Frequent fans of the Hot Dog Truck will have heard of Jeff from Horizon Technology. Jeff has been to the Hot Dog Truck for lunch 59 times this year-that's 118 hot dogs!
He's always telling his crew at work about the fine cuisine he dines on each time he makes his way to my charcouterie on wheels and he managed to drag Bob and Andrew from his office out for some lunch today. Here they are posing with their meals.
Jeff is very enthusiastic about his status as my #1 customer. He gave Bob and Andrew "the Grand Tour" of my establishment which is no more than a walk around the exterior of the truck! While most of my customers can figure out how to order a hot dog, Jeff feels the need to describe in great detail the procedure for acquiring one's lunch (like Bob and Andrew have never ordered their own lunch ever). Jeff's enthusiasm is enlightening however and I do enjoy his daily visits.
He did get a bit discouraged when I pointed out that he forgot to wear the "company uniform" of tan chinos and a blue shirt, but what the hell, if he wants to dress like an 11 year old whose mom shops for him at local yard sales, that's his business!
Thanks for stopping by guys!
Maitre' d for a Day
Turbo Hot Dog Truck
Folks who get stuck driving behind the Hot Dog Truck must get frustrated. It's not what you'd call a speed machine; in fact, it's pretty slow! The Hot Dog Truck is a 1979 Ford E-350 with a straight six engine and four on the floor. I rarely go faster than 45 MPH!
What I need is a turbo charger to get the thing moving. Back in 1984 I had an Audio 5000. THAT car could move and it was a sweet ride. I don't know if an Audi turbocharger would work on the Hot Dog Truck, but it would be interesting to try.
Seriously, I wouldn't do any serious performance modifications to the Hot Dog Truck, but if I still had the Audi 5000, I'd need a new Audi turbocharger to keep it hopping. There's nothing like the feeling of a car accelerating once the turbo kicks in.
Turbo Charger Pros has any Audi or VW turbo charger you could possibly want or need and they also stock turbo chargers and parts for tons of other vehicles. I even found some parts for the Hot Dog Truck on their site!
The ___ Guy
People are always asking me "do you guys have (insert question here)?" There is no "you guys" at the Hot Dog Truck; it's just me-the one "guy."
Ever notice there's a "guy" for everything? I am known to many as the Hot Dog Guy. The other day I had the "Conveyor Guy" at the truck. That's the name of his company; they install conveyor belts. There's the "tree guy," the "furniture guy," the "cable guy"- well, you get the picture. Name the job, there's a "guy" for it.
Some jobs don't fit well with the guy thing. I'm not going under the knife from the "surgery guy" and I'm not having the "lawyer guy" get me out of a legal scrape. I have had the "tax guy" do my taxes in the past, but I'm not trusting my money to the "investment guy." I will buy insurance from the "insurance guy," I'll let the "computer guy" work on my computer and I'll buy a car from the "car guy," but no "periodontist guy" will be scraping my gums soon!
So here's to all the "guys" out there who do their thing every day, from your friendly neighborhood Hot Dog Guy.
A New Home
The wife has started talking about moving to a warmer climate in earnest lately. The criteria for our supposed new home are: no more than an hour from the ocean, there MUST be a pool and there needs to be facilities for the horse she wants so badly. Sounds good to me! I like North Carolina and Raleigh is a good city. Moving to Raleigh (or the greater Raleigh area) sounds good to me.
We'd probably want to be somewhere between Raleigh and the ocean to get what Mrs. HDM wants. Raleigh, NC is a city with some colonial charm, which would appeal to my Boston sensibilities and they have a good airport. There's also good minor league baseball in the area should I get the urge to catch a game. I could see myself livimg there once the older kids clear out of the house.
We won't be calling anyRaleigh moving companies for a few more years, but it's always nice to keep educated about options!
OK So McDonalds DOESN'T HAVE HOT DOGS....
....AND their food sucks, but it sure is clean!
There are several ubiquitous character actors in this bit of business-but I don't know their names....
This is a classic from 1973. My fourth grade class actually performed this song for a school chorus assembly and we got a standing ovation! Ya gotta love show tune style advertising!
Funny Hot Sauces
I provide Frank's Red Hot Sauce for my customers who like a little zip on their dogs. Usually, my Killer Pepper Relish is enough zip for those who like it, but I like to be prepared.
Here's a photo of some humorous Hot Sauces I saw in a shop in Kennebunkport. I particularly like "Al Gore's 'I Invented Hot Sauce' Hot Sauce" and "Weapons of Ass Destruction." Good stuff!
Karen's On a Roll
While driving down good old Route 1 in Wells (or was it Ogunquit), Maine I spied this sign and simply HAD TO STOP. I like to check out fellow hot dog truck operators when I get the chance.
Technically, this is a Lobster and Crab Roll Truck, but they do serve hot dogs and curiosity got the best of me.
I surveyed the spacious, open and airy dining room while waiting my turn and snapping these pictures.
I ordered up one dog "all around" and chatted with Dr. Winn ("like 'winner' without the 'ER' because he likes to keep his patients out of the ER") from Biddeford who was taking a Sunday drive and sampling the lobster roll at Karen's On a Roll.
He said his meal was good and he wanted to be sure I took a picture of it so he could prove he was NOT eating a hot dog (the good Doctor apparently teaches a nutrition class). Looks pretty good to me too, but I was off to my aunt and uncle's house for a big lasagna and eggplant parmesan meal, so one hot dog was all that was in the cards for me.
I chatted with Karen who has been all over the TV and newspapers for the quality of her delicacies. She serves Shield's hot dogs, which are made locally in Kennebunk.
My hot dog was served "all under" on a grilled roll and was very tasty. The dog itself had a juicy, spicy taste and the mustard had a bit of a bite. This was a very good hot dog! Next year, I am going to have the lobster roll too.
Good luck with your business, Karen. We'll see you next year!
Drinking in Kennebunk
After a nice meal of lobster and steamers, we like to round out the evening with some beer. Kennebunk is a great place for beer as well as lobster. It is home to a brew pub called Federal Jack's. Like Nunan's, we've been hitting Jack's every year. The Red Sox are always on TV (the Olympics this year too) and there's a live band at 10PM on weekends.
They have a variety of their own beers on tap. The only other beer in the place is Miller Lite. Why you'd order Miller Lite when you have these gems on tap is beyond me!
I like the Shipyard Export Ale while Mrs. HDM goes for the Taint Town Pale Ale. ALL the beers are tasty-they even have a stout on tap but being a true Guinness guy, I just can't bring myself to drink more than one!
Dave, originally from Peabody, MA has been pouring beer at Jack's for 9 years. He's been there as long as we've been going. Dave's a bit peeved in this picture because he had to make someone a Pomegranate Mojito. Who orders a mojito is a brew pub for crying out loud? He always takes good care of us. He ought to know how, he's been bar tending for 28 years!
Matt is another bartender who has been at Jack's since we've been going. He's laughing because I am reminding him of when he shut us off last year and I called him a douche bag. Thankfully Matt doesn't hold a grudge. He takes good care of us too.
Kennebunkport is a big place for weddings and this particular Saturday night featured the usual assortment of wedding revelers. The receptions shut down at 11PM and everyone seems to make their way to Jack's. We chatted with the bride, a local gal, and she said she swore to herself she'd NEVER go to Jack's after HER wedding. After sharing this tid bit with us, she promptly downed a shot of Jagermeister!
A good time was had by all and Mrs. HDM and I strolled back to our inn through downtown with a very pleasant "glow."
Maine Lobster at Nunan's Lobster Hut
Any weekend in Kennebunkport would not be complete without a visit (or two) to Nunan's Lobster Hut. I have eaten lobster all over New England and the world and I just haven't found a better place for lobster. Their motto is "we catch em, we cook em, we crack em, you eat em."
Nunan's is located on route 9 in Cape Porpoise-about 4 miles from downtown Kennebunkport. It's a SHACK-literally- with very spare wood tables and benches. They even have a couple of washing stations to clean up all the lobster mess when you're done eating.
They've been at it since 1953 and they have kept it simple; why mess with success? Here's a shot of the interior with one of our favorite servers toting trays of lobster carcasses back to the kitchen. (I promised her she'd be on the internet).
Our server for this evening's feast thought we were a bit crazy, but she joined in the fun too.
While waiting to eat, you can look at the many lobster related items hanging on the walls. One of my favorites is the multi-clawed, mutant lobster.
All meals at Nunan's are served with potato chips and pickles. Don't ask me why, that's just what they do. We always ask for extra pickles. I like to add a Geary's Ale to the mix as well.
We always start out with a big pile of steamed clams.
Followed by a couple of orders of twin lobsters.
When we eat lobster, WE EAT LOBSTER! Every bit of meat is picked from the body. Nothing but shells left here!
A nice piece of homemade blueberry pie a la mode (to share) rounds out the evening meal.
We ate at Nunan's on the second night of our first trip to Kennebunkport 9 years ago. We have not had dinner anywhere else since. Why mess with a good thing?
I asked matriarch Teri Nunan why they don't have a website. People are constantly taking pictures in the place. There are pictures of folks with their lobsters all over the walls. I'll bet if they put up a site, they'd have folks emailing pictures for posting every day.
Teri, who claims she never smiles, has the domain reserved. The Nunan clan is just too busy cranking out the lobsters to get a site together. Hey Teri, if you need some help, I don't work winters!
All kidding aside, Nunan's has the best lobster on the planet. PERIOD.
The Hotdogman Does Kennebunkport, Maine
Every Christmas, my in-laws give my wife and I the wonderful gift of a weekend get away at a Bed and Breakfast in Kennebunkport, Maine. After 9 years of making this trip, it has become our home away from home for a weekend every summer. It is the only time Mrs. HDM and I get away ALONE all year.
Last year's trip was a hoot as was the year before-we don't vary our routine much.
This year, like last, we stayed at the Captain Jefferds Inn, a Federal/Colonial old home in downtown Kennebunkport. The inn is gorgeous, the breakfasts are to die for, the proprietors (Erik and Sarah Lindblom) are very nice and the cookies served on the sun porch every afternoon are too yummy for words.
An especially nifty featue of the inn is access to the roof for views of the harbor. Folks who like viewing fall foliage would get some good shots from up here. This is a peek at the harbor from the roof.
I took a "more traditional" harbor photo as well.
Kennebunkport is a quaint little town with lots of neat little shops. It's very walkable-I don't know why you'd drive in the town unless it was to park and walk around.
We usually spend a bunch of the day browsing the shops, admiring the harbor and strolling the beach- no swimming though: the water in Maine is TOO DAMN COLD!
Stay tuned for more Maine tid bits in the coming days!
Hot Dogs in Las Vegas
I get email from people all over the world about hot dogs. They want to know how to start a business, what kind of hot dogs I use, where to buy a truck etc.
I answer most emails (the sane ones) and I provide a lot of info at one of my sites, How to Start a Hot Dog Business.
I got an interesting email from a guy in Las Vegas this week. He's the director of Casino Operations at a large Casino group and they are looking for a Las Vegas area hot dog vendor to run a hot dog cart in their sports book on weekends. He said it's something they could run through their in house food service, but they would rather have an independent vendor come in.
Heck, if I were in the Vegas area, I'd jump at this opportunity!
If you are a hot dog vendor in Las Vegas, email me at hotdogman@thehotdogtruck.com and I'll put you in touch!
Fantastic Fishing
Today the Hotdogman became the Fishing man. Every summer, my dad, my son and myself charter a boat and go do some deep sea fishing. Last summer we had the BEST FISHING TRIP EVER with Captain Pete Midurski on the good ship Margaret and Stephanie. Nothing breeds success like repetition, so we opted to go fishing with Pete again this summer. This time even Mrs. Hotdogman managed to tag along!
It was a gorgeous summer Sunday in Fairhaven Harbor.
We made our way over to Martha's Vineyard and fished off a ledge near Squibnocket. The Captain had tempered our expectations stating the fishing hadn't been very good this summer. We were going to fish with chunk poagies-just like last year. Needless to say the Hotdogman landed the first fish of the day on the first cast of the day-a nice keeper bluefish! Here's Captain Pete with the freshly gutted bluefish.
Unfortunately, Capt. Pete had slippery fingers and dropped the fish overboard right after the picture was taken. I mercilessly teased him about this faux pas for the entire day, of course. Lucky for us, there were more bluefish out there.
The good news is the good Captain's doom and gloom predictions did not come true. We had an EXCELLENT DAY catching about 8 bluefish, a couple dozen striped bass, half a dozen fluke and a very big scup 
(we catch lots of scup off the docks, but I have never caught one this big-he was DELICIOUS).
Here's Mrs. HDM with the big fluke she hauled in.
Here's one of the stripers.
I think we'll be giving Capt. Pete a call next summer-I should have finished eating all the fish by then!
If you want a good chartered fishing trip in the Southeastern, MA area- give Capt. Pete a call at 774-353-7683. Just make sure he hangs on to your fish!
Webhosting Solutions
When I started the Hot Dog Truck website, I had no idea where it would lead. In the year and a half the Hot Dog Truck has been online, I have created lots of new opportunities for my Hot Dog business and I have learned a lot about webhosting. Heck, I have 30 sites and over 100 domain names-and I'm "just a hotdogman!" I now earn money with my websites AND my Hot Dog Truck.
One thing everyone is sure to know is that if you want information on something, the internet is a pretty good place to find out. The problem is the clutter of information. When I needed to find new webhosting solutions for my Little League site, a friend's restaurant site and some of my own sites, I didn't know where to turn. Google "webhosting" and the results are mind boggling.
I like to know what others have experienced with a service, so I found the Webhosting Geeks' web hosting reviews very beneficial. Being able to compare services in one place saves me a lot of time and lets me know which hosting service is best for the application I am looking for. A forum host is different from a blog host which is different from an ecommerce host and so on. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each service provider (plus hearing about others' experiences) lets me make a better choice for my particular needs.
If you are looking for a web host, check out the Webhosting Geeks webhosting page today.
