dianaschnuth

[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].

I haven’t blogged about the last few cons Aaron and I have attended, mainly because I prefer to save my opinions and narratives for Aaron’s podcast. This time, though, there are enough other random, un-anime things that deserve mention that I think I’ll go ahead and blog about the weekend. And I will begin at the beginning, with fried bologna sandwiches in Waldo, Ohio…

We bumped up our departure time just a little, so we’d have time to stop in Waldo for a famous fried bologna sandwich. We’d heard about it on the Food Network and the Travel Channel, and had said that we really needed to stop there on our way to our next Columbus trip. So, we did.

(As a side note: is it weird that every time I spell the word “bologna,” I hear the kid from the old Oscar Meyer commercial singing the jingle: “‘Cause Oscar Meyer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A”?)

The G&R Tavern was fairly easy to find, as Waldo is a fairly small town. We got off US 23 at the Waldo exit, drove down the main drag a little ways, and there it was: a giant sign proclaiming the “Home of the Famous Bologna Sandwich.” It was a happening place, too, with nearly-full parking spaces lining the street beside the building. We managed to find ourselves a spot, and dodged the scattered raindrops on our way into the restaurant.

It was a good thing we were loaded for bear, convention-style, with wads of actual cash in our wallets, because the dry-erase board in the foyer stated that the G&R does not accept credit or debit cards. Only cash or check. If we hadn’t been going to a con, we would have been sorely underfunded, and would have left Waldo bologna-less. As it was, though, we were good to go.

We managed to find a seat in the crowded little restaurant, and perused the old-school backlit Pepsi-sign menu. We ended up ordering two bologna sandwiches, with the standard jack cheese, pickle, and onion, and an order of cheese sticks. And two waters.

The food came out super fast — I’m sure they have bologna ready to go nonstop. The slab of bologna was easily three-quarters of an inch thick, served on a hamburger bun with the requested fixins, and it was surprisingly good. I’m not usually a big fan of raw onion on burgers or sandwiches, but it went well with the pickle and the bologna.

I have every intention of visiting Waldo again someday, and when I do, I plan to order my bologna sandwich with cheese, pickles, lettuce and mayo, with an order of either fries or onion rings, as we saw that those were both much huger than our cute little order of cheese sticks.

I would recommend anyone who happens past Waldo to definitely stop in and try the bologna sandwiches. The food is delicious, the natives are friendly, and the cellphone reception works fine… as long as you’re outdoors.