Celebrating James' Birthday

What a wonderful husband I have!
If I listed all his amazing qualities, well, it'd be a looong list.

The birthday boy & birthday burger!

I recently heard about a little historic restaurant in Columbus & decided that would be the perfect place to take him {as a surprise} for his 38th birthday!
I didn't tell him where we were headed, just that we were all going to dinner.
James is a history buff...well, we all are...so from everything I'd heard, I knew we were going to enjoy this place!

Well, let me tell you, Zaharako's {in Columbus} was as great as everyone said it would be!
We absolutely loved it.
It was literally like taking a step back in time.
It was decorated for Christmas & was a sight to behold!

Zaharako's Ice Cream Parlor & Museum originally opened on October 20, 1900!!
In the museum, there are many photos taken throughout the years.
It was so interesting to see the very same marble counter filled with customers being waited on by the soda jerks.
The menu had a list of the 'lingo' used back then when placing your soda & ice cream orders.
We had a good time with those while we were waiting on our food.

The museum is home to several antique marble soda fountains...in fact, it's the largest collection of pre-1900 fountains on public display.

In 1908, the Zaharako family added a Welte orchestrion {self-playing organ} to the shop & it remains there still to this day.

We were delighted to hear it just before we left.

Our sons, in the museum, sitting at this spectacular counter/bar.

Checking out the candy~

We enjoyed having Carissa join us for the evening.

Zaharako's was named one the top 20 historic places in the USA to visit by National Geographic.

We wondered how we hadn't heard about this wonderful little place til now, especially seeing as it's only a 30 minute drive.

We can't wait to go back this summer & enjoy another dip of the homemade ice cream & a fountain chocolate coke!