Listing Through Life

Back in 2006, while eating at the Dog n Suds in Richmond, Illinois, I struck up a conversation with the owner. He told me there were 14 restaurants remaining from the almost 600 that existed across the country in the 1970s. I decided it would be fun to visit all of them. A few disappeared before I could visit, and a few others opened, which I added to the list.

With our visit to the Dog n Suds in Elyria, Ohio, I have completed the original list. A new one just opened in 2015 in Rapid City, South Dakota, which I have not visited. If I get back to that city sometime, I will. But for now I consider my quest complete.

The owner of this one is 83. She bought it in 1958, the year I was born, and she still comes to work every day.

I ordered a Texas Burger with onion rings and root beer. This is a true Dog n Suds, unlike some of the newer ones I’ve visited. The root beer was served in a frosted mug without crushed ice and was excellent. The burger and onion rings were awesome.

Fort Miamis was built by the British in 1794 to block General Wayne’s route to Fort Detroit. When Wayne campaigned against the Indians, the British offered no help as Wayne defeated the Indians at nearby Fallen Timbers. The fort was turned over to the Americans in 1796 but reoccupied by the British in 1812 as a supply depot for their attacks on Fort Meigs.

All that’s left of the original fort is some of the ditches. They are located in a small park on a bluff above the Maumee River, a mile or so downstream from Fort Meigs.

In early 1813, American troops and militiamen under General William Henry Harrison built Fort Meigs on the Maumee River to protect Ohio from attacks by the British and Indians.

The enemy attacked on May 1, besieging the fort and bombarding it from across the river. The siege lasted for five days until 1,200 reinforcements arrived. An American force crossed the river and attacked the British guns, but instead of securing their gains and returning to the fort, they chased the retreating British and Indians through the woods where they were counter-attacked. Many Americans were killed, but the fort held. The Indians got bored and left and the British lifted the siege.

Two months later, in July, the enemy attempted to take the fort again. They had no artillery this time, so they tried to fool the Americans into thinking a battle was taking place nearby to lure them out of the fort. It didn’t work. The British and Indians gave up again.

The Americans tore down the large fort and built a smaller one on the site as a supply base. They then went on the offensive and pursued the enemy into Canada. The fort was abandoned after the war and not rebuilt until the 1970s.

We toured the visitor center and then ran a gauntlet of wedding guests to get to the fort.

The monument was erected in 1908.

The 10-acre interior is criss-crossed with traverses, built originally to keep cannonballs and artillery shells from bouncing across the grounds.  The longest one (seen in the photo below), called the Grand Traverse, is the only part of the original fort still in existence, although it’s a lot lower than its previous 14-foot height.

The Grand Battery, overlooking the Maumee River.

One of the blockhouses was set up as it would have looked in 1813. A guy in a uniform was there to tell us about the life of soldiers and their equipment. He was friendly, but uncomfortable when I asked questions outside the bounds of his spiel.

The view from the upper level of the blockhouse

The Maumee River from Croghan’s Battery

This blockhouse had a display on soldiers’ living quarters. The item in front was a punishment device. Offenders were made to straddle it for a period of time.

Looking back into the fort from Wood’s Battery

I’ve watched a fair number of episodes of M*A*S*H, but I wouldn’t call myself a huge fan. I can’t remember Jamie Farr’s character, Corporal Klinger, mentioning Tony Packo’s Cafe in Toledo, but the Internet informs me that he did so in seven episodes. In fact, it was this that made the place famous.

The Internet also informed me that it’s one of the best restaurants in town, so we stopped for lunch when we were in town to visit Fort Meigs.

It’s been around since 1932, serving Hungarian hot dogs and other ethnic foods. I went with the Hot Dog Combo #1 — a “world-famous Tony Packo’s hot dog with  mustard, diced onions and our drippingly delicious secret sauce”, a bowl of  chicken noodle soup and a bowl of mac and cheese. I’m pretty sure the “secret sauce” was just chili, which isn’t my favorite hot dog topping, but everything was undeniably delicious.

My wife got the Cabbage Combo #1 which had a stuffed cabbage with paprika dumplings. It doesn’t sound good to me, but she loved it.

Years ago, Burt Reynolds stopped in for lunch. The owner asked him for an autograph, so Burt grabbed a hot dog bun and a marker. This started a tradition, with every celebrity signing a bun. Cute, but not a good idea. The buns crumbled to dust over time. Since then, they have custom made Styrofoam buns for celebrities to sign, and they’ve hung these all over the restaurant. We weren’t asked to sign.

Here’s one of the buns Jamie Farr signed. I think I spotted four and I didn’t even begin to look at all of them.

They only have two of the original autographs on bread buns remaining — Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. These are on display in a special case.

I can only recall being anywhere near Toledo once before since I was a kid, but if I’m ever in the general vicinity in the future, I’ll go back to Tony Packo’s.