Reviews and Comments of Washington and Beaufort County retail establishments and publicly owned facilities. This list updated weekly, if not more often than that. Contents herein are in no specific order of relevance but we will try to categorize them somewhat. Then new store Cat Bamboo is great… hmmmm, what else? Twice is Nice is still nice. Lots of real estate whores occupy downtown storefronts waiting to grab the land development dollar…
Updated on May 26th, 2007
DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON NC BUSINESSES and PUBLIC AREAS
Nicest walk-thru — RiverWalk Gallery. Just opened in new digs right down from where they was — still the best browse in town.
Second nicest walk-thru in town? Beaufort County Arts Council building and the Civic Center.
Third? Estuarium. Why 3rd? It costs $3. First 2 are free. But it’s a bargain at any price.
Fourth? The promenade on the Parkway and river walk but that’s only 4th because it’s hotter than the Bill O’Reilly’s phone sex with his employees outside, the temperature has reduced the walk to an early morning or nice evening venture out (at least in our opinion.)
1A. Three Sisters has a marvelous store. They’ve moved to where the old Riverwalk Gallery once belonged. They mix herbs and other fantasticals to custom blend bath oils and more. Great place. Shop There. Now.
1. #1 Store Going Out of Business – Hilton’s Men’s Wear. Outstanding bargains on decades-old men’s fashions. $3 mohair/angora/artificial fiber sweaters. Poly/cotton Arrow shirts, Botany 500 (and others) suits for $30. Florsheim shoes $27. Old-guy knee socks and trusses. SALE’S OVER>>>a jolly time was had by all… we loved it.
2. #1 Store, Best Shopping Experience — All-Around Category — Hands down winner, obvious choice — WHIMSY, 221 W. Main St. Nicest owners, most pleasant sales staff, marvelous inventory of eclectic oddities PLUS high-end clothing. It’s so fun to go in there, you never know what you’ll find. Swell jewelry too.
The #1 Downtown Store for Rude Treatment of Customers and Haven of Slack Salespersons — the If- I- Don’t - Know- You- Then- You- Are- Not- Here Store of the Year — is [drum roll please] Tassels. We’re not the only ones to say so, it’s pretty much a universal thing - and women accept the rude treatment because they want to buy gifts and have them in that Tassels bag. Sad… baaaaah baaaaaah baaaaah.
4. #1 Restaurant – Let’s don’t do that, we’ll talk about what we like or dislike about restaurants instead — starting with downtown but moving out into the general area…
Bill’s Hot Dogs. Amen. Praise Jesus. Best Restaurant Without Tables in Washington NC.
Slice of Heaven - Best coffee, quickly becoming the restaurant most likely to harden your arteries and put you in a sugar-induced coma with their fine cakes and such. Downside of the Slice is cost, but you do get a lot for your dessert buck. The Not Impressive Aspect — Can’t figure out when they’re open and they’re not open enough.
Down on Main St. – Pedestrian food at a decent price. Good sweet tea and the waitstaff refills your glass quickly. The atmosphere is okay, nothing great but there’s always a $5 lunch special and they serve Fried Dill Pickles (very Andy Griffth-y). The Not Impressive Aspect — Square cheese on sandwiches. No cheddar. Even square Swiss cheese. The fried potato crisps are not crispy.
Harbor Grill – It appeared to be re-opened when we went to the Down on Main Street event last week, May 18. People were coming out of the bar entrance on Main St. thus it can be easily assumed there is some sort of business open there. We loved what the original owners (? has it been sold?) did with the place. Nice restoration but the restaurant needed some acoustic tiles or wall hangings. Maybe they could show some of the textiles from RiverWalk Gallery. Wouldn’t that just be folksy and small town great?
Pia’s — located in the old Rumor Mill…. if anyone remembers Roger and his shenanigans? Is he still there? Don’t think so… Interesting real estate development going on next door with someone constructing condominiums in Lydie Jenning’s old toy store location. Best of luck to them but we miss the camo-print string bikinis (not Lydie’s, you goofs, the underwear place that was on the left, not Lydie’s Toy Collection on the right!)
Curiosity Shoppe – No comments at this time. But we did hear that the CS folks are opening an oyster bar in the McQuay Bldg, on the first floor w/possible restaurant on 2nd floor and perhaps closing current location… ? Lord knows what the City Council will ask them to do. Probably pave paradise, put in a parking lot. Waterfront parking lots seem to be a Washington tourist attraction. Blocks and blocks of black asphalt lining the river with the ugly backs of buildings shining behind…
Dairy Palace — restaurant most likely to give you diarrhea, but still a great place to soak up some local ambience, take in the average Washingtontonian. The hot fudge sundaes are excellent. The clientele is sublime.
Slatestone Grill – Best cheeseburgers with chili in the county. Used to be Farm Boys was the best but the "new" owners really screwed up the place. Back to Slatestone — the ice tea is lovely and the conversation is invigorating (if you listen in on what people at other tables are saying…)
Mom’s Grill — Biscuits, biscuits, biscuits. Cheese biscuits for the masses. Biscuits so damn good you could eat them 24/7, if they were open. WE LOVE THEM.
Oh god, forgot the best — the ultimate dining out experience in all of this fair land — In the words of Meg Ryan "yes! yes! yes!" (you know what movie scene we’re talking about here… dry, crunchy, orgasmic fried chicken… it’s not the food, it’s the ordering experience.)
KING CHICKEN. It is so pure small southern town that we ache with pride when we go there. Thank you Lilly brothers for this marvelous landmark.
5. Nicest place to take a walk in eastern NC — the Stewart Parkway riverfront boardwalk. For now, it’s one of the most pleasant activities in town. Soon to be an enjoyable event that will become horrid — when the new townhouses and the walkways and marina take over the area and destroy all the natural elements which create the marvelous atmosphere unique to downtown Washington. (see above)
6. Most pleasant City employees — Probably the hardest working, too. The award goes to the guys who come and clean out the sewer lines to the street. Officially known as The Wastewater Collection Division. This is the group which "is responsible for collecting wastewater and transporting it to the wastewater treatment plant, constructing sewer lines, maintaining and repairing the collection system, and installing new connections to the system." Watching them clean Jack’s Creek will give you a new appreciation of manual labor.
7. Best neighbor - Peggy.
8. Best pottery classes — Slatestone Studio and Carolyn Sleeper.
9. Most interesting woman over the age of 93 — Velma Englehard. (nominations accepted on the third Tuesday of each month without an "o" in it.)
10. Gets an "A" for effort - The Washington Daily News. We suspect they are trying to be a real paper, but just like with Pinnochio, it’s going to take a long long time to make us believe. As of May 2007, the paper sucks. It blows.
11. Most unbelievable construction plan — Whichard’s Beach FIFTEEN STORY condominiums. Yup — we’s gonna’ get some real elevators here in Beaufort County. Hot damn! Them out of towners will pay one million smackers to swim in the dirty Pamlico — the river we won’t put our feet into, why — hell’s bells — they’s going to just snorkle and sniffle and have a big ol’ time in it. Watch out for them eels, ya’ll. And the gar. And those leeches … gawdawmighty, those dammit leeches are gross. The Rembry? Folks, there ain’t no sandy white beaches with pristine clear waters on the Pamlico River. It’s brown from cypress trees. It’s nutrient sensitive from the discharge from PCS Phosphate and the defunct National Spinning plant (which we suspect left town before investigators from the federal level came to discover what environmental damage they’ve done, rather than own up to it, they’ll probably let the bankrupt SuperFund take care of it. It’s an easy Google trail to follow, try it.)
12. Favorite story, the one the local news has stopped talking about, lest investors realize what’s really out there in the Pamlico — Pfiesteria. Maybe folks just want to live here for the fishing…
REMEMBER: If you come in contact with the water where fish or shellfish are dead, dying, appear sick, or have sores:
Watch out for Welch Creek: Catfish and carp from these waters may contain low levels of dioxins.
13. Kudos to people rennovating houses in the historic district. Thumbs down to metal storage buildings being added here and there. Not a good look. And pssssst - there are pit bulls and half-breed large dogs near the Bug House Park, watch out. There are two black dogs who sometimes evade their owners and they run to E. Third St. and Jack’s Creek and kill geese. Ooops, that’s a bit too negative for us, but we’re folding soon, so we get to be nasty. Meanwhile, the old Britthaven building is SUPREME. What a fantastic place! West Second St. does have some fine establishments, even if the houses are over-priced. And W. Main St. homeowners are truly working hard to have gorgeous yards this year. Drive or walk down the street and you’ll be enthralled by the flowers and landscaping.