that's sumburger!

this week in chillicothe, i visited the hopewell culture national historic park, which contains reconstructions and one original burial mound of the hopewell indians. most of the original mounds were destroyed when camp sherman was built. it is an interesting little park, hidden by trees and nestled among correctional institutions. very peaceful.

my other historic visit was to sumburger, a drive-in operational since 1953. we opted to eat inside rather than do the drive-in thing. civics are not well equipped for supporting trays and establishing a comfortable eating environment. plus, they don't rollerskate anymore because of the liability, so it's not quite as much fun.




the very unique thing about sumburger is that inside, you use the phone at the table to order. it's a strange situation to be sitting in a booth and calling the kitchen.


they have a variety of sandwiches, but of course, i was there for the sumburger. available are a double sumburger, regular, and a junior. as a platter, there are two choices of sides, which are mostly the standard cole slaw, fries, etc, but they also offer fried mushrooms with a side of ranch dressing. i opted for the regular sumburger with fries and mushrooms. i also ordered a root beer, which is unusual for me because i rarely drink pop. this root beer turned out to be extra fabulous however, because it had the ice that's shaped like little cylinders with ridges, you know, that looks like it's been pushed out of a pasta maker? those tiny cans of coldness are the perfect complement to fountain drinks; they keep the pop really cold and make a satisfying swoshing crunch when i pump my straw up and down. the food arrived and the portions were huge. see that mountain of mushrooms in the photo? that's the amount considered a SIDE. stacy, who was eating with me and is from chilli, commented that all the meals are huge around there. apparently, when the olive garden opened in town, people complained that the portions were too small. the sumburger special sauce is somewhere between tartar sauce and thousand island dressing. it's kind of sweet. actually, the burger reminded me a lot of a big boy, only with a bun disproportionately larger than the beef. it was good though. i would rate it a 4 on the burger rating scale. it gets major points for the unique atmosphere.

even though i was way stuffed, i had to try a piece of the strawberry pie with whipped cream. dessert goes to a different place, afterall. the pie had delicious whole strawberries, but i would have to say the filling was a little too sweet for me. i just couldn't finish.