DIMMICK INN--Milford, PA.

101 East Hartford St.
Milford, PA 18337
(570) 296-4021

Milford, PA is a charming town constantly working to reinvent itself and become a Pennsylvania tourist attraction. I think the town is succeeding. It was to Milford that I’ve come to see Grey Towers, the home of Gifford Pinchot, founder of our National Park Service under Theodore Roosevelt and owner of a very amazing home well worth touring. I've been there three times, and I've enjoyed it each time. Last fall, my friends and I did some letterboxing in the town. We tried some of Milford's restaurants too.

Rob and I passed through Milford on our way to Shawnee, PA, and we stopped for lunch at the Dimmick Inn. This is the first week in March, and it's cold. The town is empty or tourists.

My friend Carol and I ate at the Dimmick Inn on a summer afternoon some years ago, and I have good memories. Carol and I dined on the big porch overlooking the Main Street, and lunch was a combination of food and people watching. It’s a bit different for Rob and me. We park, climb over the snow banks lining the curb and enter through the dining room entrance. I'd never been inside, and on this day the dining room has two patrons. The bar has a group of people who appear to be regulars.

There is a great, friendly, homey feeling and a smiling friendly waitress. It's warm and cozy. The Travel Channel is on the bar's TV, and Samantha Brown is doing her lovely vacation thing at some beautiful beach--180 degrees from cold and snowy Pennsylvania. Because Rob's back faces the TV, I mention Samantha Brown, a woman traveler after my own heart. One fellow watching the show comes over, and we three begin conversation. I’d like to travel like Samantha Brown and to places she visits. Our new friend is a fan of Anthony Bourdain, and Rob talks about his favorite, Andrew Zimmern. This is a weird bar conversation, but the patron is well-versed, and we enjoy the chat. Travel Channel personalities aren't names or shows we'd ordinarily expect in barroom chat, but it's just this kind of encounter that makes life interesting, isn’t it?

Lunch is really good. I order Fish & Chips and Bass ale. My plate comes piled with crisp french fries, a big order of cole slaw, lettuce and lemons, and three big pieces of panko. It is delicious, and it is more than enough for a dinner platter. The fish is crisp, not oily. The potatoes are thin, slightly salty, and very tasty. Rob orders a steak sandwich, rare. The meat is done just as he likes, practically mooing, is covered with onions and cheese, and is stuffed between two pieces of rye bread and. He, too, has the potatoes and coleslaw. He drinks Stella Artois. The "lunch" is big enough for dinner. We jokingly wonder what Anthony Bourdain would think of our lunches!

Sometimes traveling during the 0ff, 0ff season is too quiet. We are on the verge of that here, but meeting and talking to some nice people and having a great lunch in a place that is pretty busy during the summer is just the right way to begin our short trip to the Poconos.

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