lot has indeed been full of horseless carriages in recent days. Of course, it has been said that the sign of long-term success for any restaurant cannot be revealed until after the first six months or so, as people often want to try the new place.
Also, Mexican and Chinese and maybe pizza places are somewhat similar to chicken and hamburger places in that it is hard to make them that much different from each other. But maybe a lot of people like familiar food rather than being more adventurous and trying some new place with a lot of funky dishes.
Most of us – or at least unsophisticated people like me – are also thankful for mom-and-pop places like Mimi’s Deli and Ankar’s Hoagies close to El Jinete. They have survived for a few years simply by providing fast food in more of a fresh, made-to-order manner.
Restaurants come and go, and some like those two manage to stay around quite a while.
Come to think of it, the same could be said for politicians!
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Jcshearer2@comcast.net