Happy National Cheeseburger Day!

From the sheer number of burger chains in this country, it's not hard to tell that Americans love cheeseburgers. Whether covered with cheddar, smothered in Swiss or sprinkled with bleu, the cheese is an important part of the burger for plenty of people.  

There are plenty of places to get a great burger in Maplewood; check out our list at the end of this article.

Meanwhile, to celebrate National Cheeseburger Day, here are five fun facts to bite into:

1. The largest cheeseburger ever made in the world weighed in at a whopping 777 pounds. Created June 2, 2011 at the Alameda County Fair in California by Juicy's, the giant burger also featured 50 pounds of cheese. The bun alone weighed in at 272 pounds. Fairgoers were able to purchase 99-cent portions of the estimated 1.375 million calorie burger to eat. Complete coverage of the event (including pictures) can be found here.

2.  Although temperatures are expected to dip slightly over the next week, it's still not too cold to fire up the grill. Thirty new cheeseburger ideas like the "The Johnny Appleseed," which features aged Wisconsin cheddar, maple bacon, sauteed apples, whole grain mustard and red onions on sourdough, can be found here.

But you don't have to eat meat to celebrate National Cheeseburger Day. If you want to make your own patties, here is a "Best of Everything" veggie burger recipe.

3. The popular Jimmy Buffett song "Cheeseburger in Paradise" was inspired by a boat trip Buffett took.  Hampered by bad weather and tired of the canned food and peanut butter stocked aboard, Buffett found himself continually craving a cheeseburger. When the boat finally docked on the island of Tortola, Buffett was able to order the cheeseburger he had been fantasizing about.

4. Anyone remember Mayor McCheese? The giant cartoon cheeseburger served as the bumbling mayor of McDonaldland from 1971-1985. A lawsuit against McDonalds over the character's resemblance to H.R. Pufnstuf was settled in 1977. Now he has his own Facebook page.

5. Hungry? Check out these great places to get a burger in Maplewood:

• Coda
• St. James Gate Publick House
• Highland Place/Crane's
• Village Burger