Spackle

An article in the Augusta Chronicle’s July 15, 2008 issue caught my eye. Many of you probably read it considering it was about our Peach Jam, the amount of revenue brought into the city and the lack of appropriate places for guests to stay while here. This is the exact issue I have been writing about off and on for a year; the lack of support by the city for locally owned businesses and especially support for the two most historic places in our city. I am frustrated by the total lack of regard the powers-that-be have for the former homes of the founders of North Augusta. I am dumbfounded as to why these same powers would rather help promote Augusta and especially send all the revenue they send across the river. We benefitted no doubt. Some people ate in our restaurants or shopped in Wally World or took in the sites of downtown with all its pay any day loan shops, but think of the revenue lost because officials fail to promote the one place four or five blocks from the action that have twenty-two lovely rooms in which to stay. The 11% accommodations tax collected for this event would go a nice distance in helping promote tourism in Aiken County but for some unknown, or maybe known, reason our city officials would rather see all this money drive across the 13th street bridge every night.
On another note I wonder daily how we as women manage to get out of the house with all we have to worry about in our personal appearances. We are all aware of the myriad of hair care products that promise shiny healthy fabulous hair, hair color that last forever, blow dryers, curling irons, flat irons and the like, but not one of those commercials tells us that none of this works if you don’t have the right hair cut or semi-healthy hair to begin with. Then there are all the teeth whitening products that do not work but goodness knows we must have brilliant white teeth in order to leave the house and step into the world. We, as women, have to worry about restless leg syndrome, where did that come from, unsightly toenails, no man will speak to you if your toenails are not pretty, underarm deodorant that allows you to wear a tight red tank top and walk the city with your arms in the air while you sniff your pits; Huh? I’m still trying to figure out where all the muscle tone went in my arms and for sure I’m not going out in a tight red sleeveless tank so everyone else can wonder about that also. Now there are heated eyelash brushes in order to separate every lash and curl them at the same time; heaven forbid we have a clump or straight lashes. Graters for our feet that catch and store the unwanted dead skin until your stomach quits churning long enough to empty it in the trash. Botox injections? Not me, give me my well-earned wrinkles, no needles in my face or any where else if I can help it. Makeup that is supposed to give you flawless skin with names like Spackle, I thought that went on walls, baked, mineral, liquid, you name it, it’s out there. Contour your face with it; get high cheek bones, hide that stuff under your neck, create shadows where there are none. But here is what I wonder; say you go to all this trouble everyday. Say you color and curl and spackle and deodorize and grate and contour and whiten and somewhere along the way you meet Mr. Right. What happens when he wakes up one morning only to see the real you lying next to him, or a co-worker drops by on an impromptu visit or your neighbor sees you first thing in the morning as you retrieve the paper? Who knows, maybe they will believe you when you tell them you are in the witness protection program and have to hide your true looks. Age happens ladies; embrace it and become more like the men; just be who you were meant to be not who the commercials tell you you ought to be.
Last but not least I finally had a chance to try out the Palmetto House for Lunch. I was impressed by the crowd, the menu and the hostess; however, some things left a little to be desired. I ordered steak medallions on lettuce with a garlic balsamic vinaigrette and horseradish ranch sauce on the side. I asked for rare but was told they could only cook medium rare which was ok. The meat was cooked perfectly, the vinaigrette was delicious, the tomatoes and cucumbers, all three pieces of each were fresh and crisp but I never saw the horseradish sauce and some of the lettuce was a bit old. All in all I enjoyed my little meal. My companion had the Panini on Foccacia however when it arrived I was not sure it was a Panini because it had no grill marks whatsoever. The Panini was accompanied by sweet potato fries which I found crisp and delicious but she was never given the choice of fries or chips. The waitress was nice and even though her section was far from full she found it difficult to check on us or refill our glasses with tea. It took a very long time to get the to go order we placed as soon as we ordered our meal. I think with time they will work out the kinks and I would love to go back to try the salmon. With those few exceptions it was a very pleasant experience and I am glad we went.