Diners!

The past couple weeks have been rather difficult for me in terms of not living in the USA. Perhaps part of it comes from the fact that I'm no longer new here in Belgium and it's not a novelty anymore. I am *gulp* getting USED to living in Europe. It's becoming NORMAL that I ride around on a bicycle or a train, buy my bread at the actual baker, and that nothing is open on Sunday. I *never* thought that would happen.

The problem with getting USED to something is that then it becomes easier to take that thing for granted, and I NEVER want that to happen! I never want to take anything i have for granted, whether it be natural talents, the amazing people I am fortunate enough to know and spend time with (especially Tim!), or just about anything good in this world, really.

One thing I really miss about home (a.k.a. New England) is the abundance of amazing, historical DINERS! Not the kitschy 1950's retro poodle-skirt and Elvis type places you might see in some movies, but the real thing...narrow, crowded railroad cars stuffed with booths and stools and home-fried potatoes.

I found a cool blog with lots of diner information and pictures HERE, and I think I've been to most of the diners featured on the first page of posts! It doesn't hurt that there is a whole post dedicated to diners in the beautiful city of Lowell, Massachusetts, which is one of my favorite places I've ever had the pleasure of spending four years.

I also resided and LOVE the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, where many diner cars were manufactured by the Worcester Lunch Car Company until the 1950's. Ever had a meal in an old-fashioned lunch car? There's a good chance it was made in my town.

The Miss Worcester Diner in its original location across from the old Worcester Lunch Car Company:

The Four Sisters Owl Diner in Lowell Massachusetts, where I spent many weekend mornings in college:

The Red Arrow Diner, a Manchester New Hampshire staple:

Since I've been missing home and waxing nostalgic about American breakfast, I've been having this new daydream where I purchase an old Worcester Lunch Car and have it shipped to Belgium, where I subsequently restore and open it here in my new city. It would require a buttload of money, but it sure would be nice to have a little piece of home here...

We'll see. It's something for "one day," but then "one day" needs to be specified, otherwise it turns into "never."

I wonder how I would even go about doing the market research to see if it would fly here...