Ode To Small Towns: Cheeseburgers and Corn Mazes

My family and I spent this past weekend in Caseville, Michigan where we took part in the town's annual Cheeseburger Festival. Now, although I come from a small town, I've lived in or near several large cities during periods of my life and I can tell you that no Atlanta or New York is ever going to throw a city wide festival in order to give the cheeseburger its due. No, it takes a small town for that.



Big cities certainly love their festivals but they tend to throw them in honor of things nobody really cares about, like the blues or culture. . . . You are never going to see San Francisco put on a Hot Dog HoeDown or Chicago stage a French Fryapolooza. They don't have the guts.

But in Caseville one can indulge in love of the cheeseburger and the "soon to be famous", if its proprietors are to be believed, cheese hot dog. Just outside of town one can participate in the great Corn Maze. After over an hour spent wandering aimlessly through this maze, I felt sure I was going to encounter a Minotaur at any moment.



Now I'm not a big fan of festivals generally, but if I have to attend one, I'll take cheeseburgers any day over jazz festivals or, God forbid, cherry blossoms. Pass the ketchup.