Sad news from New England

Another great road trip institution vanishes (from the Kennebec Morning Sentinel ) :

FARMINGTON, MAINE -- The last cup of coffee was served at the Farmington Diner Sunday. Then, after nearly 50 years, at 2 p.m., the doors to the landmark eatery closed for good.

The diner, along with two adjacent commercial buildings on Main Street, had to make way for a new Rite Aid pharmacy. A small group of diner supporters gathered Sunday to commiserate over the loss of an affordable restaurant that prided itself on generous helpings of home-cooked food at a good price.

Among them was Rep. Janet Mills, D-Farmington, who was irked that a landmark at the entrance to downtown that employed eight people full-time will be demolished.

"No one wants to see a big chain store downtown," she said Monday. "The diner was an institution and it would behoove the developer to pay to have it moved across the bridge to another site. It would be a good public relations gesture."

Fortunately, the diner has been adopted and moved to nearby Wilton, longtime home of shoe-maker G H Bass, who transferred production of the preppies' favorite footwear to the Dominican Republic a decade ago.

Wilton is nifty little town, with a great little museum (but without the wonderful Curiosity Books, which seems to have moved to Massachusetts?)

Let's hope the Farmington Diner's new owners can make it work.

Stay tuned! (and please send updates to me c/o RoadTripUSA (at) Hotmail.com

Photo borrowed from Cabin Country column in Maine Today .