An-Ti-Ci-Pa-a-a-Tion

UPDATE — They’re open!

It’s that time of year when signs of coming goodness are beginning to appear. Birds are singing. Flowers are budding. Foals are frolicking. Grass is greening. As I’ve mentioned before, my official indicator of spring is my first glimpse of a bare navel walking across campus, and I saw that last week. This year, Spring brings us yet another anticipated joy, as a recent comment on an old story reminded me.

Yes, at the risk of being mocked by Doonesbury, which suggests that blogging about doughnuts is lame, I’m going to mention Spalding’s again. Blogging about Krispy Kremes would be lame, but Spalding’s is in another universe. The last report on the resurrection of this sublime sample of Lexington cuisine suggested March as a potential date for being open for business. A recent reconnaisance of the new building suggests that might be a little optimistic. March is almost half over, and it looks like they have more than a couple of weeks of work left.

For those unfamiliar with this wonderful institution, the new building is supposed to be a reminder of the old one, and will contain some of the old furnishings, including the antique cash register and counters, and the table where the dough is rolled out. It looks like they’ve done a passable job capturing the appearance, but they can’t reproduce the ambience of the old neighborhood. The neighboring McDonald’s and gas station just aren’t the same as the liquor stores and streetwalkers. Actually, some of the old neighborhood’s atmosphere vanished when the liquor store across the street removed the sign that said “Do not run in store to dodge police”.