Having Liberty at the Elms

At Christmas my kids got me a HD TV. I have been hmmming AND hawing about getting one. I figured I would wait until the Sanyo I got 10 plus years ago to give out before dumping cash on such a frivolous purchase. Well T (my daughter) decided for me, making the decision on how fast a refresh rate, which 1080 this and that and whether I needed to get a new amp with 5, 4 or 2 channels. With this gift it became necessary on upgrading to cable HD. By upgrading I lowered my monthly cost by getting more services than I need, namely a phone. I just know I didn't ask all the right questions and there is a catch some place that will show up on the bill. I don't have a contract (supposedly) and can change at my hearts whim. With that the cable box is a DVR and can record shows. I didn't think this would be a useful feature until one night I recorded a bunch of DDD's (Diners, Dives and Drive- Ins).

I promise this is all connected somehow.

One night I simply could not fall asleep and got up and decided to watch what I had recorded via the DVR. I came across the Liberty Elm Diner in Providence RI. I couldn't believe I have numerous books on diners, have done extensive research all over New England and have visited well over 100 diners over the past 7 years and this one I had never heard of. On P16 in Randy Garbin's book Diners of New England is a paragraph on the La Criolla Restaurant, which is notated as CLOSED. I checked my MapSource Master Diner file and low and behold it is marked as a waypoint.

Today being absolutely beautiful out in NE winter terms, I decided we should go pay a visit to Liberty Elm Diner. On our way down I pulled one of my treasure hunt actions in the middle of RT95 South to get a picture of this guy.



I have been meaning to grab this guy for years, plus it will fulfill a requirement for another waypoint category, surely something to risk your life for. Back into the flow of the traffic to Exit 17.

My recollection this place looked alot less for wear on DDD than in person. This place is a Worcester Lunch Car diner. Alot of the porcelain covered siding has taken a beating and rusting out. Kind of like an abandon car in some urban area. Randy Garbin notes in his book this place is "oft-changed diner in another struggling neighborhood sits on Elmwood Street, the city's oldest gateway boulevard to and from the south"





While I was outside taking pictures, I watched this Camry pull in and make this crunching sound. As the driver got out of the car I said it sounds like you just ran over some really bad. She walked around her car and said to me, "do you own this white car, because I just hit it" I answered "No it is not mine". What a way to ruin a breakfast for someone.

Inside the place had a well patronized look like all these diners do. We sat out back in a built on addition. You could tell the place had South American theme in its past. The room was painted with alot of bright colors on the walls, however I think this was in keeping with the current owners tastes. I did not take pictures of the back room.



Well I finally settled into the reason for coming here the food. Prominently displayed on a chalk board was the featured food on DDD, the Guy Turkey Sandwich. I asked our waiter what he recommended and immediately this was the one. I asked what did the locals eat and he leaned toward the Monte Cristo sandwich with egg. So that what I ordered. MeAsWe had the much healthier omelet with tomatoes and bacon. The menu has a wide range of items and not all of them are the typical breakfast and lunch fare.

The food.





The food was good, even better than average, but doesn't come close to touching the Crunchy French Toast of the Miss Worcester. I have a feeling I should have gone for the Turkey Sandwich. Each meal comes with one of those little umbrellas. It appears there is some kind of ritual you are suppose to do with them, but I failed to ask because it did not dawn on me until I began this writing. I did take a picture



Around the side and back the building has been painted with more than just a roller and brush.





Other objects takes me back to the hippie days of my youth. Just had the 'je ne sais quoi' air about them.





All in all not a bad way to spend a couple of hours in a New England winter. Heres the DDD segment and what Randy Garbins book look like. Oh I also found out this was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.