Peggy Sue's

Every time we're in Ohio, we always have to go to Peggy Sue's for pie. Peggy Sue's is a little restaurant on Route 36 in Newcastle, a tiny rural town. There's lots of home-cooked comfort food on the menu, including a reasonably-priced BLT sandwich and the best banana cream pie this side of heaven. If someone presented a piece of Peggy Sue's pie to Saint Peter, he'd take one look at this creamy confection with its mile-high cloud of whipped topping and close the Pearly Gates for lunch. Banana cream isn't the the only pie on the menu, which is posted on the whiteboard in the photo, but it's my forever favorite. On one visit, I held open the door so that a man and his little boy could go in ahead of us. The child ordered the last piece of banana cream pie. I don't even remember what I ordered instead, but I was very disappointed, especially when I noticed that the boy ate only half of his pie. My husband always has cherry, blackberry or apple.  The waitress brings a generous piece, offering to warm it up before serving it with ice cream on the side. They treat you like family at Peggy Sue's.

The decor is "modern diner" set off with mounted deer heads. The deer in the photo keeps company with several others on the opposite wall.  One blustery day in early February, which was the last day of deer season,  we were the only two customers in the place not wearing camouflage. 

Going west on 36 toward Mount Vernon, we pass the Fox Hole, a decrepit-looking BYOB place featuring topless dancers. Although members of a local church once filled the parking lot in an attempt to discourage the goings-on, the entertainment industry may offer some local ladies their only opportunity for employment. I just don't know. 

Further west, a farmer set up a series of large signs four years ago alleging that experts had determined that Obama's birth certificate was a forgery and blasting congress for not  booting the foreigner out of the White House.