"It's heart-breaking - we really planned on being here long-term, and we love it here," Watchmakers Restaurant owner and chef Rich Friedman who, along with his wife Misty, had brought sophisticated Southern cuisine to Washington.

The restaurant closed its doors this week because, he said, there simply wasn't enough business.

"Sunday brunch was the only thing that was strong," Rich said. "Lunch was okay, but dinner was miserable - it never caught on, no matter what we did. We changed the menu, we lowered the prices, we changed the menu, we raised prices. Nothing worked."

Although with the growth in tourism, business had been growing little by little during the restaurant's two years in Washington, a slow month left the restaurant cash starved. "We could have bumped along for a few more months," he said, "busting our butts for almost nothing, but to what end?"

With expenses like $1,600 a month to the Fitzpatrick Hotel for rental and equipment, plus nearly $1,000 for utilities, he said, "there's just not that much business to support it." For a restaurant like Watchmakers to succeed, Friedman said, the city of Washington has got to invest more money in tourism.

At the same time, the owner of the Washington home they were renting and hoped to buy gave them notice that they would have to move. "Even after the restaurant closed, we hoped to stay here in Washington and find things to do. But now we don't have a home, so..."

Rich and Misty and their two young children are moving north to Jefferson, where her family has property. Rich is applying to teach culinary arts at Athens Tech, and Misty is looking at several positions there.

"We've enjoyed it here," he said, "but it's just not going to happen, at least not now."