Route 6 Diners

Today we went over to Edinboro to see the diner we suspected would be the best one of all. We went in for breakfast at the Crossroads Dinor. The original diner is there but the diner aura is gone. We were disappointed. The Crossroads is a 1913 Niles Trolly and before becoming a diner in 1929 it was just that—an electric street car. Over the years it has been added on to and is so large now it seems like just another restaurant. We learned from our waitress at Crossroads that Sally’s Diner in Erie is closed for the season. That explains why there was no one there yesterday. Sally’s Diner, the red, white, neon extravaganza is a 1957 Mountain View and will be similar inside to the Town House Diner in Honesdale as well as the Hawley Diner. When viewing Sally’s from the outside, I was really reminded of a 50s drive in serving hamburgers and shakes rather than home cooked meatloaf and mashed potatoes with grandmas apple pie.

We visited 5 diners in the past 10 days. I’m about burnt out on diners so this might not be the best time for an unbiased critique of what we experienced. But I’m plunging ahead anyway. Our favorite for the real diner experience was at the 1938 Sterling Wellsboro Diner. We went in shortly after the lunch hour on a weekday and it was a beehive of activity and a full house. We had to wait for a place to sit. We were there for cookies and coffee, but obviously the rest of the food was good or there wouldn’t be the crowds. It looked like the diner it has been all these years. The food was still being prepared on the grill just the other side of the counter not in some back room somewhere. It was great. Our second favorite place was the1957 Mountain View Town House Diner in Honesdale. It is still pretty much its original self, but we liked it because everybody was so friendly and made you feel like you were part of the family. Wasn’t that a big part of the original diner experience—locals coming in for lunch and to catch up on the gossip (or create new gossip) with their friends?

After our breakfast at Crossroads Dinor we drove back up to Erie to check out Tom Ridge Environmental Center. It was a very nice facility, but geared more to school children with several hands on exhibits. We didn’t stay long.

Sally's Diner

Tomorrow will be our reflections on Pennsylvania’s Route 6 and a preview of what’s coming up next as we turn south and head home for the holidays.