I met Cousin Shane at his house this morning so that we could head out to have a late breakfast or an early lunch at Cira’s Restaurant. We dallied at his house for a bit: he showed me the new paint job in the living room (AKA the Blue Room...love the colors!), we grooved to a Grafton Primary song on the disc I made for him, I checked out the recent plantings they’ve been working on, and I loved on his cats a bit. Matt was working, so he wasn’t able to join us, and we missed him! We dallied a little too long, because we got to the restaurant 15 minutes after they stopped serving breakfast. Drat! I was all up into thinking about eggs over easy and toast! But it was a light lunch instead, with usual diner food, and our server was a super nice and sweet lady who told me I had a beautiful smile. Aww!
We dug the retro decor, with booths and counter seating, recessed lighting, and a cool angled entryway. There was also this neat partition wall between the cash register and a little alcove with a larger table. The oldies station was playing through the overhead speakers, and it was a really fun place. They were doing great business, so it’s a real shame that they decided to close. Shane and I weren’t sure if the good business was because they’re closing soon, or if they always do that well. I’m thinking the latter, because it was an older crowd that looked to be locals. I’m kind of hoping that someone will buy the place and decide to keep it going. Shane found out that it has been there since 1954, and we both agreed that for such an old place, it was really clean and in great shape. Shane said he’d like to run a little diner like that, if you could limit the hours of operation.
After chatting for a while, we moved on and got some pictures of the sign outside. Shane hopes to get back one more time before they close, and I hope he’s able to do that. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to take a little stroll in the neighborhood. We ended up at Bowman Cemetery, where we saw the Henry Studebaker burial site—several of his family members are buried there, and a fairly tall obelisk marks the grave site. Then we drove around the area for a bit, past where our grandparents used to live, and through Shane’s neighborhood on the way back to his house. There are some just awesomely super cool ‘60s ranch houses in that neighborhood (did I mention how cool they are?), including a Frank Lloyd Wright house, the Mossberg House. “Mad Men” is not what fueled our love of ‘50s and ‘60s retro...Shane has never even seen the show (although I told him I think he’d like it), and Ken and I only started watching it recently. We’ve loved that style for some time now, so “Mad Men” is catching up with US. haha
I wish I could have walked around with Shane a little more, but I needed to get back home and work on some things before our trip. As it was, we still spent three hours gabbing! It was a lot of fun, as always, and I’m so glad that we got to go there and get a few pictures on the verge of it closing. I’m going to get to see lots of places like this on our trip, but there’s something special about one in your own community. I wish the owners all the best, and I thank them for many years of a wonderful South Bend fixture.
I used to imagine what it would have been like to be a young man in the late 50's - early 60's, watching Gillette "Friday Night Fights" and seeing cats like Tony Zale and Rocky Grazino punch in black-and-white!
ReplyDeleteThere is so much about that era that kind of sort of reminds me of what it may be like to be a teen now... I think that culture is on the verge of another splash like it was during those years and I do think that culture is writing a new history as we live and speak.
This is not to say that nooks such as Cira's are necessarily meant to go away like an old soldier, at least not without the fondest of memories from those who it served... and I think you would have to find the teenage Beth and Shane at THEIR Cira's ... and imagine what they will think when their beloved spot closes in 30 years..!