On Sunday I read in the local paper that an old diner down the street was closing, the run-down but popular Palominas Trading Post. For home-made pies you couldn't beat this place. Most of the time when we wanted to come here the place was closed, as we could never remember the business hours. But every time we did get inside we met wonderful people and ate a delicious meal.
We had to eat here one more time.
The Palominas Trading Post diner has been a staple here for as long as I first set my eyes on this area back in 1986. It was even featured in the September 1950 issue of Arizona Highways. A copy of that article is at the back of every menu so new visitors can read the history of this place.
As soon as Kevin got home from work we took off. We got there at 5:02 and the parking lot looked deserted. For its final day open it sure looked dead! And to our horror we saw the "CLOSED" sign up front.
But a closed door isn't always locked, so we went inside. The owners, John and Pam Waters were sitting up front, chatting up their final customer. They had had a long day, John said, reliving memories.
Pam didn't mind waiting on us. "We don't have much left...some Mexican, some BBQ beef..." and that was enough for us to sit down. Three elderly women also arriving were let in and sat at the larger table next to us.
I was hungry and very tired after working most of the afternoon outside getting an entire 6'x14' garden bed tilled, composted and ready for planting. I ordered a wet chicken burrito.
The three elderly women (in their late 70s, I learned) were hilarious to listen to. They were regulars and were teasing John who was leaning in his chair against the front of the diner. He knew them by name.
John looked melancholy. This final day open was a rough one for him. "We had people come in all day long sharing memories of this place." John and Pam owned the diner for 14 years and made a lot of friends, both locally and as far away as Cananea, Mexico.
"Some Mexicans told us we had the best Mexican food this side of the border."
I will agree: the shredded chicken burrito was tasty.
The diner is not much to look at from the outside. The lettering on the Palominas Trading Post sign was barely visible. The warped sign was fastened with rope and leaning precariously against the roof. The white exterior paint on all sides was badly pealed. Some of the wood beams showed signs of termites.
And the inside looked like something from the 1950s, although the actual building was an original officer's barracks from 1914 moved to its present location from Fort Huachuca. The black-and-white checkered tiled floor contrasted well with the light brown vinyl chairs. But the best part was looking at all the antique decor along the walls.
Elvis was on the front door. John Wayne was on the back wall. Darth Vader was in the storage area next to an old Coca-Cola sign. Betty Boop stood high near the ceiling next to an old Marine Staff Sergeant's dress uniform.
Although John served a tour in the Marine Corps, that uniform was not his. "Mine only had one stripe on it!" he admitted. His "Semper Fi" baseball cap revealed his pride.
I enjoyed just gazing around. Hard to believe this place was closing for its final time. What a piece of Americana! These old diners are the places I seek when I'm on the road. What better place to meet locals and learn the latest gossip that means absolutely nothing to the traveler but is a means to strike up a conversation with the stranger next to you at the counter? I remember our first time at the Trading Post talking to a man who had traveled down here from New York State who recalled the area still surrounded by fields of watermelon.
"All these things were given to us" said John as he pointed at the John Wayne and Betty Boop cut-outs. "The woman who gave me that Betty Boop is long dead now."
"The hardest thing about closing is not being able to donate goods for the Seniors" continued John, referring to his annual charity work in the community.
The Elvis on the front door was the only thing John bought, back when he went to Graceland.
A shelf of old toasters of various sizes stood high above the eastern wall. And more antique restaurant equipment stood against the western wall.
John volunteered more information as we ate our meal. "Yeah, business started slowing down after 911. We used to get people from all over. But now they don't come by anymore. We didn't even have the Snowbird Crowd this year, not like we used to get them. Sometimes we'd be open on a Monday afternoon and get no one for three hours."
And when gas prices shot up last summer the customers really stopped coming.
The article in the local paper featured comments by readers. Some stated they stopped coming when the Trading Post turned into a meeting place for the Minute Men Militia a few years ago. When the Militia started out that first summer of 2005 the Trading Post was packed with volunteers down to "guard" the border. We didn't come by then because the place was too packed. But others commented that the owners had catered too much to the Militia and not enough to its own customers.
A "Secure Our Borders!" and a "I want You to be a MinuteMen Volunteer to Secure the US Border" (With Uncle Same pointing his menacing finger at the on-looker) posters greeted customers as they left the cashier station. If this was a hard-core meeting place for the MinuteMen then at least the MinuteMen had good taste in food.
"Politics and Pancakes don't mix!" wrote one angry reader.
But all that aside, we were never disappointed in this place. I go to diners such as this to experience the local mood, and if it just happens to be about MinuteMen then at least I have something to listen to. There was no sign of angry politics or redneck ways tonight. We all had come together at the Trading Post one more time for a meal.
The pie case was empty. But everyone in the restaurant was treated to the last chocolate pie that was brought out from the back kitchen. Although it's not a flavor I would normally order (I prefer berry pies) this pie was delicious. The crust melted in my mouth. The filling was perfectly sweetened.
Now that the restaurant is closing the owners may continue to sell their homemade pies during Sierra Vista's Thursdays Farmer's Market. And as far as reopening some time in the future, both John and Pam are hoping to reopen somewhere closer to Sierra Vista where there is a larger customer base.
"Right now we are just going to take a little hiatus." said John.
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