It has three of the five levels on the food pyramid — fruit, dairy and nuts for protein. By this rationale it could almost be labeled a health food. Healthy or not, one thing is for certain: Come summertime, few foods hit the sweet and cool spot like a banana split sundae.
The origins of the banana split reach back to the summer of 1904 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Inspiration — no doubt it was inspiration straight from heaven — struck 23-year-old druggist apprentice David Strickler, and he split a banana lengthwise onto which he piled three scoops of ice cream. Then, he covered it all with fruit, chocolate and crushed nuts.
Presto: an American classic was born.
The new sundae was a hit with the local youth, and soon with youths across the country. The banana split truly reached classic status in the 1950s and has been forever linked to poodle skirts and drive-ins, which brings us to Clarksville, home of Diamond Drive-In.
Were you to conjure up a drive-in just dripping with small-town nostalgia it would look like Diamond Drive-In sitting in downtown Clarksville. It looks like the place to find an American Classic and tasting their banana split confirms it. Small building, small and personable crew and simply divine banana splits. The perfect combination of tangible and aesthetic “cool” to take your mind back a few decades and your tastebuds to paradise.
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