Chillicothe, Ohio - There is much to say about this small but mighty city. Not only was it the first capital of Ohio, but also the third. Yes, that is weird, but there's a lot of history to it. Zanesville was the second, which I lived in briefly a million years ago. Then the capitol returned to Chillicothe before settling, finally, in Columbus.
Chillicothe is the small you didn't know you needed but has large-city attractions.
To get to the chewy center of Chillicothe, you need to go to the Historic District. The Historic District is a hop, skip, and jump off Route 23 and via Route 50. Go over the viaduct to Main Street, and take a moment to drive toward the Carlisle building. Once there, you'll be on Paint Street, where you can see Chillicothe how it looked a century ago. Now, this doesn't mean there are no contemporary venues. The most charming part of the Historic District is the up-to-date outlets, trendy restaurants, and even a bookstore (swoon!). Small businesses take up much of the real estate here, making it charming and practically throwing your money to vendors.
Hometown Hibachi
One enjoyable establishment is Hometown Hibachi—a restaurant on Paint Street's corner. This once-humble food truck became a full restaurant in 2018. The menu offers entrees, sides, appetizers, and desserts.
My daughter and I went there just before she returned to school the following day. I treat her to something special just before she returns as a last "hoo-ra" before summer unofficially ends, and this was her choice. Before entering the building, we could smell what the hibachi was cooking. Smokey, savory; the smell hooks us by the nose and carries us inside.
The main dining area is small but with an abundance of seating. The waitress invited us to sit, and we chose the table closest to the register. I'm facing the small bar with its painted wall of an ocean ready to crash on the shelves. The atmosphere was calm and quiet, but that could be because we went there in the afternoon on a weekday, so it wasn't too loud. There is a playlist of 80's music in the background.
The waitress comes to take our drink order, Pepsi products, and of course, I get the Dr. Pepper, and my daughter has the sweet tea. The menus are already on the table, so we search for our meal once our waitress leaves. It takes me only a little while to decide what I want. I go for the chicken hibachi with broth, a side salad, and a lot of yum-yum sauce. I get it with rice instead of noodles, trying to be careful not to overload myself because there are other stores in the area I want to sample.
My daughter gets the same but with noodles.
I also ordered the appetizer of crab rangoon. For the uninitiated, crab rangoon is a crispy dumpling filled with crab meat, vegetables, and cream cheese. But let's be honest, everything is fantastic with cream cheese. You could smear cream cheese on a paper bag, and I'd eat it.
Our appetizer, salads, and broth came out, and we set to work on it. The salad is standard, with iceberg lettuce and a few assorted vegetables. Still, the saving grace was the yum-yum sauce. Where has this been all my life? The dressing was so good that I went to the store and picked some up for future salads and vegetables when I left. It's that good. Please don't skip the sauce, I'm telling you.
The crab rangoon fits the description above and was crispy perfection. Six were on the plate, and none were left when the entrée arrived. I sampled some of the broth, but the entrée took up so much room on our little table that I had to move it aside. I wanted to get to the main event.
You know how they say we eat with our eyes first? Well, it's true. The server sat the plate on the table, and I had to stare at it momentarily. First, I knew there was no way I could eat all of it in one sitting, so leftovers were unavoidable. Second, the food steamed, and the aroma was so inviting that it felt like a blessing to be presented with this plate. I was grateful, too, because I had a powerful hunger. I was saving up room in my stomach for this delight.
I looked at my daughter across the table, "Pace yourself."
She nodded, and we tucked into some of the best hibachi I've had in a long time. Within minutes, my daughter looks up and says, "This is really good."
We ate and ate, but the food stayed no matter how much we consumed. It felt endless. Finally, sensing our defeat, the server returns and hands us to-go boxes. I was grateful because I needed a break from stuffing myself and wanted to eat this later in the day. Maybe even the day after.
Go to hometownhibachi.net to review their menu or visit their Paint Street location in Chillicothe.
Wheatberry Books
We then wandered around Paint and Water Streets and perused the shops. There is a lovely bookstore called Wheatberry Books. I've been to this shop before, and what interested me was their "banned books" section, and that's when I knew it was my kind of bookstore. The shop is small and unassuming. If you didn't look around for a bit, you would never know it was there waiting. The book selection is small, but don't let that fool you. The staff was friendly and willing to help us find what we needed. There was even a customer who entered the store asking for gift certificates. If you have a bookworm in the family, this is an excellent idea for a gift.
You can learn more about Wheatberry Books here: wheatberrybooks.com.
Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop
Next was Grandpa Joe's Candy Shoppe. The place was packed even for a weekday. Parents
and grandparents brought in their little ones to look at what the shop offered. When you first enter it, games and small toys line the walls. There are barrels and shelves full of fun you can look at for hours. But the show's real star is toward the back with all of its shiny, colorful enticements—the candy store. There are sweets from all over the world here, too. A section is devoted to treats from the United Kingdom and Asian countries.
Not only is it a candy store, but the shop has a wide selection of fun and bubbly beverages ranging from local brews to international. Think soda, or Coke, or pop. There is no alcohol here, folks; this is a place for families. I liked the peach-flavored Pepsi, which was from somewhere in Asia. I couldn't read the labels' symbols in a different language.
At the very back of the store, along one great wall, is the $5 bin. You can pick up a small box and fill the container with whatever sweets you can fit into the box at the dollar bins. The treats are a wide range of gummies, chocolates, and sour varieties. And as long as you or your parents were a fan of Tetris, you can cram as much candy as you can into it and only pay $5. The wall was indeed what all the kids came here because there was always a line to get the boxes and fill them with what you could.
After we left Grandpa Joe's, we headed across the street to Ivy's Home and Garden. The interior is filled wall-to-wall with decorative displays meant to entice you to buy them and bring them to your home. Visiting Ivy's was a great idea because I was looking for a birthday gift for my mother. We searched along the first floor and realized a whole other floor was above us. Two floors of shopping! We went upstairs and searched among the various knickknacks until we came upon what we were looking for a decorative robin to hang from your window. My mom loves robins, you see. So whenever we encounter something with robins, we must get it for her. Downstairs, we purchased the item with a fancy birthday card, and we went back outside and sat on the bench along the curb.
The weather was perfect. It was not too hot or cold, and the large clouds billowed and blew by us overhead.
How do we wrap up this day? We had been on foot for a few hours and were getting tired. It's easy to lose track of time here since there's so much to do and to see. I looked behind me and saw a small gathering of kids enter a store—Highland's Ice Creamery.
"I want an ice cream," I told my daughter.
"Oh, me too!"
Highland's Ice Creamery
People who know me know that I love ice cream. There are many ice cream chains in Chillicothe, but no local "mom-and-pop" establishment like Highland's Ice Creamery. Located on Paint Street next to Ivy's, Highland's is another small establishment. Still, it's not meant to overpower you with fantastic visuals, but excellent flavors of ice cream.
You enter the building through a screen door to evoke downhome, rustic feelings. Think of entering the backdoor of your parent's house on a hot summer day to break into a carton of ice cream. There are pictures of smiling faces on the walls and a few tables and chairs for indoor eating, but there are also outdoor spaces to enjoy your treat.
Again, the establishment isn't the show but the ice cream. The menu is listed on a wall, showcasing the variety of ice cream. They even trade out flavors depending on the season or special occasion. My daughter decided on Blue Sky while I went with a coffee milkshake. (Coffee is my other favorite love besides ice cream, if you're curious.)
The treats were chilly and striking on a hot summer day as we began to wind down our trip. We returned to the car with our bounty of goods and drove off to our next adventure.
Too Much to do and Not Enough Time
As a side note, Chillicothe has so much more to do in the Historic District that I could not get to them all. I will make many trips to this area in the future, but these are only highlights of what you can enjoy here. But don't let that stop you from exploring this area. There is so much, and it's so engaging you would need to take a whole day to get through it all.
I'll be back.
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