Jack and I had been partying in Mexico for a week. As great as it was, we were in the need for a diner fix when we got back. A couple of months back we had seen a segment about Charlie's Diner in Spencer, MA on the Food Network show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives". Charlie's looked like it served some classic diner food, and had a loyal clientele. Happy and well-rested after spending the night in our respective beds, we said goodbye to mom and Winston the Dog and headed West on the Mass Pike.

One of the charms of a place like Charlie's is that it is in the middle of nowhere. It isn't in shopping center or adjacent to an office park. It's located in a field, across from a cemetery, in a town I had never even heard of in a state I've lived most of my life. This only added to the sense of adventure for me and Jack. We pulled in just as the breakfast crowd was departing. While we waited for a booth Jack and I talked to all of the customers. We met a nice family from Charlton who had been stuck in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport while on vacation, just like we had. We compared fast food restaurants in Terminal D, and lamented on how American Airlines had lost both family's luggage. They played peek-a-boo with Jack, and told us about how much they loved coming to Charlie's. And just like we had heard on the Food Network, they raved about the bourbon steak tips.

After just a couple of minutes we got a booth right by the grill. Jack ordered some milk, some toast and some eggs. I ordered the steak tips and raisin toast, along with some coffee and OJ. While we waited for our food we played with the sugar substitute packets. I like to grab them between my fingers and pretend that they are some sort of an insect flapping its wings. Jack's eyes always grow enormous when I do this, and he laughs out loud until I give them to him. We did this for quite some time. As we sat in the booth I pointed out to Jack that Charlie's was the sort of diner that still had classic diner touches like the antique Hav-A-Nap brand napkin dispensers, the menu posted behind glass above the grill, and the wall-built refrigerator up adjacent to the counter. If you look closely at the menu you can see why we had to pause for a second before realizing that they meant "potato". While we played other diner regulars stopped by to say hello. A very nice lady who lives in Worcester told us that she's been coming to Charlie's for over 40 years. This was her first time eating there since it had moved, and she had missed it terribly. Even though it was our first time there we understood what she meant.

Our food came out piping hot and was hand delivered by the chef. Jack smeared his eggs all over his face. I took one bite of my steak tips and fell in love. Tender, bite-sized morsels of perfectly marinated steak. I would kill for this recipe. I had a third cup of their wonderful coffee. Jack took a walk around the place and said hello to his new friends while I chatted with the chef and waitresses. We said our goodbyes and headed out of Charlie's, sure to be back again.

Usually that's the end of our diner adventures. We leave the diner and go onto the next thing. But as I was loading Jack into the car we noticed a woman walking through thecemetery with her three beagles. That's right: not one...not two...but THREE beagle dogs walking right near us. We hopped in the car and floored it across the busy intersection. We carefully wound our way through the many roads, doing our best to find where they went. As we approached the end of the cemetery we spotted them. Jack and I got out of the car and politely asked the lady if her dogs were friendly. She looked at us as if we were crazy, and replied "all beagles are kid friendly". We knew that,but we thought it was a good idea to ask. Jack ran over and threw his arms around the dog named Bagel, whose coloring was remarkably similar to Winston's. Bagel then tried to jump into our car, which made Jack laugh. We talked about Uno's recent win at Westminster. We talked about Winston the Dog. After rubbing their ears and getting our faces sufficiently licked, we said goodbye to our beagle friends and their owner. With full bellies and full hearts we drove home from another truly successful diner adventure.

Charlie's Diner
32 West Main Street
Spencer, MA