On March 18 it was freezing and snowy. I was in clunky boots and a sweater and my old gray coat AGAIN. This day, a Monday, was a snow day, and snow days are really nice for teachers, yes, but our children are SICK OF US. They are bored and antsy and we are becoming less cool by the second. I couldn’t imagine that four days from then it would be nice enough to do yard work, and two days after that it would snow again, turning the piles of leaves I had raked (but not hauled away) into frozen leaf cakes. Where they still sit, thawed now, and wet.

We had to get out. It just so happened that I needed a new (new to me anyway) piece of furniture for my dining room, and it happened that we were also hungry and in serious need of coffee. So we headed to L&S Diner, which is just a few snowy steps from Hess Furniture (post coming!!).

L&S is a Harrisonburg favorite. The boxcar diner has been downtown for decades serving up breakfast necessities like eggs, biscuits and gravy, grits, omelets, pancakes and French toast (and for all you early risers, they open at 5:30 am during the week). For lunch they’ve got choices like sandwiches, pan-fried chicken, salads, oysters, and salt fish.

We found six stools in a row and climbed up. Cal had a little trouble getting perched up there, and I realized that low-rise jeans have made diner stools awkward.

Our waitress poured steaming coffee in our cups and we started talking about summer. Dresses. Sandals. How good it feels to get in a hot car after you’ve been in the air conditioning all day. Pools. The river. Sitting on the deck with friends til midnight. The beach. How good it feels to shower off all that beach grime and then stuff yourself with lobster and shrimp. Meanwhile, our food sizzled on the flat-top grill and the kids wrote little notes to each other. It’s become a tradition of sorts… today the notes said, “I love your hair.” “I love your pancakes.” And this one:

As usual, we all shut up when the food came. We had French toast, pancakes, rye toast, and an egg/ham/cheese sandwich on white. All fresh and delicious. They’re no strangers to breakfast in there.

There’s a train track RIGHT behind the restaurant. A train went by and Bree asked, “Are we moving?” No, honey. We’re in a restaurant. She also had the sensation we were moving one day in the car wash. When the sprayer arm thing moved around the car, she suddenly yelled, “Mom! We’re moving backwards! Do something!” Sorta like when you stand on the beach and a wave crashes on your feet and washes back out… it feels like you’re rushing backwards… and there we are talking about summer again. Oh summer. We are soooo ready for you!

You can thaw out at L&S Diner at 255 North Liberty Street, about a block north of Hess Furniture and a block south of the Local Chop and Grill House. They’re open seven days a week.

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