River restaurants welcome warmer weather

HUNTINGTON -- Spring is here and there's a definite checklist around here.

Crocus and daffodils blooming? Check. Baseball bats cracking? Check.

Riverside restaurants blowing off the dust and firing up the grills? Check.

With 70-degree temperatures on the menu for today, restaurants along the Ohio river are firing up the grill, restocking the beer coolers and powering up for the weekend.

Reopening at Harris Riverfront Park at 4 p.m. Fridays is Holderby's Landing Bar and Grill, floating on the Ohio River at the east end of Harris Riverfront Park.

The restaurant will be open Wednesdays through Sundays initially and then longer once the summer season hits.

There will be Wednesday night dance parties with WKEE in season and live music and deejays on Friday and Saturday nights.

There's a revamped menu with chef Ann Hankins, who used to be at the restaurant Tapas.

"Everybody has cabin fever, and it's time to open it back up," said Dave Duffield, owner.

Another Ohio River floating restaurant, Cajun Kitchen in Guyandotte, is open year-round, but that hasn't been easy this year with the high water everywhere this winter.

Darrin Robin, a native of Shalmette, La., is fresh back from a crawfish run and the restaurant has a big boil planned starting at 3 p.m. Saturday and running through the night.

Todd Thornburg is playing music at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

June Robin, who owns the restaurant with her son, Darrin, said the winter has just about devastated them as the high water has had them closed for four weekends.

"It has just about tore us up," June said. "We've got to get some business down there. We've had other bad winters, but this one has been bad because it has always been the weekends for high water. If it's closed during the week it's not that bad, but the weekends in the winter, that's when you make some money."

June said the Cajun Kitchen, which is located by turning off of W.Va. 2, or Ohio River Road, at 40th Street in Guyandotte, said they're starting to see crowds pick up a bit for their Wednesday night happy hours, which are 5 to 8 p.m., 25 cent wings, shrimp and oysters.