Jen’s been away for the past three days, helping her father out (the Word is: he’s fine; everything went smoothly) so I’ve been bachelorizing it here at the Lockardugan Estates. Without her moderating influence, I’ve been staying up and getting up later, working longer, eating whatever’s easy to make and generally not taking care of myself. Today I decided to get out of here for lunch, and ventured out to the Forest Diner for a burger.

The Forest Diner sits across from what used to be the Enchanted Forest, a family owned amusement park that closed years ago. In its place somebody put a Safeway, and at some point the local Diner Conglomerate dropped one of its ugly concrete boxes next to the railcar-original Forest in an attempt to take over the turf. The plucky little diner has held on, however, and they continue to make decent food in a clean, retro atmosphere. The menu may not be as huge, the available seating not as spacious, but the Forest is my favorite place to get a quiet cup of coffee and read the paper.