BACKROADS • JANUARY 2022
Page 9
Thisilldous Eatery presents
GREAT ALL AMERICAN DINER RUN
tasty places to take your bike
BREAKFAST WITH CLEM MISS FLORENCE DINER
99 MAIN ST, FLORENCE, MA 01062 (413) 584-3137 • WWW.MISSFLORENCEDINER.NET As an avid reader of Rider Magazine, one of my favorite columns was Clement Salvadori’s “Road Tales.” The beret-wearing author has retired, but his columns inspired me to try my hand at writing. In several of his columns, he mentioned the Miss Florence Diner in Northampton, Massachusetts as one of his local hang outs back in the 1960s and 1970s. Recently, I decided that breakfast at the Miss Florence Diner would be a great way to start the day of riding. Maybe I could pick up some inspiration from Clem. Waiting for the light at Maple and Main, I looked around. The village of Florence has adapted and changed over the years but it would still be recognizable to an old timer like Clem. The gas station on the corner has been bulldozed and a law office is there now but Bird’s Store, across the street, is still in business. Roger’s Bicycle shop has been Pizza Factory for many years but Full Circle Bicycles is a few doors down where MurDuff’s Jewelry used to be. MurDuff’s is still there, across the street. At the other end of the village, Friendly’s still dishes out their ice cream and Coopers Corner still sells local fruits and veggies. Above it all is the iconic Miss Florence Diner sign. The “Miss Flo”, with its bright yellow enameled siding, has been on the north side of Main Street since 1941. It was built by the Worcester Lunch Car company in Worcester, Massachusetts. They turned out 651 of these prefabricated diners before shutting down in 1957. Most of them ended up in New England due to transportation costs.
This diner has a factory added addition to the right side, providing a couple of extra booths and a unique L-shaped appearance. Both the diner and the addition have a barrel style roof as does the brick lined entry. The interior looks much as it did when it was new. The wooden ceiling and walls have a timeless appearance. The original countertop wore out and has been replaced with granite. The booths each have their own jukebox. The music has been updated over the years with Adele and Imagine Dragons sharing space with Bob Dylan and CCR. There are even a couple of jukeboxes at the counter. Being an old-school retro-cool diner, the booths are a little tight for four people and the stools seem to be just a little bit too close to the counter. But then, the building was designed to fit on a railroad car for shipping. The wooden ceiling and walls are offset nicely with the shiny
