Dear editor,

Rooftop dining in Covington isn’t a new thing! For many years we have enjoyed ‘rooftop dining’ from the top parking deck of the garage adjacent to the Newton County Administration building and behind the Baptist Church. It is a public building and can be used for parking anytime, 24/7 and especially at sunsets.

The most popular rooftop dining picnic morsel for us country boys seems to have been established specifically for this location. Not that it would be wrong to bring fried chicken or BBQ, but fried catfish is the select meal for this rooftop, sunset experience.

For us who live way down in the country, Henderson’s Restaurant is good for either eat in or carry out. We have only been eating Henderson’s for 50 years. The city folk will find an unbelievable treat at the American Deli, located on the west side of the Kroger shopping center. (Just for your information my Cajun pals call it KROG’ER…with emphasis on the G like as in FROG.)

Nope, I didn’t know about the American Deli either. One of my friends who knows fish and orders in overnight from Seattle at $36.00 per pound told me about it, and I figure someone like this knows fish! It is one of those places you probably wouldn’t expect to find gourmet southern fried catfish but, hey, they got it. Don’t forget to ask for your lemon. They didn’t know about that till we told ‘em one day. Prior to that there wasn’t a lemon to be found in the entire place.

So on to the total experience. There always seems to be plenty of room at the rooftop. There is no admission and what is great about this particular location is that you can watch beautiful sunsets over the old Newton County Jail. You can take a TV table or two or our personal favorite is a folding chair with a little folding side table. Once we even brought a Sara Lee French Style cheesecake with strawberries. Now, that’s livin’.

After parking on the rooftop you don’t have to walk to your dinner location. You are standing at your very own table as soon as you open the car door. Some enjoy music but we like it quiet. An occasional siren or something of that nature can briefly break the silence.

So if you want to treat your honey and you live in Covington, surprise her with a four-piece combo plate — one is more than enough for two people — with a free cola for about $12 from the American Deli and a relaxing evening watching the sunset from the upper deck of the Newton County/First Baptist Church parking garage.

It is amazing how now and again the government accidentally does something right!

Samuel M. Hay, III
Unincorporated
Newton County