Just off Route 33 in my home state of New Jersey is a tiny restaurant called The Roadside Diner. The tri-state area used to be covered in places like this in the 50s, and a lot of them still existed when I was a little kid. Sadly many shut down over the years and now they are few and far between. Part of their charm was each one’s quirky uniqueness. Many of these diners were shaped liked railroad cars, while others would fun motifs like model trains running along the interior walls. This one happens to have a big Stegosaurus sculpture made out of old car parts sitting in the parking lot, which is a fine choice if you ask me! The sculpture, and many others like it, was created by artist Jim Gary during his lifetime about 40 or 50 years ago. The sculpture itself is showing its age a little bit with some rust and paint chipping, but that only makes it more authentic as far as I’m concerned. I love old-school junkyard artwork like this, and I’m always grateful to come across anything like it floating around out there.
Stegosauras – Wall, NJ – The Roadside Diner
