Isn't there something else we should be doing? - Winchester, MA

Swanton Street Diner in June. No, just kidding, snow was gone. Photo credit: hiddenboston.com

While my husband and I were in the Boston area in June, we were in Winchester, a lovely small town just north of Boston, to sign papers at the bank. After signing we had some time for lunch and trip-advisored up the Swanton Street Diner.

Any restaurant with "diner" in the name is pretty much predestined to be a good place (in my eyes, at least). A diner, for my non-American readers, is usually casual, usually has waitresses with little patience for the gab of introducing themselves as "I'll be your server today!" and serves non-complicated and good food quickly. I note that this definition has changed over time as Swanton Street had some fairly sophisticated food including Lobster Pizza (totally opposed to a crustacean on my pizza). I stuck with some delicious broiled scallops. How I miss scallops--you can't find them much here in Brazil and when you do, they are pre-frozen and cost as much as a small car.

Part of the menu. The weird part.

Anyway, as we were sitting there waiting for the food -- our waitress was definitely diner material--borderline rude (I'll go with "gruff") and harried, I looked up at the framed certificate over our head. Here it is (sorry about the bad quality, I was scared of the gruffalo coming back and catching me):

Let me summarize. The Massachusetts House of Representatives has "recognized" the diner for its "Felicitous arrival in Winchester, Flavorful Entrees and Fun-Loving Staff, for many years to come." Wait, the HoR took out time for the "entire membership" to extend its "very best wishes"...? Oh, come on, I know that they probably do 4000 of these a day, but really? Realllllly? They don't have something else they should be doing?  

On the other hand, do you think I could get one of these? Maybe they could write me a certificate for my "felicitous arrival" in the state of Massachusetts after 23 years of absence. Who do I write? Should I just show up at the State House? Hmmmm.

And in a final smile for me, under the gold seal, the document is signed by no other than "Sherman "Whip" Saltmarsh Jr".  You just can't make this stuff up.

PS. Loved the visit. Highly recommended if you find yourself in Winchester!