Whether the Devil May Care or not, it’s The Last Call for Love for one of our favorite restaurants.  I had never heard of the place before, but both Jen and my co-workers knew of it, and They Say It’s Wonderful.  I finally had a meal there and fell in Crazy Love with the place.  It quickly turned into our place whenever we were looking for Some Enchanted Evening, to the point that we had a Sentimental Baby shower there.  Come Rain or Come Shine, the food was always great and the portions excellent.  Located on Morehead St. East of the Sun, it was an easy place for us to reach The Second Time Around and beyond.  Unfortunately, as we became Strangers In The Night something changed and it became the Same Old Saturday Night that others could get elsewhere.  So last Friday, there was nothing left to say but It’s Over, It’s Over, It’s Over.  Even though The Sun Goes Down on our quaint little establishment at least the owners can look around and say I Did It My Way.

Our biggest regret is that We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye in time.

The Republican Senator from North Carolina has made the news this week for some eye-raising comments given during a speech in Hendersonville.  Burr, who represents the state that is the second financial capital of the United States, told his wife on a Friday night to withdraw money from North Carolina ATMs up to the limits each machine would provide and the theoretical daily withdraw limit from his bank.  She was instructed, in his own words, to do this all weekend according to the Hendersonville Times-News:

“The state of the financial system at that time had a profound impact on the senator.

‘On Friday night, I called my wife and I said, ‘Brooke, I am not coming home this weekend. I will call you on Monday. Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take. And I want you to tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday.’ I was convinced on Friday night that if you put a plastic card in an ATM machine the last thing you were going to get was cash.’ “

Ironically, Washington Mutual & North Carolina based Wachovia were victimized by silent runs boosted by media hype/speculation, were declared insolvent, and would be shuttered if they did not agree to shotgun weddings with forced suitors during this time.

From all the banking laws I know, Senator Burr did nothing illegal.  He is perfectly within his rights to withdraw money from his bank accounts for whatever reason he chooses.  However, his actions obviously did little to inspire any confidence in the banking situation and likely helped to enhance the run on banks.  I highly doubt the Burrs live in a bubble, and it’s certainly possible that friends & associates of the Burr family were also tipped off to pull their own money.  Pretty disingenuous actions to take for a Senator who represents a state that houses two of the top five US banks (at the time) and several other large regional banks.  It may be legal, but it certainly stinks of being unethical since he was basing his transactions on whispers in the Capitol hallways.  Some may think I’m grasping at straws, but look at it this way: if he didn’t withdraw money but sold banking stock based on the same whispers his office would have been raided by the SEC that same day.

If I was still a North Carolina resident, I would be highly upset at my Senator’s actions.  His dubiously timed run on his bank has definitely helped reduce North Carolina’s standing as a financial center.  Only Bank of America remains as a national North Carolina bank and the banking crisis he participated in has left BofA in shatters, not to mention the thousands of expected job losses at Wachovia Wells Fargo and the downstream impact of businesses stung by the loss of the Charlotte banking headquarters.

Thanks for nothing, Mr. Burr.

As everyone knows, I’ve got a longstanding tie to the Charlotte area.  I’ve seen the changes almost firsthand – life in the region is a LOT different since 1980.  One of my stronger memories is eating at the 21 Drive In on Independence…back when it was a four lane road.  I was fortunate enough to live close to Briar Creek during my last time there, so my wife and I were able to enjoy the good old days.   Even though times have changed and Independence is basically a freeway out of town, the 21 still lives.

The same cannot be said for it’s cousin on South Blvd., the South 21 Drive In.  An article in todays Observer notes that the construction of the light rail corridor has been a big blow due to the realignment and division of South.  The access to the drive-in from the southbound traffic out of Uptown has been effectively cut off by the new median.  Other factors are cited as well, including increased competition from area restaurants and a general lack of interest from the younger crowd towards drive-in restaurants.  (No word of the Independence 21 having similar problems despite being cut off from eastbound Independence, or the general success of the Sonic chain.)  Negotiations are ongoing to keep the place open, but the final outcome is in doubt and doesn’t sound promising.

I’m not the kind of person that pines to keep an under-performing business rolling just for the sake of history or a historical preservation zealot, but part of me will be sad if the South 21 closes and the 21 in Independence meets the same fate.   Granted, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten at the South 21, but it still calls to my younger days growing up when drive-ins still existed but were on the wane.  It’s all about those childhood memories that we don’t want to die.  When we lived off Independence we took Garrett to the 21, although he probably doesn’t remember it.  He has also been to the Sonic in Mooresville, where he thought the concept was neat.  In a similar mindset we’ve taken him to the drive-in movies on multiple occasions so he can have the same kind of experiences.  (Daddy also likes the one-car-one-price method that doesn’t exist here locally anymore, and the fact that $20 buys a TON more snacks at the grocery store than it does at the concession stand.)  I wonder if these same things will be around in five or ten years when he’s older.