Lewisburg: History and a Long Lunch

  In fact this charming picture palace was in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where, after a gorgeous drive through golden hills and past rocky mountain streams,  we were looking for a quick lunch.

Lewisburg is a pretty olde worlde place and home to a noted (American sisters-in-law tell me) Liberal Arts College, Bucknell. Before I came to America, no, I lie, before I read Donna Tartt's The Secret History, I had never heard of Liberal Arts colleges. In Britain, you'd have images of Nick Clegg and earnest people in beards and sandals with socks. I suspect that the latter may not be the style at Bucknell.

So back to our quick lunch... as is my wont, I had consulted my friends at Tripadvisor, peering at my low-end smartphone and cursing when I couldn't read the small print. The best resto in Lewisburg was apparently Elizabeth's Bistro. Here it is.

I had trouble scrolling down further, so Elizabeth's is where we went. Opposite the old cinema, it must be a wonderful place for a long, gossipy lunch with old schoolfriends you haven't seen for twenty-five years. A quick sandwich stop it is not. It's the sort of joint that has the chef and sous-chef's names on the menu. The girl greeting us was ominously friendly and I wondered afterwards if she wasn't softening us up while they humanely slaughtered the organic chickens and went out to pick the portabella mushrooms. The waiter came by and asked if we had any food allergies. (I felt like saying, "Yes, to waiting for it".) But they take pride in what they do and the food was good. I understand from the Tripadvisor reviews that the Bistro, a nice old town house, fills up to the rafters when the students' well-heeled parents are in town. We said our goodbyes as soon as we decently could and then we were off on the open road again, in search of more history and harbouring warm feelings for Messrs McDonalds et al. They didn't get rich for nothing.