My wife Aleisha and I both have cousins who attend Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, an all-male, three-year vocational college founded in 1891. Every Thursday, the school has “wing night,” which offers students a chance to unwind with family and friends while enjoying 10¢ wings and $2 cheesesteaks.

Although it’s a 2 ½ hour round trip from Lancaster to Media—no small task with two preschoolers on a week night—we try to go at least once a year to hang out with our cousins and, to be honest, enjoy some really good food for not a lot of money. The campus has some beautiful grounds and charming, old buildings, and the students maintain all of it.

The drive for us, much of it along Route 30, features some beautiful scenery, along with the wonderful bric-a-brac of retail outlets, “Pennsylvania Dutch” tourist attractions and bountiful eateries vying all vying for attention. One sign always catches my eye—that of Jennie’s Diner in Ronks, just east of the Rockvale Square Outlets. This was one of my favorite late-night hang-outs as a college student at Franklin & Marshall. Sure, it was out of the way and the food was mediocre, but I’m a sucker for floor-to-ceiling chrome, plate-sized pancakes and table-side jukeboxes. Equally popular among truckers and curfew-busting teenagers, Jennie’s well-worn booths seemed more comfortable to me and my friends than other, more polished eateries. It’s proximity to the 24-hour Wal-Mart helped.

When our son was an infant, Aleisha and I spent a relaxing night away at what is now the Country Hearth Bed & Breakfast in New Holland. I talked her into going to Jennie’s for lunch. She was not impressed with the “We do NOT have a no-smoking section” sign, and I must say that visiting during the day was not quite the same. However, now that almost all Pennsylvania restaurants are smoke-free, I’m eager to have my kids experience Jennie’s too. Their appetite for pancakes exceeds mine. Hopefully, next time we drive out that way, we won’t be on our way to somewhere else for inexpensive food!