The Connecticut Hot Dog Tour

I won’t be eating another hot dog anytime soon.

On Saturday, I completed the Connecticut Hot Dog Tour. A group of men, including my husband, organized a tour of 10 famed hot dog joints in the state (a bonus eleventh one was thrown in spontaneously). These guys don’t mess around. They had an official tee-shirt and soundtrack, and we traveled in style on a party bus. And we had hot dogs. Lots of hot dogs.

 

Janice, a woman on the tour, agreed to split dogs with me. Most of the men ate all of the full dogs, with some “tapping out” when they needed to.

1. Rawley’s Drive-In, Fairfield

The Order: Works, with “mustard, relish, kraut, and bacon,” $3.00.

The Verdict: Delicious dog, with a good contrast between the tangy kraut and the crunchy bacon. This was a great start to the tour.

(Click on a picture to view it larger.)

2. Super Duper Weenie, Fairfield

The Order: Georgia Redhot, a “¼ lb. spicy Southern sausage with sauerkraut, mustard and our own sweet relish,” $4.25.

The Verdict: This big boy was delicious too. The sausage was split and grilled and served piping hot with excellent toppings. We were on a roll.

 

 

3. Danny’s Drive-In, Stratford (Spontaneously inserted)

People insisted we had to try Danny’s nearby, and it was inserted into our tour.

The Order: Bull Dog, with “spicy chili and fried onions,” $3.95.

The Verdict: I liked this all right at the time, but I soon started worrying about the spicy chili not sitting so well with a long day of half-dogs ahead. The group’s mood seemed to lag on the way to the next stop. The consensus seemed to be that we should not have  inserted this extra dog into the tour!

 

4. Glenwood Drive-In, Hamden

The Order: Hot dog, with mustard and hot relish put on at the counter, $3.95.

The Verdict: This was the winner of the day, an excellent char-broiled dog with a toasted bun and great hot relish. Many people on the tour voted this one the winner.

5. Top Dog, Portland

The Order: Orleans Dog, with “a hot and sweet relish,” $2.70.

The Verdict: My husband, a Portland native, tried to warn the tour against this stop. It was not a favorite. The owners were very sweet and friendly, and you can’t beat the décor, so that almost made it worth a visit.

6. Doogie’s, Newington

The Order: The Doogie Dog, “One of my Best Ever Creations. Caramelized Onions & Dijon Horsey Sauce,” $3.59.

The Verdict: A nicely-charred, delicious dog, and the toppings were a refreshing change after having a lot of spicy chilies and relishes. One member of the tour ordered—and put away—a two-foot dog.

Interlude in the Park

We were all greatly restored by a visit to the lovely Stanley Quarter Park in New Britain and a walk around the pond.

7. Capitol Lunch, New Britain

The Order: Hot dog, with “mustard, onions, sauce,” $1.75.

The Verdict: I liked it, and I remembered it fondly from my college days. The group, though, seemed unnerved by its strangely black sauce. And I didn’t remember it looking like that.

8. Blackie’s, Cheshire

The Order: Hot dog, with corn relish and mustard at the counter, $1.75. 

The Verdict: I had been here before and had liked its famous relish. It didn’t disappoint.

9. Frankie’s, Waterbury

The Order: Hot dog, “French with spicy cheddar cheese,” $3.49.

The Verdict: Nice dog, nice sauce. This was a tasty hot dog, and there were a lot more varieties that looked promising. This late in the day, though, people sort of slouched when they saw the size of it.

10. Al’s Hot Dogs, Naugatuck

The Order: Hippo Dog, “cheese, chili, kraut, bacon,” $4.49.

The Verdict: Pretty good, but enough, already. I think this bad boy would have been more appreciated earlier in the day.

11. Merritt Canteen, Bridgeport

The Order: Brutal Dog, “Georgia Red Hot with Chili,” $4.00.

The Verdict: This was so hot, so spicy, such a brutal end to the night. I suspect it was good, but my lips are still burning too much to tell.

End of the Night

This was a great tour with a great group of people. The men had a much tougher time than the women, who were splitting dogs. This end of the night quote by Chris P. summed it up well at the last stop: “Don’t touch me!” On the way home, he explained: “I feel like E.T. at the end of the movie when he was all gray and his heart was fading.”

As for me, I’ll be going vegetarian for a while.

A footrace? Really?

The Route

The Soundtrack, by Randy S.

#69. 101 things in 1001 days. Visit at least three “Road Food” places I have never been to.

(Almost all were on Road Food's site, with good info and photos: Rawley's, Super Duper Weenie,  Glenwood, Top Dog, Doogie's, Capitol Lunch, Blackie's, Al's, and Merritt Canteen.)

Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce: Eating at Louis' Lunch

We squeezed into the crowd of wall-to-wall people to wait our turn to eat a hamburger at Louis’ Lunch in New Haven. Reportedly, the American hamburger was invented here in 1900 when a man in a hurry rushed in and asked for a meal he could eat quickly, and Louis Lassen threw a broiled beef patty between two slices to bread for him to eat on the go.

The wait is quite a bit longer now as Louis’ Lunch has become a Connecticut landmark. My husband and I had potato salad while we waited and were lucky to get one of the tiny adorable booths that seat one person on each side.

The atmosphere of the place was very friendly, with the waitresses joking with the cook and the customers. The wait was about an hour—very long for 3 p.m. on a Saturday—but it seemed much faster for the regulars who were fit in between the other orders.

The burgers are made from beef that is ground fresh daily and broiled vertically on both sides at once in a cast iron grill.

The burgers were juicy and tasty. They are served on toast, and the only garnishes allowed are cheese, onion, and tomato. No ketchup; no mustard; no pickles!

 "Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce..."

#76. 101 things in 1001 days. Eat a cheeseburger at Louis’ Lunch.

Kitschy Connecticut

#82. 101 things in 1001 days: Visit at least five “Roadside America” attractions.

A fun day of road tripping lay ahead when I picked out five Roadside America attractions to check out in my area. My husband was a good sport as we traveled around in between going out to eat and getting errands done.

First up: the Paul Bunyan Muffler Man of Cheshire.

I have driven by him many times. He was in good shape without a flag. He seemed even bigger up close than he does from the road. (You can read about muffler men here.)

Second stop: the Wheel Auto Parts Man, along the road on Rt. 10 in Cheshire--such a friendly bloke.

 

(Update: My photo of this attraction got added to the Roadside America site.)

Third attraction: the Barker Character, Comic and Cartoon Museum.

We toured the grounds, the art gallery, and the museum, which was chock full of character toys and artifacts, everything from an old metal lunchbox collection to a model for filming Gumby animation. This brought back a lot of old memories—“Welcome Back, Kotter,” “Alfred E. Newman,” old cardboard single serving cereal boxes, push button puppets; all the bits of my childhood that I didn’t save are gathered in one place. They had new items too. The strangest thing that caught my eye was the President Obama CelebriDuck, grouped with some other CelebriDucks. Why?

Fourth attraction: Wild Bill’s Nostalgia Center

This wildly decorated junk shop also features the world’s largest Jack-in-the-Box, so it’s got that going for it. It was fun to browse through the old concert posters and memorabilia.

We then went down to New Haven for a cheeseburger at Louis’ Lunch, another Roadside America attraction. (I wrote about that here.)

Fifth attraction: We went to Wooster Square Park in New Haven to check out the Jesus Tree, a site where a young woman’s claim to have seen an apparition of Jesus in 1992 attracted some attention. It was supposed to be a sycamore in the Southwestern quadrant of the park. There were two sycamores that were possibilities, and they both had had some limbs removed since then. (Does that seem wrong?) We were freezing in a windy drizzle and snapped a couple of pictures and fled.

We didn’t think this quite qualified as a fifth attraction, so we made a change in plans and decided to fit in one more site before stopping in on a Middletown pub. This twist of fate allowed us to witness the world’s largest mobile crane!

What are your favorite roadside attractions?

It's Pho Time

Pho Tai

Fragrant steam rises from the big bowl, the perfect thing on this frigid February night in the city. Cilantro, lime, basil, beef -- I am finally having a bowl of Pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup. I have been driving by this little restaurant for years and wanting to try it. It comes out of the kitchen with a plate of bean sprouts and other condiments to arrange on top. I add some hoisin and sriracha sauces from squeeze bottles at the table. Delicious. 

Pho Mai is located at 570 Main Street in Middletown, CT.

Counting on Salsa

1, 2, 3, pause, 5, 6, 7, pause…. I am in the middle of a free Salsa dance class and having trouble with the pauses. My husband shoots me a look like there is no way we’ll get these steps down. We are learning the basic eight-count step. I just need to walk back and forth to the beat, but I get mixed up repeatedly. It helps when the instructor has us close our eyes. To really tune in to the music, we practice clapping on different beats, and I can manage to count to eight again.

We are practicing the “On 2” style of Salsa, popular in New York. “On 2” means that the dancer moves on the second beat. If we were in Massachusetts, we would probably dance the “On 1” style, so Connecticut dancers need to be bilingual. I am not very coordinated, so just counting to eight is enough for me for now. When we start to move our arms a little, I am in over my head.

 

Would I do it again? I love the music, and this class was fun to try, so I think I will be back for more. My husband, though, is all done with Salsa dancing.

Vinnie's Jump and Jive

Learn to Dance Salsa: Basic Steps for Beginners

The free lessons are offered on Friday nights at Vinnie’s Jump and Jive in Middletown, CT. After a few free lessons, students who are ready are invited to join the beginner class.