Just learned about this earlier today. Stumbled on it, almost.
The last remaining Howard Johnson's restaurant officially closed its doors. It was located in Lake George, New York. And in fairly recent years, it became a favorite stop for my son and I to take a break and grab a bite to eat either on our way up, or on our way down from Canada.
Here's the thing: such trips kind of dried up in recent years, particularly following the Coronavirus pandemic. My son and I just made it up to Canada for the first time in the better of four years last summer. However, that was to Manitoba and Saskatchewan, two provinces which neither of us had visited before. We haven't been to Québec province in over four years now, and it might approach five later this year, if we do not manage to get up there sometime soon.
Even if we do, sadly, there will be one less local landmark to visit the next time around.
Howard Johnson's restaurants used to be quite commonplace. My grandparents used to take my brother and I there when we were younger. And now, more recent memories of taking my son will linger. There is some sadness that the last one now is officially gone, although I am glad that he and I got to enjoy going there a few times, at least.
Here is a bit of history on Howard Johnson's restaurants, according to a Patch article by Josh Bakan, which proved interesting:
In 1925, Howard Deering Johnson borrowed $2,000 to operate a small corner pharmacy in Quincy, Massachusetts. The soda fountain became the busiest part of his drug store. To keep the business afloat, Johnson created new ice cream recipes.
Johnson created 28 flavors, and the number would become his business's trademark. Howard Johnson's became the nation's largest restaurant chain in the 1960s and 70s, with more than 1,000 restaurants.
The Lake George restaurant became the final HoJo's after the Bangor, Maine, eatery closed in 2016. The Upstate New York establishment had been a local favorite — celebrity chef Rachael Ray even once worked there while living in Lake George as a teenager. But by that point, Howard Johnson shifted its focus to the hotel and motel business — now called Howard Johnson by Wyndham.
One thing that I did think to do during a couple of the last visits was to take some pictures, on two separate occasions. Since it was the last one standing, I had a feeling that I might not get tons of opportunities to do it. So I am glad that these pictures were taken when the opportunity was there. I already shared them here once before, but it seemed like a good occasion to share these again. Hell, I even got one of those bright orange hats, which I still have (but really, it belongs to my son).
Below are the links to the two articles from which I took some of the information, and all of the history, which was used in this particular blog entry. Below that are the pictures which I took, each of which already was published in earlier blog entries some years ago.
Enjoy!
America’s last Howard Johnson’s restaurant has closed by Jordan Valinsky, CNN Business, June 1, 2022:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/01/business-food/howard-johnsons-last-restaurant/index.html
Parsippany-Based Howard Johnson's Closes Its Final Restaurant by Josh Bakan, Patch Staff Verified Patch Staff Badge Posted Thu, Jun 2, 2022:
Howard Johnson entered the restaurant industry nearly a century ago. Its last standing eatery shut its doors.
https://patch.com/new-jersey/parsippany/parsippany-based-howard-johnsons-closes-its-final-restaurant
The last Howard Johnson's restaurant still standing:
Adirondacks
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