54light15I'm in Plymouth Michigan every summer for the Concours of America car show and I will be trying their dogs!
Don't miss the pizza, either, if you can still eat that stuff. Worth NOT missing even if you need a plausible-denial excuse...
Yes, 2.5 would have solved 1, but even stowing away on a barge isn't possible any more. I have a British car here and it has performance issues when there is excess dihydrogen-monoxide mixture richness. For a change, not a Lucas thing. I suspect it would also have severe traction issues; they are bad enough in a few inches of snow.
There is a somewhat further problem with going by way of Buffalo: it looks as if it's fairly minor roads from there all the way back, and over, to Port Dover (Rt 6 is the preferred route there from the east, right?) and the trip time likely excessive for even 12" of dog. I'd be taking 20 up to Buffalo anyway, not just for watching what I still call the Water Level Route but because there is a lengthy stretch of pavement on 90 that broke both front shocks on the Jaguar when I went to Buffalo to fix crApple's latest update-related bricking, so even longer trip time ... but that's all moot if the place is closed 'til spring.
I'm lazy ... when will it be open for 'best experience'?
My son is at Mercyhurst so I expect to be in this 'neck of the woods' on and off for the next several years, if I live that long. So spring is a tempting possibility. Are there any known-good 'poutine opportunities' on the way? I don't care if it squeaks.
Time to put in a plug for the "home folks," and reduce my self and Overmod to tears of frustration, homesickness, and wails of "I wanna go HOME!"
Deep fried hot dogs, melt-in-your-mouth-burgers, great fries, and the late, great Anthony Bourdain's favorite "happy place," I'm talkin' about...
https://www.bringfido.com/restaurant/3928 Great picture!
"Dogs, burgers, and brew, since 1932!"
Let's go inside!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6KTFzTVLcc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oitr2haKEaM
And, now it's a "historic site," if that's the right term...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX-L8o69_rU
And not far away, for good eats THIS place is well worth a visit!
https://www.njpalisades.org/stateline.html
"Refreshments" doesn't do it justice! They've got a full-line menu of platters cooked fresh. Not-super fast but more than worth the wait!
And you can't beat the view!
Penny Trains Nathan's or Hebrew National on lightly toasted Italian bread (with sesame seeds). No cat soup, no moose turds, no nothin! Naked, as some restaurants call them!
Nathan's or Hebrew National on lightly toasted Italian bread (with sesame seeds). No cat soup, no moose turds, no nothin! Naked, as some restaurants call them!
+1
I'm a Chicagoan, but I've always felt that "fully dressed dogs" are just a cover up for tasteless wieners.
Haven't thought about State Line Lookout in years- But, deep fried hot dogs? I didn't know that was a thing.
A little further south in Runnymede, New Jersey is Marino's. It says they have the best cheesesteaks in South Jersey. No arguments from me! When my ship was in drydock in Philly, I shared an apartment with a guy from the ship that was about a mile from Marino's. Best in the world, I'd say!
https://www.marinospizzarunnemede.com/
But here's a funny thing- I was at the Hershey classic car show this past October and there was a trailer selling cheesesteaks. I asked the guy what kind of cheese they used and he, trying to be a hard-ass Philadelphian, said gruffly, "a Philly cheesesteak uses Cheez-Wiz!" I told him that back in the 1970s every place used provolone. I told him about Marino's and how they used provolone and about a place on the west side of Broad Street under the approach to the Walt Whitman bridge run by an ex-Marine and they used provolone too. He finally agreed that provolone sounded better than CW.
To take this back to a railroad subject, I used to ride the Metroliner from NYP to 30th street a lot back then and was always impressed with the rail coverage around Philadelphia. It was all PCC streetcars then. In 1993 I was in King Of Prussia on business and me and some friends rode the Norristown line to the end of the subway and then took it to Dock Street brewing, one of the first decent brewpubs I've ever visited. Boy, a cheesesteak and a glass of beer would go down good right now!
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I never had a cheesesteak until I went to school at Glassboro State in 1971. They just weren't a North Jersey thing, but new friends turned me on to 'em and there was no going back!
North Jersey and South Jersey are two different worlds!
Anyway, two places in town did a great job with them, Cavalier's Sub Shop and Tarantella's Pizza.
I don't think they're there anymore. Then again, the whole place has been so built up it's just not the place Lady Firestorm and I remember. Last time we drove through I thought to myself "It's all changed. Now I know what a ghost feels like." We won't be going back. No point.
Anyway, whenever I'm in the Philly area I NEVER pass up a chance for a cheesesteak!
With provalone!
A place in Collegeville PA, Franco's, make some good ones! No need to go to the city.
I just found this. The Maestro speaks, and with a little something for the Chicagoland crew...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN5VfiDX_9Q
I never called them dirty water hot dogs, to me they were just hot dogs. Sabrett's seemd to be the most common of the street vendor dogs. As fas as delis are concerned, I tend to stay away from the Stage and Carnegie type places- I don't need to eat a pastrami sandwich fit for an army! Give me a good neighbourhood deli with Boar's Head meats and that's all I need. Roast beef on a hard roll, mayo, onion, a lot of black pepper and some horseradish.
In Buffalo and points east to Syracuse, a lot of bars will serve what they call 'Beef on weck" which is short for Kummelweck, a German hard roll covered in caraway seeds and crusty salt. I had one once, the salt was too much so I order it on a regular roll now. The roast beef is always awesome. There used to be a place in Syracuse called Clark's Ale House that had an amazing roast beef sandwich for 3 bucks. That was it, the entire menu. Then in Binghamton, the thing is spiedies which is a shish-ke-bob of chicken or whatever served on a bun. Like a souvlaki, just a little different. It's amazing how just a few hundred miles apart food changes so much. 3 hours away in Poughkeepsie, no one ever heard of a spiedie.
The pizza in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York is excellent as well. To all Godfather buffs out there, Niagara Falls is where Fabrizio opened a pizza joint and got blown up in his car in 1958 as revenge for killing Appolonia, Michael's first wife.
Overmod-- The QEW ( Queen Elizabeth Hwy) is a first class multi multi lane highway. Certainly not a minor road ... anyway as you leave the Peace Bridge into Niagara Falls and arrive in the Dominion there are 2 great Poutine places available almost immediately on Victoria Ave. You really can't miss it because you're already on it. They are very close to each other 1) Smokes Poutine 2) Nikos Place, both infamous for their Poutine. A bit further out is Potato Heads...all 5 star ratings.
Ok now that you have stuffed yourself take the QEW to Hamilton. As you glance out your driver side window you will see you are parallel to CN's mainline to Niagara and Fort Erie. You will see trains, guaranteed. After maybe 35 minutes driving you arrive in Hamilton and time for more Poutine. Best 5 stars are 1) The Ship 2) Charred Rotisserie House and if you're feeling a bit homesick try the Poutine at Memphis Fire BBQ Company. You will not be disappointed .
Now you are well stuffed. At Hamilton you exit Hwy 6. This is an older original highway but 4 lanes and widened to six in spots. It passes through old towns, first Caledonia ( CN tracks lifted .. went through here on 6218 in 60's excursions on track that had not seen a passenger train in decades), then Hagersville ( CASO! Tracks lifted but the tower is still there) then Jarvis ( CNR/Wabash) tracks lifted but the beautiful quaint station is still there, can't miss it, its perpendicular to the highway right at the highway. I think that CN still has tracks going to Nanticoke and you can spot that and the signals in the distance from the station.
Almost there, a few miles to go. You pass through Dogsnest. Stop and take a selfie at the Dogsnest sign as you enter and pass. The sign is frequently stolen so let's hope you get a good day.
You descend a hill. There is sparkling Lake Erie laid out before you. The first thing you will see as soon as you cross the bridge over the Lynn River at the bottom of the hill is The Arbour.
Stay at the Erie Beach Hotel. Have dinner there the next day and be sure to order at least 4 pieces of toasted Celery Bread for yourself. Each person needs 4... and a relish tray with the horseradish salad and pickled pumpkin. The Erie Beach Hotel is one of the last places with old old country service that is not phoney. It would be what Harvey House of Santa Fe fame was like.
As you leave the Hotel you will see a sign that states "Please Walk on the Grass". Take off your shoes and socks and walk barefoot on the front lawn. It is a meticulously kept golf green with that special grass. The owner is a golf nut. What a great foot massage.
No trains or tracks in Port Dover but the old Grand Trunk Station is there and looks great . It's a gift shop. Just around the corner from the Hotel. The pier and lighthouse are right there too.
Imagine the trains all the way out to the end of the pier, the GT roundhouse right on the beach and steamer ferries along the dock.
It's all good.
I'll tell you what boys, talkin' about food is a hell of a lot more fun than some of the other BS we get our noses out of joint about!
Jeez, I'm hungry again, and I just ate!
Miningman they only serve and make their own home made fresh drinks on site .. the Pineapple and Loganberry are my favourites
Ya know, just a couple of weeks before I was born Cleveland's legendary Euclid Beach Park closed for good. It was owned by the Humphrey family and they served Phez Loganberry Juice and Ginger Ale at the concessions.
It's one of those things I've always wondered what it tasted like.
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
I've never heard of loganberries, but now you've got me wondering what that Phez juice and loganberry ice cream tasted like.
They look a lot like raspberries. I wonder if they taste like them?
While I was out in the garage for a couple of minutes I started thinking about sense memories. Here are a few tastes I miss against which I still judge the things I eat.
I remember HoJo's, but not the franks, never cared for Asian cuisine of any kind, I know Lipton, the various soups, the tea, and Sir Tommy Lipton the yachtsman who just never could bring the America's Cup back to Britain, but not the "Giggle Noodle Soup," never heard of Kenny King, and at my elementary school you brown-bagged it or went hungry.
But I sure remember Roy Rogers (properly "Pappy Parkers") fried chicken! It's still good, if you're lucky enough to have a Roy's in your area!
So are the roast beef sandwiches!
Trouble in my case is the nearest Roy's is 100 miles away!
Ever see that Roy Rogers movie where Trigger gets kidnapped? Great finish, everybody gets to kill a bad guy! Roy, Dale, Trigger, even Andy Devine!
Bullet just gets to chew on 'em.
Flintlock76They look a lot like raspberries. I wonder if they taste like them?
The loganberry is kind of like the Red Delicious apple of the berry world. They're named for Jim Logan, who crossbred blackberries and raspberries to get them in 1881. By the turn of the century it was being aggressively marketed as "the largest and finest and most prolific berry extant".
Here is a page that will tell you most of what you'd want to know about both loganberries and Phez.
Interestingly, back in the day (starting in 1915), like an early version of Bosco vs. Cocoa Marsh, there was a fierce competitor to the Pheasant Co's product -- it was called Loju. Perhaps tellingly, the rivalry (despite involving the better part of a million contemporary gold-backed dollars) ended more like Sirius vs. XM, the Penn Central of broadcasting, in merger no more than four years later.
What I've wanted to know for decades is what Vin Fiz tasted like.
CSSHEGEWISCHExcellent hot dogs at Nathan's?? Surely you jest. The hot dogs are infinitely better at Portillo's.
And now that you mention it, better still at Pink's.
The Loganberry drink at the Arbour has pulp in it, the only one of their drinks that does. It's a great berry growing area, it's possible they have their own source or even their own farm. I never asked.
Flintlock76But I sure remember Roy Rogers (properly "Pappy Parkers") fried chicken! It's still good, if you're lucky enough to have a Roy's in your area! So are the roast beef sandwiches! Trouble in my case is the nearest Roy's is 100 miles away!
My local Roy's has transitioned twice - first to Arby's and then to Popeye's
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
What did Vin Fiz taste like? Maybe equal parts of gasolene, motor oil, and aircraft fabric dope?
https://www.airspacemag.com/multimedia/the-vin-fiz-crosses-america-81916664
There's a little railroad content in there too!
Now, I can tell you what "Moxie" tastes like. A popular drink around the time of the First World War, and the origin of the saying for a tough guy with a lot of perseverance, "He's got a lot of moxie!"
I ran into it on a trip to Maine 35 years ago and got curious. It tastes like carbonated coffee. Not bad if it's ice-cold, but as soon as it starts to warm up, yuck!
So I learned where the old saying came from. It took some effort to finish the bottle. I have no idea why it was so popular. The WW1 generation must have been real tough!
Back to the "Vin Fiz." Cal P. Rodgers had a lot of moxie!
Oh Lord, I was afraid this was going to get onto Moxie. Wayne, you may have read Chris Lynch, one of his characters calls it 'carbonated tires' (although you need to have changed tires to know he means that awful bitter stuff inside them more than the rubber). Get a bottle of Tummy Tonic and dump some into one of those no-name colas to get an idea of the flavor vibe.
Now, I suspect that if gentian bitters is part of a patent medicine (which, famously, thus stuff and Coke both started out as) you have to wonder if the Lydia Pinkham's 40% alcohol thing is in play too. There was caffeine but a whole lot less than the Atlanta stuff. That may account for some of why noted slugabed and Moxie drinker Silent Cal liked to nap so much. I haven't thought until now whether Jagermeister and Coke could be a 'thing'; perhaps it even has 'health' benefits.
See if Mike has pictures of the Moxie precursors of the Wienermobiles. Apparently some guy recently could buy a '35 Rolls-Royce for $55K because someone had replaced the driver's seat with a horse. Perhaps you had to be there to appreciate the parade humor, like with Shriners in those little cars.
I am ashamed to say I missed the whole Mad Magazine Cowsnofsky thing -- and the 'Mad About Moxie' campaign, probably part of the wonderfully wacky takes on advertising we got in the late Sixties, the era of 'Uncola' too. That's where the Moxie in Bored of the Rings likely comes from.
They missed a sure bet by not Jolt-Colatizing this stuff; why drink overpriced Red Bull (from the culture that gave us reality TV and Dvtch Morris, not the one of Walschaerts, Belpaire, and a whole whole lot of missing hands) when you could Buy American and practice your self-discipline and intestinal fortitude with every bottle!
Perhaps now that Coke has bought them we will get a New Coke-style advertising or social-media campaign that gets sheeple actually drinking this stuff and "liking" it -- but wait ... didn't Coke already make something awfully analogous to it (the double entendre is intentional) with Beverly? The most feared and despised of all Coke products, kinda like the Laphroaig of soft drinks? Perhaps Coke actually bought this as a kind of Fish carburetor of the beverage industry, sneakily intending to rebrand stocks of Beverly as 'New Moxie' while retaining the 'heritage' cachet they seem to be emphasizing recently, and kill many birds at a stroke, to block a metaphor. What a time to be alive! What a time to be dead!
Remember what Will Rogers said about "Silent Cal" Coolidge?
"It's not that Calvin Coolidge didn't do nuthin', he did nuthin' better than anyone else!"
My favorite Will Rogers quote? "I'm not a member of an organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
My favorite Rogers story? At the 1932 Democratic Convention the band had just finished playing "Dixie," and in the press box was H.L Mencken. Mencken jumped up and yelled "Hey! Play 'Marching Through Georgia!'" Bad move, Will Rogers was sitting next to Mencken, jumped up and decked him!
I tried "Jolt" cola when it came out. Not bad. Good ol' Coke is still the best, as far as I'm concerned.
"New Coke?" Thankfully gone but not forgotten. Either a complete managment disaster OR a stroke of marketing genius the way it generated new interest in "Old Coke." We'll never know, 'cause the Coca-Cola company won't admit to either.
Keep Cool with Coolidge!
"Unemployment results when large numbers of people are out of work."
A woman at a White House gathering said to Cal, "My husband bet me I couldn't get three words out of you." Cal said, 'You lose."
Cal's wife wasn't feeling well so he went to church alone. Back home his wife asked what the sermon was about. He said, "Sin" she asked, "what did he say about it?" "He was against it."
When he died the poet Dorothy Parker said, "How can they tell? "
Flintlock76 ... Either a complete management disaster OR a stroke of marketing genius the way it generated new interest in "Old Coke." We'll never know, 'cause the Coca-Cola company won't admit to either.
It was very clear at the time, in the Columbia business-school community, that it was an arrogant and stupid miscalculation on a grand scale, followed by a remarkably worthless attempt to instill the 'it was all a clever marketing ploy! excuse we see so often in 'edgy' (is that still a marketing buzzword' advertising campaigns that go bad or fall flat. No one believed it was intentional then, and no one should believe it now.
In part this is because the 'correct' strategy for Cokesi would have been to introduce it as a niche product, ramp up advertising on it and quietly cut back on the advertising budget for the old stuff a la Ballentine 'tink tink' Ballentine Ale. Has the additional core Coca-Cola priority of securing more and more required shelf space for multiple products. We all knew at the time that New Coke drinkers weren't going to be ex-Coke drinkers; they'd be ex-Pepsi drinkers... that was part of the point all along. Instead they destroyed their own base, while Pepsi just looked on and laughed, as it were. You can't possibly spin the absolute loss of dollars and market cap as shrewd guerrilla marketing, unless you think 'holding it wrong' is clever publicity to draw eyeballs to the parts of the tech that actually work. It would be like believing those shucking and jiving Disney execs when the Eisner thing imploded, falling over themselves to claim they had no idea what was really going on.
Or, to put it a bit differently, it's like the borderline joke about Broward County in the aftermath of the 2000 election, with the hanging-chad confusion for those sweet little old ladies ... who know down to the penny when their lunch check hasn't been split right.
Makes the Corps response to a mistake ever so much more invigorating, although I continue to affirm that an explanation is not at all the same thing as an excuse, and that there are usually lessons to be learned from hearing the explanation even if it doesn't change 'owning your actions'.
On the subject of sodas, (And this is a Jersey thing, but you folks around the rest of the country are welcome to listen in, and maybe have a few tales of your own?), Mod-Man, do you remember Brookdale Beverages?
Oh man, I loved their sodas! All those great flavors! Grape, cherry, lemon-lime, orange, and their cola was first-rate, just as good as Coca-Cola. I even loved what they sold as "Tom Collins Mixer," what a great flavor that had. As a matter of fact when "Fresca" first came out I recognized the flavor right away, it was just a sweetened Tom Collins mixer!
Sadly, Brookdale was a casualty of the "Cola Wars" of the 1980's, Coke vs. Pepsi. Ruthlessly undercutting each others prices Brookdale was "collateral damage," they just couldn't compete pricewise with what Coke and Pepsi were doing and went out of business. What a damn shame. Probably happened to a lot of other local brands around the country as well.
For those who remember. https://njbottles.com/index.php?topic=2683.0
I don't remember the cans, just the 28 fluid ounce bottles.
Flintlock76I remember HoJo's, but not the franks
Flintlock76 never cared for Asian cuisine of any kind
Me neither. But this stuff was different.
Flintlock76"Giggle Noodle Soup,"
The noodles danced on your tongue.
It's where Clevelander's went for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Flintlock76Roy Rogers (properly "Pappy Parkers") fried chicken!
Cracker Barrel's new Southern Fried Chicken is VERY close.
P.S. I'm gonna pay more attention to the soda department at B. A. Sweeties next time I'm there....
Quick poll!
Is it soda, or is it pop?
Flintlock76On the subject of sodas, (And this is a Jersey thing, but you folks around the rest of the country are welcome to listen in, and maybe have a few tales of your own?), Mod-Man, do you remember Brookdale Beverages?
Boylan's is still around, last I knew. That's another Jersey soda. Or it was.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
Ah, KFC at Kenny Kings. We had a similar situation in New Jersey. When KFC first showed up it was sold through a local burger chain called "Ginos." Eventually KFC took over the chain and that was the end of the burgers. Now, "All KFC All The Time" at the former Ginos locations. You've got to be at least 60 to remember Ginos now. If I remember correctly, Ginos was owned by Gino Marchetti, a former player for the New York Giants.
Nothing wrong with KFC, I don't know and have never known anyone that doesn't like it, especially the "Extra Crispy" variety.
And wow, that is one helluva soda shop! A soda junkie's heaven on earth!
Try "Cracker Barrel's" trout with lemon butter sauce! I've had it at three C-B's, and it was great at all three!
Boylans is indeed still around, according to Wiki now made in New York City.
https://www.boylanbottling.com
Honestly, this is one I don't remember. I suppose it never made it to my neighborhood.
For some reason I thought Boylan's was a New England brand! Don't have a shred of remembrance of Brookdale, probably to my regret. I've been trying very, very hard to remember Gino's, which I surely should remember if I remember Carroll's so well. Very oddly, there was exactly one Jack-in-the-Box anywhere near where I lived, but it was only a couple of towns over in Bergenfield or Teaneck, I think very close to the West Shore main, and in the mid-Seventies was open late... so it became the run of choice for late-night runs while putting the school newspaper to bed. Secret sauce on cheeseburgers was magical. Then I went off to college and came back between terms to find it closed, and I think to the day I left in the early '90s there wasn't another one.
The very best thing I remember drinking as a child was red birch beer. You can't find the stuff any more. But the crown jewel of sodas is or was Brier's Bark Brewed Birch Beer, bottled by Best Brands Beverage in ... Fords, New Jersey.
The closest I ever got to living near a place that calls it 'pop' was when I spent a little time working out a video-on-demand system in the very late '80s in Kansas City. There were times we called it 'soda pop' but if that got shortened it was to 'soda'.
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