For many years, starting when I was in school, my parents drove back and forth to Florida for the winter. Much of the trip down south was on Route 301, and I can't say if that was out of necessity or choice, but I remember my father always saying that we were looking for the restaurants that had lots of trucks parked at them because they had the best food. There was no reason to question my father.

In adulthood, when I started driving a truck, I realized early on that the quality of the food had little to do with why trucks stopped at restaurants. Room to park was much more important than quality of food. To prove that this is true, I'll use just four words; Dudley's World Famous Steakhouse. If you remember Dudley's or The Water Hole you know what I mean, but trust me when I say nobody ever stopped at Dudley's for the quality of food. It was a little disturbing to learn that my father wasn't right.

When I was hauling paper to the New York-New Jersey area and down to Philadelphia, the crew I drove with at Hodges was more particular about our food and one of the places we stopped at for supper was The Blue Colony Diner in Newtown, Conn. It's right off exit 10 on I-84. There used to be a little-used road and vacant lot across the street and you could get several big trucks in there with some creativity, walk across the street and have a terrific meal. When I say we were particular about our food, I mean it. It was a regular thing to pick up a sandwich at a famous sandwich place in Chester, Pa., and bring it back for the dispatcher.

Chester is a suburb south of Philadelphia and is a world apart from West Chester, another suburb of Philadelphia. Anyway, if you know Chester, you know there's a famous sandwich shop there whose name I can't recall. It's a little hole in the wall with the most awesome sandwiches and many of those awesome sandwiches were delivered to Unity, Maine, with great care in the cabs of Richard L. Hodges trucks.

The Blue Colony is one of those places that has several pages to the menu, single spaced with items like Yankee Pot Roast, and Macaroni and Cheese. Just good solid food. They have one of those glass cases by the checkout that is filled with the most delicious looking and tasting pastries and deserts. It was always a treat to have supper at The Blue Colony. Of course nothing stays the same and the vacant lot was developed and the little-used road was posted for no parking so there was no longer room for big trucks to park.

What I learned in my driving days was that The Blue Colony and other restaurants that had great food at reasonable prices were more often than not run by people with Greek connections. Their appearance from the road was neat and clean and chrome and glass. Back in the day, The Blue Colony didn't look like that, but after renovations, that's how it looks today. Pennsauken, N.J., Philadelphia, Pa., or Newtown, Conn., if you venture off the big road and see a clean, shiny chrome and glass diner, stop and eat. You won't be disappointed.

And you should venture off the big road now and then because that's where the adventure is.

It's not uncommon for friends to share that they're headed to Florida and I always recommend The Blue Colony. Very few take me up on my suggestion. McDonalds, Burger King or perhaps an Applebee's seem to fit the bill for them, but they're missing out. Family members and a few friends have taken my advice and tried The Blue Colony. Nobody has been disappointed. One person makes it a point to stop there no matter what (they're open 24 hours), have a delicious meal and pick up eclairs to bring back to Maine. He always brings me one as a finder's fee.

When you're traveling, two things are very important: food and a place to pee. As far as food goes, my advice is to do a little research, get off the big road and find a diner with lots of chrome and glass and a neat appearance. I'm guessing that it will be run by Greeks and you will come away full and satisfied. They have clean restrooms, too.

Bill Packard lives in Union and is the founder of bpackard.com. He is a speaker, author, small business coach and consultant.