Around Town: The Marathon's Over as Marathon Opens. Cartersville's Varsity Confirmed But Will Take a Few Years.

It’s been a running joke among some observers in Rome: Which would open first, the long-sought Varsity off Spider Webb or the Marathon convenience station on Shorter Avenue just below Burnett Ferry Road?

It looks like it was a photo finish as both opened on Monday, but the convenience store likely welcomed customers first.

And both are going through something of a soft opening, with the Marathon still coming together inside (but open for sales) while the restaurant is drive-through only for now.

The Marathon had been on the drawing board since August 2020, going back to rezonings and demolition of the former buildings there. It finally got going, some 4,900 square feet under roof, in one of the slowest buildouts we’ve seen in the area.

In recent months, the signage went up, including the gas price display, which featured some outrageous amounts. By Monday, those were changed to the going rate around town even though customers had to pay inside for the time being rather than at the pump. That, too, will change.

The plan is to continue a soft opening for several days before a bigger event welcoming customers. Inside, drinks, candy, chips and lottery tickets are all available with more inventory being set up this week.

As for The Varsity...

Varsity: 2 down, 1 to go

... With the Rome and LakePoint restaurants now open, what’s next for The Varsity in Northwest Georgia? A Cartersville location — but with a caveat.

Says John Browne, The Varsity’s chief operating officer: “We believe we have an amazing site in Cartersville across from Savoy (auto museum) and look forward to building there but it just sits behind a couple of projects for us.

“With the recent opening at LakePoint and this new store in Rome, we had to prioritize a few more locations before jumping back into this market. As a family owned and family run business, we are deliberate about what we take on and when we do it.”

So what are some of those other plans? “We purchased a location in Watkinsville that we will develop as our next project. Once we get Rome fully operational, we will develop a timeline for that location.”

The Watkinsville site was announced with another in Bethlehem (now open) after the longtime downtown Athens location closed.

And about that Rome opening: It has been the buzz of the community this week, both in line at the restaurant off Spider Webb Drive and online (a Facebook post on Monday’s opening drew more than 32,000 views).

We did some drive-by journalism — actually, drive-through — at 11:20 a.m. Tuesday along with another dozen-plus vehicles wrapped around the building.

We ordered the No. 1 (two chili dogs, onion rings with a Coke Zero). Total wait and delivery: 12 minutes, all pretty smooth. The food: Good (but they put the dreaded mustard on the chili dogs so be specific when ordering). The damage: $13.36 with tax.

That’s about twice the price of the on-sale Publix whole sub, our Plan B if the lines were too long at The Varsity.

Everjean leaving Cotton Block

The signs on the windows of the joint home of the Blue Sky and Everjean stores on Broad Street state “closing sale.” But there’s more to it.

A quick talk with the Blue Sky manager revealed only Everjean is closing in Rome. The Cartersville location remains in business. Blue Sky likewise is up and running, he says.

Everjean’s closing sale is underway with the final day set for May 11.

Popcorn & Politics

That old precinct feeling: One of the push-backs we hear the most about advance and absentee voting is that it takes away the “community” feel of going to the local precinct. There’s something to that.

But we also saw that attachment during early years of advance voting, especially at the Rome Civic Center and Garden Lakes Baptist Church (both no longer early voting options).

That same spirit was evident this week at the elections office as advance voters were turning out in a steady number while a few absentee balloters were returning those yellow envelopes to a drop box at the same spot.

Friends — including a former elected leader — were talking discreetly outside the door about community affairs. Inside, voters were chatting with poll workers assisting with voting needs.

There even was a uniformed law enforcement officer on site with his patrol vehicle very visible outside, something that is very appreciated these days, perhaps more by elections workers than voters themselves.

What’s key: People were voting in a steady flow in what is a very light local primary — and at least a good part of that “precinct feeling” was there for them.

Advance voting continues this week for the May 21 primary: You can vote from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. weekdays at the elections office, Anthony Center or Thornton Center; through May 17. Also: Saturday voting at the elections office, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., May 4 and May 11; and Sunday, May 12, from 1 until 5 p.m. at the elections office.

Peaks & Valleys

The highs and lows of Northwest Georgia

Peak to “reliable radio” amid this Braves/Bally/Comcast mess: There’s a promo played by WLAQ 1410 AM/96.8 FM during Atlanta Braves’ broadcasts that references listening to the game on radio with a catch line of “the way it ought to be” or close to that. The promo has never been more timely as the billionaire boys clubs fight triggered another TV broadcast blackout. You don’t need to add another streaming service to follow the game; just tune in instead. Plus radio has color by longtimer Joe Simpson as well as play-by-play from Ben Ingram. Some of us still miss Joe from the TV broadcasts.

Valley to the Atlanta Falcons’ 2024 draft: A week later, the Falcons’ overall first pick decision continues drawing heat from sports media. Consider: USA Today graded the Falcons’ draft (a quarterback over much-needed defensive help in round one) as a D, or 29th place out of 32 teams. CBS went with a C minus. NFL.com’s hired scribe scribbled C plus. Bleacher Report: D. NBC Sports: D plus. And the home-cooking AJC? An awkward A minus. Will time tell us otherwise?