I guess that answers that

(Hartford Courant photo)

I was lying in the ER at Middlesex Memorial Hospital this morning, recovering from a bout with severe abdominal pain, three shots of morphine and two CAT scans when the nurse gave me eating instructions for a bland diet today.

I turned to Lucy and said, "I guess we can't stop at O'Rourkes."

Little did I know that Senator Creepy Joe™ Lieberman would be stopping there this morning for his first visit since the diner was resurrected, and would use the opportunity to defend John McCain against charges in a New York Times article.

Declaring the story "untrue" Lieberman shows the kind of blind loyalty to McCain that he never showed to the Democratic party or Bill Clinton.

I'm sorry I missed his visit. I have a question or two.

O'Rourke's reopens

Appropriately, there were three letter's already burnt out in the rehabbed neon sign above the door when O'Rourke's reopened at 5 a.m. today.

It was the ususal kind of crowd. People on their way to work. Sleep rumpled students. Two TV trucks and four reporters.

The griddle and coffee were hot, and it was bitterly cold outside as Middletown's signature diner anchors the North End of Main Street once again.

The sign is up, the lights are on

I was stopped at the corner of Main Street in Middletown, in front of St. John's and I looked to my left and noticed that the sign is up at O'Rourkes, and the lights are on. What's more, the booths and tables are in, as we move steadily toward re-opening date for the landmark diner.

An end of the year jaunt down Main Street Middletown

It's boxing day and the malls and outlets are filled with people returning gifts, cashing in gift cards and looking for the post-holiday bargains.

Much of downtown Middletown was quiet, but there was progress afoot on the section of Main Street North of Washington.

At O'Rourke's, I found Brian himself standing amidst the workers who are pushing to have the interior finished by January 15. Long after the fire which decimated the popular eatery, and vintage diner, it appears as if the restaurant will rise again from the ashes.

"I had Christmas tea in here yesterday," Brian said. "It was the best feeling in the world."

The new O'Rourkes won't be much bigger, but new refrigerators and freezers will open work space, and a redesigned counter will improve workflow.

"They say the inside will be done on the 15th, but it will be a while longer before I have my flatware in, and my purveyors lined up," Brian admitted. "And they don't want me to do a soft opening."

A little further South on the corner of Liberty and Main, workers from Nicholas Brothers from Hopewell Junction, NY were placing a beam beneath the historic building at 9 Liberty which will be moved onto a lot on Rapallo Ave.

Joe Nicholas explained that his family have been in the house moving business for three generations. The two huge steel beams under the house will be joined by perpendicular beams before the house is raised. A small addition on the back of the house will be razed.

"And we've got to take down the chimneys, or they'll topple in the move," Joe explained.

Finally, a "moving sale" banner caught my eye, and struck me with a sense of dread, until I read it completely to find out that Middletown Framing will only be moving across the street into a new storefront location.