Backwoods Blog

A1 DINER

Backwoods Blog;

in the woods and on the road…

A1 Diner in Gardiner, Maine

Linda and I were on a road trip to southern Maine last week and we happened to stop at one of our favorite eateries along the way, the A1 Diner in Gardiner. For more information about the diner and a poem I scribbled on a napkin check out Backwoods Blog .11 ( or click on the link https://backwoodsblog.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=201&action=edit ). We placed our order and while we waited for it to arrive I went outside to take a few pictures. There’s a side door and walkway that leads to the bathrooms and expanded kitchen space that is behind the diner car, and as I was trying to get some creative angles on a shot one of the diner employees comes out, sits at the end of the walkway and lights up a cigarette. We start talking and I slowly realize that this is the same guy I saw in the newspaper article about A1 Diner when I was writing the story for backwoods blog #11. Aaron Harris is the owner of A1 Diner and he is on a smoke break. The A1 is a 1946 Worcester diner car and he points out the manufacturer’s plate above the side entrance door with #790 stamped on it and we banter about other historic diner cars in the state of Maine (including Houlton’s old Miss Aroostook diner car). We talked about the similarities between airstream trailers and diner cars, cartoonist Bill Griffith’s visits to the A1 (Zippy the Pinhead) and before we knew it his smoke break was over. I told Aaron I was working on another post about the A1 Diner and I would send him a copy when it came out. By then, I figured I’d better get back inside too and see if my order had arrived. You’ll find a couple of the pictures I took that day included below. If you’ve never been to the A1 Diner, you gotta add it to your list of must stop destinations. Happy travels everyone.

On the road,

Dave

May 3, 2023

classic diner stools 

original warming drawers (still operational)

original refrigerator coolers (still operational) 

side entrance (reflections of a diner)

close up of the manufacturer’s plate above the side entrance door

Linda enjoying her oriental noodles and vegetables

window latch and sash

Aaron Harris; owner of the A1 Diner