Diners #86-90

The hot days of summer are here.  So lets look at some cool diners.

It is awful cold in Grand Marais, Michigan in the winter. This is one of the northern most diners in the country.  The Paramount seen here came to Michigan with the help of Jerry Berta.  Berta picked up the former Matamoras Diner and had it moved to Michigan before selling it to the current owners.  The diner is a narrow model with booths on the end and just a counter in the middle.  The place is very hodge-podge with stuff everywhere.  fortunately there is an addition to this diner, with the limited seating.  I was able to visit the diner on an 80 degree day in October, which is a true rarity.

In the middle of no where describes a lot of places and the Delta Diner in Wisconsin fits that to a tee.  It is on a county road, but in tourist season, the people flock to the place.  It is very difficult to call this diner food in the true sense of diners.  The waiters read the menu to you, which takes about two minutes.  The owner has a disagreement with Steve Harwin, who "restored" the diner, so we don't know where it is from, other than somewhere in New York state.  fortunately, Steve does good work!

This Starlite is high up in the mountains in Virginia in a town called Low Moor just off of Interstate 64.  The diner came from LaVale, Maryland and was bought by the Penny's Diner chain which is hooked up with the Oak Tree Inn chain, especially built to accommodate railroad workers.  Penny's is open 24 hours, for the railroad workers and it is nice for travelers also.  The diner serves unassuming diner fare with some dinner specials, that when I was there, looked really good.

Yes, behind this unassuming exterior is a diner. And even rarer is that it is a Valentine diner.  Moved to Gardiner, Maine in 1965.  As you can tell from the outside, not a whole deal is original, but there are still tell tale signs of this being a Valentine when you enter the place.  I found a newspaper advertisement for this diner and on my next trip to Maine, looked out for this diner and found it.  Larry Cultrera on his Diner Hotline blog did a nice little write-up on this diner.
http://dinerhotline.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/mike-engle-locates-rare-valentine-diner-in-gardiner-maine/

Our final diner from cool places comes from a recreated town in Lakewood, Colorado.  While the rest of the town is disgustingly chic, they built a recreation of what the town used to be like, which is a roadside's dream.  Better than nothing.  There is the White Way Grill, a Valentine that did business on Colfax Avenue.  The diner was restored and looks pretty nice on the inside.  it is a shame that it is becoming very difficult to make a living running one of these small diners.  But either way, this diner is a gem to look at, just as the village is.

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