King's Grant Restaurant, Danvers, Mass.: Sunday Morning Brunch, Tudor Dynasty Decor

King's Grant photo source: CSI, Danvers Massachusetts.

The King's Grant restaurant at the King's Grant Inn in Danvers, Mass., reigned as one of the best Sunday morning brunch spots in the Boston area.  Not your cookie cutter, sterile function hall destination, the King's Grant restaurant featured a modified 14th Century Tudor Dynasty design. Made sense to me, with the restaurant being located right off the eternally outdated Route 128.

The King's Grant restaurant seemed wonderfully cartoonish with waiters and waitresses with thick Boston accents dressing up in psuedo 14th century apparel over two levels of carpeted dining rooms, and, in the later years, hiring actors and actresses to perform medieval songs and magic tricks for your dining pleasure and entertainment.

The bottom line is that for most of its years in operation, the King's Grant restaurant hired some darn good chefs to create some wonderful breakfast and lunch items. I do wonder, though, if bacon and eggs were a breakfast staple of the 14th century?

The former King's Grant site now houses a biotech company. Alas, much sorrow has been often on the North Shore of Massachusetts since this dining monarchy left, but yet it is well for a man to know both the dining bliss of the past and the high tech of the future. Sorry, thought I'd try out my 14th century dialect there.

Perly Burrill Gas Station, Lynnfield, Mass.

Photo credit: John Phelan.

I let the gas in my car tank run down to almost nothing on purpose recently after a day trip to Salem, Mass.? Why would I do something so asinine, you ask?

Well, I wanted to spend some time filling the tank at Perly Burrill iin Lynnfield. As a kid, my dad would fuel up there on the way back from visiting my grandparents in Lynn -- or after eating at the Prince Pizzeria in Saugus. You know, the place with the Leaning Tower of Pizza structure outside.

Perly Burrill was unlike any other gas station on the planet. With the lowest prices, neon multi-colored lights and pennants, bright pigments saturating the little building,  whirligigs, and various other doodads almost creating a cartoon-like presence, Perly Burrill lit up otherwise peaceful Salem St. at night in such a welcoming but tacky way.

Approaching Perly Burrill in 2013, my jaw dropped open and my soul sank into oblivion when I saw this...

Why do all the fun things as a kid have to be taken away? I exited Perly Burrill with my heart broken and proceeded to a cookie cutter, "Anytown" USA gas station, and never looked back.

For the record, Perly Burrill is a fuel oil supplier, and we are glad they service North Shore residents. That doesn't take away the sadness, however, of not seeing my favorite gas station in the world with its Las Vegas-like lights that made filling up on gas a fun experience.