Naples is a bucolic town in the Finger Lakes Region, Up-State New York. Glacier-era lakes, rolling mountains, deep valleys and big skies. On a good day, the drive to Niagara Falls takes a bit more than an hour.
The region is also home to renowned wineries. When driving near the Finger Lakes, I try to pass by Naples for a few bottles of Port wine.
It was late October and the leaves had mostly fallen. All was rust, green, yellow and red. On a cold morning we decided to drive through Naples. At the town entrance is the iconic local diner "
Bob and Ruth's"- it has been there for decades but I had never had breakfast there. This time, the sign outside made me decide "
Last day of the season: Closing after lunch". That was it, winter was around the corner and the diner would open again in the spring. So, in we go for breakfast at 10 am.
"Do not check the menu," the waitress told us, "let me tell you what we have left." So we learned that they were out of bacon, sausage, had only one type of bread, no hash brown, but plenty of wild mushrooms... "But we still have everything for the lunch menu," and she pointed at the menu on the board hanging above our heads.
It was too early for lunch and too late for breakfast. So an omelette with a lot of wild mushrooms and coffee seemed the best choice.
As we were eating our omelettes and watching the wind dance with the fallen leaves outside, the waitress came back and announced "Folks, we are running out of ham, bread and fries. I will revise the lunch menu now." As she was taking the board down, a ray of sunshine entered the dark diner and I had to take a picture.
Taken with a 1949 Rolleiflex Automat, at f 3.5 and 1/25th second, ASA 100, and handheld (while chewing on my omelette!)
November 21, 2013
©Vahé Kazandjian, 2013
