Americans have a love affair with diners, both in reality and in the way popular culture romanticizes them. The diner is a feature unique to the United States roadside. While the days of prefabricated stainless steel buildings have come and gone - the characteristics of the concept live on in the late hours of cuisine, counters, coffee and grease.

The guy who rose to become king of the "waffle kids," a real life cowboy, a song with a distinct purpose and the one you always save a seat for.

"You guys must come here a lot, no?" said the state trooper sitting at the low counter with us. "If this were a bar, we'd be drunks" I replied. He laughed before facing his palms to the sky and praying before his meal. It was a crude, unflattering answer, but probably the simplest way to describe how often we're here.

At the Waffle House.

"Kings" Waffle House to be specific.