How Many Diners Have You Visited?

I grew up in New Jersey which is fondly referred to as "The Diner Capital of the World." There used to be over 600 diners in the state, but now it appears there are "only" around 450 diners in New Jersey.  They say that it all began around 1870 in New Providence, Rhode Island.  A guy named Walter Scott noticed that around 8 pm near the train station there was nothing open so he loaded up a wagon which was moved by a horse and put in it...hard boiled eggs? Yes, and coffee, sandwiches and donuts.

In the early 1900's New Jersey had some of the best roads in the country and diners were located right off the highway.  Diners provided good food at reasonable prices and were very popular in New Jersey. Times have changed and many diners have been bought out and their menus have also changed drastically.  The menus used to have many, many pages and that has been cut back to a much smaller amount to be more efficient.

Diners used to be open 24 hours a day, but there are only 16 of those left in New Jersey, one of them being The Clinton Diner in Clinton, New Jersey which used to be very close to where I lived.  I've eaten at this diner a number of times since leaving New Jersey and it's train cars and this monster burger are a couple things it's none for.  They do serve a lot of good food also.

                

I recently read an article in the Fairleigh Dickinson University Magazine about a couple who met on campus and live in Bergen County, northern New Jersey. They decided to visit all the diners in New Jersey and currently are at 325 diners with 125 to go. Why would they do that?

Here are some of the things they said in the article:

"We're just doing our part to support these diners, these small businesses in the state as we bond and travel."

"I call it a vacation without a suitcase."

"We're not comparing, just enjoying."

"There's such a nostalgia to diners, and they're near and dear to many, many people."

The couple has been married since 1984 and their diner travels have led to them being on some television news shows, throwing out the first pitch at a Somerset Patriots minor league baseball game and filming a scene in an upcoming gangster movie where they appeared in a diner.

Working in the magazine delivery business for many years I have visited a lot of diners in New Jersey and I've eaten at a number of them too.  How come I never got to throw out the first pitch at a baseball game?