When most babies are born they come into the world and start to cry. I, on the other hand came out with a fork and spoon in my hand looking for my first meal. My mother has always said that I rarely cried as a baby unless I was crying to be fed.  It seems that is still the case as no one has ever had to remind me that it is lunch time.

I would plow through whatever plate was in front of me like a tornado in a trailer park without playing favorites to what type of food it was. However, while I enjoy many foods, my favorite has always been hamburgers. I could eat them every day of the week and never get tired. The search for great hamburgers has been a lifelong adventure for me. Every place I visit holds the potential for the next great hamburger experience.

I have been out to eat in expensive steakhouses and after the server goes through their five minute spill  about how their steaks are seasoned and cooked just right I just smile and say, “One hamburger please”. Many times, I have drew stares from beach goers as I sat in a seafood restaurant enjoying a hamburger while everyone else was gorging on overpriced seafood.  Why would I ever waste my time eating overpriced Tuna when I can enjoy a delicious hamburger. I can buy a can of tuna at Wal-Mart for fifty cents when I get home if I want seafood.  However, I must say the best hamburgers in the world are the ones my wife prepares at home. Every bite brings back wonderful memories of childhood as I am reminded of our Saturday tradition of going to Food Fair to get our weekly grocery’s and my mother frying up some great burgers that evening while we all sat around the television watching Hee Haw.   Many gourmet restaurants have tried to appease me with their fancy Italian buns, aged beef and top it with cheeses that I never heard of only to fail in comparison to those delicious patties of homemade heaven placed between Butternut buns and topped with American cheese that I had as a child. It’s funny that the more expensive a hamburger is, the less likely that it is that it will measure up.

I was out for a drive a few years back and I was so far back in the country, I swear I could hear banjos playing in the distance. My bladder was sending me death threats and suddenly I came upon a rundown store.  I walked in to use the restroom and I saw every stereotype that the south could muster in that one room. I was sure that a broom hadn’t been used in this place since the Nixon administration. I saw a sign that said, “Best hamburgers this side of Heaven” Well, I couldn’t pass that up. Despite my germ phobia going into overdrive, I ordered a hamburger and my taste buds never looked back. One of the best hamburgers I have ever had. I had to laugh to myself because there are fast food restaurants across the country that try to claim the best burger. There are fancy restaurants with their fancy ingredients trying to serve gourmet burgers and they all failed in comparison to one little run down store in the country.

They say when in Rome do as the Romans do. I’m down for that. Do they have hamburgers in Rome? Asking for a friend.