Pennsylvania Parks and Diners

Part Three

Today I was making a return to Hersheypark, and from this point on I would no longer be sightseeing alone. On this day I would be meeting Dave Johnson, a former Holiday World employee who moved to northeastern Pennsylvania two years ago to work at a ski resort. Dave is an all around great guy, very laid back in demeanor but very funny and posessing a razor sharp wit. Before heading to the park, Dave agreed to meet me for breakfast at a diner that I had been very anxious to see, the American Dream Diner in Harrisburg. Photo courtesy of Ronald Saari and Diner City The American Dream Diner, a 1953 DeRaffele, was formerly called the By-Pass Diner and sits at the intersection of Herr and Arsenal, routing travellers away from U.S. 22. U.S. 22 is a delightful road to travel for anyone who loves roadside Americana - there are kitschy motels, cabin courts, old roadhouses, rusting neon signs and oldtime gas stations. Numerous diners can be found up and down U.S. 22 throughout the entire state, including trolley cars and even an honest to goodness railroad dining car! The American Dream Diner has been lovingly restored, and its exterior showcases all of the classic elements normally associated with modern stainless diners. It features broad horizontal lines with very curvy edges, giving the exterior a very sleek, soft and pleasing look. A clock has been built into the exterior just above the vestibule. I think my favorite thing about this diner is its larger windows, which are a distinct departure from the usual modern stainless design and appear to reflect the exaggerated modern style. This may be a signature of DeRaffele diners, however, and not necessarily a departure from modern stainless design. Inside, there is a noticeable departure from tradition. The terrazzo floor is a unique bluish green color, with three large inlaid beige diamonds. The trim and booths also feature this unusual bluish green color. The ceiling is pink and the counter is white marble formica. I think the most memorable thing for me about this diner were the booths and stools, which have been recovered in a sparkly blue vinyl, just like back in the 60s. I felt like I was sitting on my banana bike! My breakfast with Dave wasn't particularly memorable. Not that the food was bad, it certainly wasn't. But the American Dream Diner is known for one thing, the Rope. The Rope is a foot-long, half-pound pork sausage, and it accounts for 25% of the diner's business! I figured this had better be some pretty special sausage. Well, it wasn't. It was good, but I was just sort of, well, grossed out. Maybe if I had had it in my omelette I would have enjoyed it more. But there was something about seeing a big ole turd of sausage plopped on my plate that left me feeling, well, kind of disgusted. Needless to say I didn't finish it. Dave and I headed to Hersheypark, and I was really looking forward to this day. I had only been to Hersheypark one other time, back in 1998, at a time when I was nursing three broken ribs (see "My 100th Roller-Coaster" series) and reeling from the effects of drugs I had taken to ease the pain. I came away with fond memories of Hersheypark, however, as this was the one park that featured family style coasters that were not terribly painful to ride! I also thought the park was beautiful and was impressed by the way they handled the crowds. Photo courtesy of RideZone A lot has changed at Hersheypark since my last visit. Two (well three, depending on how you count them!) new roller-coasters have been added as well as an entire themed section of the park! Midway America is a throwback to the 50's and 60's when carnivals and fairs were all the rage. Lots of old fashioned foods and games have been added, along with several classic rides, and the area's showcase roller-coaster, Lightning Racer! Lightning Racer is..... I can't say enough good things about it. It is perfect for Hersheypark. It is a fun, fun, fun racing roller-coaster! It's not terribly challenging nor does it have extreme moments of fear-inducing airtime or laterals. What it does have is a smooth, VERY smooth, ride with with one surprising turn after another and just enough thrills to make you want to ride again. And again! Lightning Racer is the most fun new roller-coaster of the year for me and along with SFSL's The Boss, one of the most surprising. Dave and I rode Lightning Racer a lot that day. I think I liked Lightning a little bit better than Thunder. The two sides are different, and I don't want to give anything away so I will just say the features of the ride only add to the fun. And the trains..... GCI's Millennium Flyer trains are the best things about this company. Open front seating with classic construction, they give the rider a feeling of freedom not found in PTCs or Gerstlauer trains. There has been some criticism voiced about the lap bars having no spring and coming down too easily during the ride, but I found them to be perfectly fine and did not get stapled mid-ride at all. I loved everything about Lightning Racer! Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the Wildcat, Hersheypark's other GCI wooden coaster. When I rode the Wildcat back in 1998 it offered a ride not unlike Lightning Racer - ultra smooth, with continuous curves and crossovers. I had a hard time deciding which seat offered the best ride, front or back. Now, however, the backseat is literally unrideable. Something has happened to the Wildcat and it has not aged well at all. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come for Lightning Racer, but I suspect Hersheypark may need to consult with GCI in the near future about reworking the Wildcat's ending helix. Supposedly the park retracked this section on their own, and if that is the case, they need to consult with the professionals next time. The Wild Mouse is Hersheypark's other new roller-coaster, and they aren't kidding when they call it wild! This is by far the best of the new Mad Mouse coasters being installed in amusement parks across the country. It's fast and shows no mercy taking those turns! I usually ride a mad mouse coaster only once or twice at the most, but this one I could ride many times and enjoy it immensely! My other impression of Hersheypark on this day was how enormously impressed I was with their park operations. The day Dave and I visited was a school day in the Harrisburg/Hershey area. No kids were available to work during the day. And yet everything - every concession stand, every shop, every ride was not only open but operating at full capacity. Some of the employees had obviously been transferred from their regular duties - the nametags on many of the ride ops revealed their normal jobs - and yet we never encountered any problems or delays of any kind. Not only that, but every employee was extremely courteous and even friendly. I have to tip my hat to Hersheypark - this is the second time I have come away impressed by their park operations. On my first visit in 1998, the park was terribly crowded, so much so that we had to park on the grass, and yet waits were minimal and the dispatches were quick. On my second visit, the park was fairly empty - we never encountered anything longer than a two train wait. It was midweek and a school day. If you were to visit any Six Flags park on this type of day you would encounter multiple ride closures, one train operation on the few rides that would be open, and only a minimal number of concession stands operating. You would find, however, that every game stand and shop would be open! I think when a park charges its guests full admission they have a responsibility to operate their park at full capacity, and I appreciate and respect Hersheypark tremendously for their determination to make anyday and everyday special. I said goodbye to Dave early in the evening so that I could head to Allentown in time for a late dinner. This was an important date for me to make. You see, Allentown is home to the Tom Sawyer Diner. It is #4 on my list of favorite diners and is the best example of exaagerated modern style I have ever seen. Photo courtesy of Ronald Saari and Diner City The Tom Sawyer Diner is a 1962 DeRaffele and has an angular, futuristic look. The roof has very broad eaves that are angled upward and look like jet wings. The stainless steel base has sharp lines, hard edges and bands of pink porcelain enamel. The floor to ceiling windows look so beautiful at night, and the gorgeous lighting gives the interior an inviting presence and the area surrounding the diner a warm golden glow. I'm glad I have only eaten at the Tom Sawyer at night because it truly has a kind of ethereal look at that time. The diner's huge neon sign is one of my very favorites and as a kid would have caused me to immediately jump up and down and say "Daddy we have to eat there!" The interior is every bit as unique as the exterior. It is bathed in natural light from the windows, and the golden glow carries over into the interior. What's unique about the Tom Sawyer's interior is its extensive use of wood. False timber ceiling beams, brown booths and countertop, and wood railing dividers are used, giving the interior a uniquely homey look for an exaagerated modern diner. A full size mirror along the back wall makes the dining area appear much larger than it really is and is testament to its 1960's heritage. The Tom Sawyer Diner is beautiful. Everything is in mint condition, having never been remodeled. Exaagerated modern is my favorite architectural style of diner. I like the strong angular lines, futuristic look and large floor to ceiling windows. To me it has a stronger art deco appeal than even the modern stainless design. There is an offshoot of the exaagerated modern style called "googies" which are found only in California. These diners have incredibly exaagerated lines, with walls and ceilings that look as though they have collapsed in on themselves! I have yet to see a googie diner in person but I'll be heading that way again and I'm looking forward to stopping at Mel's! What I am not looking forward to is saying goodbye to the Tom Sawyer Diner. Unfortunately a bypass has been planned for U.S. Rt. 222 that will run right through the Tom Sawyer property. I have no idea if the diner will be moved or torn down. And so I savored my wonderful hot roast beef sandwich, real mashed potatoes and gravy and chocolate cake as if it were my last meal. And because I have no idea whether the Tom Sawyer will still be there the next time I return, it may very well have been my last meal there. I feel the same sense of nostalgia and child-like excitement about diners as I do about roller-coasters and other roadside americana. To me they remind me of a time when America's enterprising spirit meant individuality rather than conformity. The malling of America had not yet taken hold on this country, families still ate their meals together, watched television together, travelled together, and prayed together. I know America is a place of progress with forward-looking people who don't have time to look back, and in many ways I appreciate the advancements this culture has brought us. But whenever a fabulous place like the Tom Sawyer closes, all in the name of progress, or I pass an abandoned drive-in, or a traditional amusement park is forced to close its doors because it can no longer compete with its corporate themer next door, or a great old movie house is forced to concede its business to some multi-screen cineplex at the mall, I feel bitterly disappointed in our country. I simply do not understand the lack of foresight in America's people that would allow them to choose a TGIFriday's, or watch a movie on some dinky multi-cineplex screen, or pay fifty dollars to stand in hour long lines at a poorly run theme park, in place of some of America's greatest history. It is a fundamental flaw in our thinking, and I truly believe it will be our downfall one day. And so, for now, I leave with a bitter taste in my mouth despite my wonderful meal. And as I started to pull away from the Tom Sawyer Diner, I stopped to admire that beautiful neon sign for perhaps the last time. I looked at it with a profound sense of nostalgia and sadness. And then I drove away, never looking back. FOLLOW UP: On Saturday, June 23, 2002, the Tom Sawyer Diner closed its doors for good. UP NEXT: Knoebels Groves and a town that time forgot