August 2008 Archives
Well, Silly Americans it is Labor Day weekend and I have been blessed with four days off in a row. And that can only mean one thing: ROAD TRIP! I'm packing up my car and driving to Mount Rushmore and back! Can you believe I have never before seen four giant presidents carved into the side of a rock live and in person ever before? It's a dream trip for your silly American adventurer! AND there will be sure to be plenty of roadside attractions to see along the way. HOPEFULLY including:
Catch you on the flip with plenty of photos from Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa!
I headed down to Urbana, IL this weekend to witness the Busey Executive Sweetcorn Eating Contest, which pitted seven of the bank employees against each other to see who could eat the most sweetcorn in three minutes. The contest was "sweet" but short, and they had 7 eaters and a tiny table so they were kind of eating in a circle so you could only see the three people in the front. So I didn't even see the dude who won eat. He won the trophy and, I'm sure, the admiration and respect of all the other bank employees. I think he ate 6 ears in 3 minutes.
Site: Busey Executive Sweetcorn Eating Contest
Location: Urbana, IL
Date: August 23, 2008
If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?
— Alice in Wonderland
America is filled with so many silly wonders. I love the strange, the weird, the offbeat places and things and events and people that make up the landscape of my country. And I have made it my mission to try and see them all.
Alice in Wonderland is a wonderful book in which a young girl enters a world where everything is silly and crazy and off the wall. She experiences things, whether good or bad, that she never would have experienced if she didn't go off chasing that white rabbit.
While in New York I took a stroll through Central Park. In itself Central Park is a crazy place because it's so different and calm and, well, green, compared to the busting city that encapsulates it. But inside are much wonderment. One of my favorites is at the northern end of the Conservatory Water: a statue of the characters from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice sits atop an enormous mushroom surrounded by The Mad Hatter, The March Hare, The Cheshire Cat, The White Rabbit, Alice's Cat Dinah and, the Dormouse.
This bronze statue was sculpted by José de Creeft in 1959. The creation was comissioned by philanthropist George Delacorte to honor his wife Margarita. It's a favorite amongst park visitors and epitomizes a world of adventure and silliness.
Site: Alice in Wonderland Statue
Location: Central Park, East 74th Street, north of Conservatory Water, New York, New York
Cost: Free to see.
Hours: 6:00am – 1:00am, M-F
Date: July 3, 2008
When you think of Chicago and food there are two delicacies that will inevitably pop into your head: pizza and hot dogs. While they might not be the most sophisticated of culinary models, these are definitely Chicago staples. And no one does it like Chicago, a city where the pizza is described as a pie and the hot dogs are described as salads.
I have to confess that by most people's standards when it comes to hot dogs I am un-American and CERTAINLY un-Chicagoan. I go against everyone's grain and prefer mine to be dripping in ketchup (yes, yes I am a three year old at heart). Actually, I try to justify it by saying that I don't take ketchup on my hot dog, I actually take some hot dog with my ketchup (it is actually kind of true as I can't eat a hot dog without spilling a monsterous amount of ketchup all over me).
In true Chicago-style the hot dog is Vienna beef on a poppy seed bun and includes mustard, onion, sweet neon-green pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato, peppers, and celery salt. NO KETCHUP. (OK, I fail at hot dogness, but I love ketchup!) While this is the true recipe for a Chicago Dog, there is always a little room to deviate from the norm in order to put a mark on the map like the exotic sausages (and duck fat fries) of Hot Doug's. But there is one place that deviates oh so slightly but still ranks itself amongst the best places to dine on a dog: SUPERDAWG!
Superdawg is probably one of the best restaurants in the city. Why? Is it the food? Yes! Is it the carhop service? Yes! But, who are we kidding, the greatest reason to visit Superdawg is the giant hot dogs with glowing red eyes on the roof!
Maurie Berman and his wife Florence (Flaurie) opened Superdawg in 1948 at the intersection of Milwaukee, Devon and Nagle. Maurie was a student at Northwestern University and Flaurie was a teacher in the Chicago Public schools. Both of them had their summers off and wanted to open a business that could occupy those months: ahot dog stand was the perfect bet. The building was designed by Maurie: complete with two 12-foot anamorphic hot dogs with blinking eyes. They came up with their own hot dog recipe, something close to the typical Chicago dog: the dog a little spicier than the traditional Vienna beef and is topped with golden mustard, tangy piccalilli, kosher dill pickle, chopped Spanish onions and a memorable hot pepper.
With a recipe and location Superdawg was born. In 1950 Maurie finished school and they decided to expand Superdawg to a full-time, year-round operation. Around that time the previous carhop service, where servers went out to the cars to take orders was upgraded to a "carhop in a wire" — an electronic order-taking tower.
Superdawg has been holding strong and delivering delicious dogs and an expanded menu ever since. The hot dogs are big, juicy, and delicious. The fries are wonderful. And you can't beat a nice thick chocolate shake! Well you can...a thick chocolate shake and a couple of dogs are always better when delivered to your car and eaten under a shining, blinking hot dog couple.
Site: Superdawg Drive-In
Location: 6363 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago 60646
Hours: Sunday–Thursday 11am–1am, Friday–Saturday 11am-2am
Cost: A Superdawg is $4.95 (comes with Superfries)
Date: August 5, 2008
