A friend on Facebook mentioned a place called Hot Dog Johnny's the other day, a place I haven't been to in years but used to frequent on the way to Penn State from my childhood home in Hunterdon County.
Hot Dog Johnny's (hotdogjohnny.com) is an institution in the westernmost part of Jersey, way up in Buttzville (yes, Buttzville), just before the Delaware Water Gap. Most people go there for hot dogs and chili dogs, which is groovy, but I always looked forward most to an icy mug of homemade birch beer.
I'm not a huge soda fan, although I like a Coke with popcorn at the movies, but when the temperatures sizzle as they are this week, there is nothing quite like a birch beer or root beer.
I'm no trendsetter here. Hot Dog Johnny's has been around since 1944, but they are not trendsetters, either, even though they are often included in top roadside Americana lists (it's that giant hot dog on the roof).
On Fourth of July weekend, my family paid a visit to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, near Charlottesville, Va., where we downed icy cold bottles of Jefferson's personal root beer recipe. In addition to brewing his own beer, Jefferson apparently also had a taste for something a bit sweeter.
It was delightful, even without a hot dog.
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