TRAVELING ACROSS OHIO--
On the Lincoln Highway

The Steel Trolley Diner is aglow (above) after a warm summer rain on the Lincoln Highway in Lisbon, OH recently.  It was the most colorful venue we enjoyed on our recent trip across the eastern half of that storied route in Ohio.

Our adventure began with an overnight, round-trip drive from Mansfield to East Liverpool where we explored the various segments of roadway that highway has followed since its construction beginning in 1913--mostly along what we now know as US 30.

Classic American diners are often characterized by an exterior skin of shiny, stainless steel and, in their heyday, over 6,000 of them dotted the US landscape.  Today, fewer than 2,000 remain.

The Steel Trolly Diner was built in 1954 by one of the largest diner manufacturers in the US and transported to Salem OH where it operated for 24 years.  It has operated continuously in Lisbon, OH since May of 1979 just a block from the county courthouse at 140 E. Lincoln Way--as the highway is known in that county seat village.

Only 20 of this particular make of diner remain in existence throughout the world.

We got acquainted with the diner staff during an afternoon visit then returned for the night photography where Sue enjoyed a yummy oatmeal pie concoction and I some chocolate ice cream in an old time, stemmed soda-fountain dish.

We were entertained by the folks in a nearby booth where a minister was providing wedding rehearsal coaching to a soon to be bride and groom

I regretted we would not be around as we speculated on the etiquette of that wedding ceremony.

We poked around the diner's souvenir shop and wound up with matching and saucy tee shirts advertising the diner's pie by asking "Gotten a piece lately?"

I'm not sure we'll ever wear them in public.

The grill cook (above) prepares a taste treat for a night-time, diner customer.  Several stories will follow on our recently concluded tour of the eastern half of OH.  We expect to do the western half as soon as our schedules allow.  Please stay tuned.