After I told you about our recent trip to visit the Ohio Light Opera as well as multiple ancient Native American sites, it turns out that what you really wanted to know was … hey, Scott, where did you eat along the way?

So here’s where I did eat along the way, which—though it wasn’t our original plan—ended up including three meals of brisket.

Casselman Inn
Grantsville, Maryland

Our first stop the morning our mini-vacation began was about two hours out from home at the Casselman Inn, which had been built in 1842. They supposedly cook up some great fried chicken, but we hadn’t planned on taking time just yet to sit for a meal, so after stretching our legs by looking around the gardens and historic building, we picked up a tray of sticky buns to go in three flavors—pecan, vanilla-frosted, and maple-frosted.

A good start to the day. My only disappointment was that I’d expected nuts under the frosted sections, and alas, there were none.

Flying Fish & Co.
Morgantown, West Virginia

We stopped for lunch at Flying Fish & Co., where we both had what turned out to be excellent fish and chips. Had we been heading back toward home instead of away from it, I’d probably have ransacked their freezer, too, from which they were selling local rabbit, wild boar chops, frog legs, and other tempting delicacies. But alas, they wouldn’t have survived the four days we’d be gone. Maybe next time!

Blacksmith Barbecue
Marietta, Ohio

After a visit to both the Grave Creek Mound and the Marx Toy Museum in Moundsville, West Virginia, we floored it to get to Blacksmith Barbecue before its 7:00 p.m. closing time, all the while hoping they wouldn’t run out of brisket before we got there. Lucky for us, they hadn’t. Though surprisingly, the ribs were long gone. Usually, it’s the other way around.

And it would have been a shame to miss that brisket. It was moist, with an excellent bark. Not sure when I’ll ever get back to Marietta, Ohio, but I was happy for a chance to check out what pit master Kevin Black (above) can do.

White Star Restaurant
Peebles, Ohio

There was no need for breakfast the next morning—that’s how satisfying we found the Blacksmith Barbecue brisket from the night before. Which meant we needed no more sustenance to wander Serpent Mound. But once we were done with that, we stopped at the White Star Restaurant, where I grabbed a BBQ Bacon Angus burger with waffle fries to power me through the rest of the Native American archeological sites we had planned that day.

Country Crust Bakery
Bainbridge, Ohio

As we wound our way along back roads to the next site, serendipity brought us to the Country Crust Bakery, which we’d wanted to visit but had despaired of figuring out how to find, even with GPS. It’s an Amish bakery famed for its hot salted pretzels, which we got fresh from the oven. Their reputation was well-deserved—they were some of the best pretzels I’ve ever had. And that’s speaking as an ex-New Yorker! We had to buy a box of them.

We also picked up a humongous apple fritter, made with fresh apples, and combined with those pretzels, that meant no dinner was needed that night …

Broken Rocks Cafe
Wooster, Ohio

… and no lunch was needed the next day either, since we were able to nibble on leftovers. Which meant we didn’t stop for an official meal until the break between the afternoon and evening operettas we caught at the Ohio Light Opera. We settled in for dinner at the Broken Rocks Cafe, which we’d enjoyed during one of our previous trips to Wooster. After sharing potstickers with a ginger sauce …

… I had my second brisket of the trip—molasses-glazed brisket and carrots served over corn cake polenta. It was a completely different experience than the BBQ of two nights back, but tender and tasty in its own right.

Tulipan Hungarian Pastry and Coffee Shop
Wooster, Ohio

Breakfast the next day was at the Tulipan Hungarian Pastry and Coffee Shop, without which no visit to Wooster would be complete. My wife had the apple strudel, I had the cherry (above), and we were both very happy.

Spoon Market & Deli
Wooster, Ohio

As we were still noshing on leftovers the next morning, no breakfast or lunch was required, so our next official meal was dinner at Spoon Market & Deli.

To show how unimaginative I am, or perhaps to show how once I find something I like, I stick with it, I ordered the same sandwich I’d had the previous year when in Wooster—The Nutty Professor (chicken salad, dried cherries, and walnuts on cinnamon-raisin toast), but this time I accompanied it with a broccoli salad that included sunflower seeds.

That was followed up with a delicious white chocolate cherry almond scone … though it seemed more like a giant rugala to me. And perhaps to you, too, once you take a close look at the picture above.

City Barbecue
Newark, Ohio

We had only one more sit-down meal during the trip, a lunch during our last day of travel after we’d wandered the Newark Earthworks. And this was—what else—brisket! Oh, and some pulled pork, too. And baked beans. And corn bread. And Texas toast.

I was worried at first, because City Barbecue is a chain, with multiple locations in Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Ohio. But I’m pleased that it didn’t taste like chain BBQ, at least not at that location. Oh, yes, what Kevin Black did with his brisket at Blacksmith BBQ was still miles ahead, but what City served us did not disappoint.

And that’s it for my latest foodie adventures. There’ll be no more until I visit Spokane in a few weeks for this year’s World Science Fiction Convention. And as soon as I have them, you’ll be the first to know!