Breakfast

Whenever stopped by Law Enforcement, I’d dutifully demonstrate my legitimate status as a tramper, camper, and hiker. “Why, no, Officer Opie, I was not hitchhiking! I was merely sitting by the side of the road resting – If by chance a passerby offered me a ride, I probably wouldn’t refuse it, though.” Unlike many today, I never resorted to signs; too obvious to the law, and my friends and I had theories that signs suppressed ride offers to intermediate locations along the way to your destination.

But you ask about cuisine. Well, your main objective was to avoid eating the emergency rations stowed in our packs. Some kept a much-maligned can of Spam, others peanut butter and a package of crackers. I either had a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew, or B&M Baked Beans. It is unclear to me which yielded the worst campfire cuisine. Ahhhh yes, culinary delights. But as I said, the objective was to avoid that situation. Being that you were tramping, actually hitching, but let’s maintain the facade of legality, your best choice of decent and affordable meals was diners.

Today we live in an era of large homogenized chains that stretch across the continent. But back when ( 1960’s and earlier), diners were very local, quite diverse, and varied widely in quality. Picking one wasn’t too hard. I’d normally ask my last ride to let me off in the vicinity of a diner, and ask them for references. The locals knew the greasy spoons from the well-frequented ones they used, and it was an easy way to avoid a queasy stomach afterward.

Steinbeck, in Travels With Charley, opined that the best meal available on the road was breakfast. Most diners could whip up a fantastic variety of pancakes, waffles, eggs, toast, and side dishes. Many could and would make that meal for you twenty-four hours a day. It was good, tasty, and reliable.

Just a few years ago, I was driving home from a teaching engagement at a crafts school in Maine. I happened across a diner I had frequented years before. I stopped, and to my joy, found that their waffles with the local maple syrup were just as good as I remembered.