So we went to the Palace Diner on Saturday, where we were greeted with the following on the door:

That's right, people. New Jersey is now a non-smoking state. I had forgotten that this non-smoking thing had passed, back in February, and it went into effect this week. This has proved to be a seachange in the way diners work here. Now there are no smoking sections anywhere. This doesn't really affect me and Mike alone, like we were on Saturday, but I foresee it having a grave effect on our late-night hangouts.

I'm posting some pictures here of our lunch, since I haven't posted any photos from the Palace Diner yet. These were taken with my manual Canon AE1; hence the low light and shallow depth of field. For some reason, I feel more comfortable taking diner pictures with it than my huge 20D. I just ordered another manual lens, a 28mm, so maybe the food pictures will be easier to take. Mike laughs at me now when I take them, because I have to back away from the plates to get any focus.

This is a representative photo - I said the Palace had big drinks, and this is the proof. That's my ice tea glass next to Mike's milkshake glass, and my water glass for a comparison.

I usually get a little salad here, because they are good. This one wasn't so great as usual. Mike took this picture.

This is my usual grilled cheese, with the Perfect Diner Fry almost covering it. Also note the honey mustard, which I was introduced to some years ago by our friend Steve. Good french fries plus honey mustard equals yum!

This is Mike's taco salad, looking a little washed out for true appreciation of its goodness.

I also got back some pictures from Ponzio's...ah, the joys of waiting for film.

UPDATE: Also, something is up at the Phily Diner. The last few desserts we have gotten there have been horrible. Also they recently got a liquor license, and now there is a sign announcing the arrival of a "sports bar"...??? This sounds bad. Mike says we may have to take away one of their cups in the near future, so stay tuned...