Hot Doggin' in Florida 2012

It's time for the annual trek south to Florida with the family. I am always one to mix business with pleasure, so I have planned a few visits while in the Sunshine State.

We will definitely be hitting Mad Dogs Hot Dogs in Venice. We went there last year and I got an email from Maria that they have opened a second location. Apparently, their concept is a success. Mad Dogs serves up regional style hot dogs from all over the country, including authentic Chicago Dogs.

I will also be visiting Dream Maker Hot Dog Carts In Saint Petersburg for a tour of their factory. After touring there, I plan on stepping out for a hot dog- with a surprise special celebrity guest!

There will be a few other surprises in store from sunny FLA, so stay tuned.

I may not actually publish anything until I return, but rest assured, there will be lots of fun, hot dog related stuff.

Hot Dog Stories: the Month Ahead

With Spring upon us, The Hotdogman will be venturing out much more to a variety of hot dog joints and other hot dog venues. Highlights of upcoming visits include the first appearance of Mrs. HDM in a Hot Dog Story for 2012 as we venture to Trina's Starlight Lounge next Friday, March 30. Each Friday, Trina's serves up a gourmet "Haute Dog" to kick off the weekend.

Of course the annual jaunt to Florida is coming up as well. We plan on visiting Mad Dogs new location in Venice, FLA. We went to their first location last year. We are glad to hear their business is successful and growing! Whilst in Florida, I am also planning on popping in on Dream Maker Hot Dog Carts- a hot dog cart manufacturer in St. Petersburg.

We are also planning on being there for the Larry Joe's New England Fire Pit grand reopening. Larry had a bit of a problem last fall- an electrical problem burned his trailer to a crisp!

Larry assures his rabid fans that he'll be out slinging dogs again in a few weeks. His trailer is almost ready for delivery.

There are plenty of other surprises in store in the coming weeks as we ramp up for the National Hot Dog Month 2012 Tour. You may nominate a Hot Dog Joint for inclusion on the tour HERE.

Hot Doggin' in Florida

I will be in the greater Sarasota area from April 14-21, 2012. I would like to do 2-3 Hot Dog Stories while I am there and I am looking for suggestions.

If you know of a cool Hot Dog Joint in that area, or if you own one yourself, please let me know so I can stop by. You can leave your suggestions in the comment box or email me at hotdogman AT thehotdogtruck.com.

Thanks, and KEEP ON DOGGIN'!

Enter the Dragon

While fishing at the Venice pier, a young lady came along with a bearded dragon. Little Miss was intrigued and I shot some video while another lady asked the gal questions.

Moon over Venice

I snapped this photo from our lanai last week. It's a tad blurry, but the moon was big and beautiful.

Fishin' in Venice

I went to Venice, FLA with my 4 daughters and my wife. It was a fun filled week of boating, a trip to Adventure Island, the beach, hot dogs, and fishing.

I wake up at 6:30 as a rule. This means that if I waited around for the girls to get ready for the beach, I would be sitting around on the lanai for about 3 hours every day, drinking coffee.

I decided a better way to go about it was to head down to the Venice fishing pier and try my luck while the girls slumbered, showered and organized themselves.

There's lots to see at the pier, including dolphins and manatees (that's a dolphin surfacing below- the manatees were camera shy).

The real attraction at the pier is fishing. There is a whole group of regulars at the pier who contribute to the charm and character of a stroll on the pier, patiently answering the "did you catch anything" type of questions from the tourist crowd.

I have seen some big fish caught out here over the years, including a 6 foot bull shark and a 50 pound kingfish. This guy had a good size cobia on the line...

...alas, his line boke,  :O(

I managed to land a small (by New England standards) bluefish which we had in some fish tacos for supper.

Little Miss even got into the act one day. It was the first time she'd ever been fishing and she landed a small flounder on her second cast.

This was very exciting for her, but it was the worst possible scenario for me: she was now an "expert."

Any way you slice it, a day of fishing at the Venice fishing pier is....

Hot Doggin' in Venice, FLA

The girls and I got back from vacationing for the week in Venice, Florida on Saturday. Despite the best intentions, I rarely post while on vacation. It was a very fun filled week with lots of fishing, beach, and boating.

I also managed to squeeze in three Hot Dog Stories while on vacation.

The first place we visited was an old favorite. In fact, it's the place that sort of launched the Hot Dog Stories site: Lucky Dog.

The next place we visited was new to us, but has been in business in Venice for 16 years- the Gulf Coast's famous Florida Hot Dog Stand icon, Anita's Sand Castle.

The third and final destination is both a new business and new to us, a little gem of a place out on route 41 called Mad Dogs Hot Dogs.

I shot a bunch of video at each location and I will be posting stories about each visit soon on Hot Dog Stories.

I also have some other fun tidbits from our week in Venice. 

To tell the truth, it sucks to be back. When we left, it was sunny and 90 degrees; we returned home to rain and 40 degrees. 5 more years until HDM moves south.....

Heat Wave

My family trip to Florida is going quite well, thank you. We went to a water park yesterday. Other than that, we have been to the beach every day.

I have a ton of pictures, three Hot Dog Stories, and a bunch of other good material which I will be posting next week.

The best part of this vacation is there is murky, rainy weather back home and the greater Tampa area is in the midst of a heatwave!

Southbound!

After the worst winter in recent memory and a spring season that can't quite get into gear, it is going to be nice to get on a plane this morning and head to sunny Florida for a week with the family! The only one not joining us is the dog-she's staying behind with my brother in law to mind the fort.

As soon as I click "publish" on this post, we are off to the airport and we will be in lovely Venice, Florida by 3PM.

We have a Hot Dog Story or two planned for our trip, a boating excursion to an awesome State Park/Nature reserve, some fishing, a trip to Busch gardens' Water Park and, of course, daily trips to the beach and pool.

I don't know if I will be able to keep on my nutrition regimen, but I do intend to hit the health club every morning.

I'll be posting from Florida, I hope to have a few pictures of HUGE fish I caught for publication too.

Off to the airport....

Ciao!

Gator in the Doorway

I put the pictures of the gator in the doorway up on this site yesterday. My folks sent me a video of the incident someone posted on Youtube.

Check it out.

Welcome Home

My parents were walking home the other day and saw a commotion at a neighbor's house. When they got closer, they saw their neighbors had an unwelcome visitor.


They hung around while the police and some animal removal experts dealt with the wayward gator and snapped these pictures.

They lasso the gator....







Good old duct tape for the mouth....







Load it up for a return trip to the swamp.

And you thought the Jehovah's Witnesses were a pain!

Lucky Dog 2

As I said in an earlier post, we discovered a great Hot Dog Joint called the Lucky Dog while vacationing in Venice, Florida. The first day we ate there, it was just me and the girls-I couldn't drag my son away from the fishing pier even with the promise of lots of food. Since we enjoyed our meal so much, we went back a few days later with EVERYONE and met up with Marty Surak-Dawn's husband-shown here with Kim(?) the server who had to deal with me and my ravenous children.



My veggyhead daughter ordered up a plain Tofu Dog which she actually liked! After eating it she was lobbying for me to carry them at the Hot Dog Truck.



The cheeseburger princess struck again with another (equally delicious I am told) bacon cheeseburger.



Another daughter had a very happy cheeseburger.



I just had one relish dog and the baby had another plain dog. My son went for the Jumbo Cheese dog- a foot long drenched with gobs of cheese.



The Lucky Dog is a real slice of Americana with good hot dogs and cheeseburgers. The owners are real nice folks too. If you're ever in Venice, FLA make sure you stop at the Lucky Dog. You won't be sorry!

Lucky Dog

Well I'm back from Florida and I am happy to say I missed a major snowstorm! 6 days of 80 degree weather and hanging out on the beach was tough to take, especially knowing I was missing out on all that shoveling!

One thing I like to do when on vacation is partake in local hot dog joints. This trip featured the discovery of Lucky Dog, a small, lime green diner en route to our favorite beach spot in Venice, FLA. We went at about 1:30 PM and there was good foot traffic outside.

We elected to sit at the counter and chat up owners Dawn Surak (below)

and her brother Alan Laskowski (below).
This is them when they were kids.


The Lucky Dog Diner has been around since 1952 and the brother and sister team bought it last year. They spent 4-5 months fixing the place up and painting it the signature lime green. Brother Alan did most of the work under the supervision of Dawn, who, by mutual admission, is the "real boss" of the Lucky Dog. The place is a real, honest to God, Hot Dog Joint with a sense of Americana you just don't get in the modern fast food establishments that litter the landscape of Florida (and everywhere else for that matter).

I told them about the Hot Dog Truck and asked if I could snap some photos and put them up here on theHotDogTruck.com. They were delighted and happy to share their story. Our server, Heish (sorry if I misspelled it) was not too keen on having her photo taken, but she took care of my gang so well, I can't help but embarrassing her!



While I perused the Hot Dog menu,



the kids ordered up milk shakes, cheeseburgers, grilled cheese and hot dogs. I got to chatting with the guy next to me and he let me take a picture of HIS lunch, a Coney Dog and a Cheese Dog. YUMMY LOOKING STUFF, eh?



My 11 year old daughter, who would rather eat a cheeseburger than just about anything else (she had at least one per day on our trip), said her Lucky Dog Bacon Cheeseburger was the best one of the trip!



The three year old got a plain dog while I opted for the Relish Dog which was topped with a "secret recipe" house relish that had a bit of a bite to it (it was very good) and a good old Slaw Dog.



Both were excellent! I was pretty hungry so I got my own Coney Dog for dessert!



YUMMY!

to be continued.....

Roller Coaster Madness

One of the things we like to do when we hit Florida is go to Busch Gardens in Tampa. The kids (and my wife) LOVE roller coasters and they have some real doozies there. Being hurtled unnaturally through space is not my idea of a good time. We got to the park at 9:30 when they open and the kids rode the above coaster, "Mombu," twice.

We then ran to the next coaster, pictured below, and they were the first riders of the day. The attendant let them stay in their seats for the second ride. I was waiting when the two younger girls ran out screaming "Andrew's PUKING!" My fifteen year old, ambling further behind, said it was a classic projectile, streaming puke.



To his credit, he got right back on the next coaster, "Sheikra" (which features a hundred foot straight drop and moments of weightlessness). He said it was "AWESOME!"



I sometimes just don't "get" kids. Or roller coasters.

Florida, Here I Come!

I am headed to sunny Florida with my 5 children Tuesday. We're going to Busch Gardens and the beach. We'll probably spend quite a bit of time kicking back at my parent's pool too. The wife has to work (she's got National Championships for her swim team) so she's not coming. It will be a somewhat hectic week for me, but relaxing nonetheless.

While I'm gone, I'll only be posting sporadically (if at all) so don't think I dropped off the face of the earth or anything. I'll be back with a big splash about my spring Grand Opening next week.

HAVE A GOOD ONE!

Uptown Saturday Night in St. Augustine, Florida

When most folks think of Florida, they envision sandy beaches, Disneyworld, and the urban sprawl of 20th Century development. What most folks forget is that St. Augustine , Florida is our nation's oldest city. The architecture rivals that of Boston, Philadelphia and Williamsburg. While there are plenty of sandy beaches (even some sprawl) in St. Augustine, the pre-colonial charm of the city is evident.

There is a lot of history in St. Augustine. It was founded in 1565 by the Spanish and is actually the first place a Catholic Mass was ever celebrated in the US. By 1763, Florida had become a British colony and it became a State in 1845. We all know what happened after that: orange groves, snowbirds and Disneyworld! Through all that, St. Augustine retained its charm and historical significance. It was a vacation spot for the super rich in the early part of the 20th Century, sort of a Newport South with large Spanish Colonial Revival Style Mansions which still exist to this day.

But what is there to do in St. Augustine? Well, it is Florida, so the beach is always an option. Or you could stroll the old town area an soak in the culture and history. One of the fun, ongoing Events in St. Augustine is Uptown Saturday Night which takes place from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm the last Saturday in October and November. That would be October 27th and November 24th this year. All the galleries, antique stores and bookshops have special exhibits and book signings. Street musicians perform and there are wine tastings everywhere! It's an open air party throughout the Uptown San Marco Shopping District.

I love street music festivals in general. Live music is my cup of tea and there is such a variety of performers, there's sure to be a musical genre to suit just about anyone.

There's free parking too! If you are looking for one of the best, most enjoyable Events in St. Augustine, Uptown Saturday Night fits the bill!

Florida Vacation Homes

Where does the MVP of the Super Bowl go to every year? DISNEYWORLD! Every kid, heck every adult, LOVES DISNEYWORLD. I'll be heading there in a few more years with my youngest. For a while there, we were heading there every year for vacation. The kids love it.

There's lots of other cool stuff in Orlando too. It's a schlocky vacation paradise. I wish we'd purchased a condo or villa in Orlando ten years ago. The appreciation on the home and any rental income we realized would have paid for all those vacations. As we get on in years, we're getting more concerned with investments and my wife wants to invest in Real Estate.

Orlando is a vibrant community with lots of economic opportunities for Real Estate investors. The folks at Bardell Real Estate in Orlando specialize in Florida villa sales. They can hook us up with a Florida vacation home that would be a solid investment.

Orlando continues to grow at a rapid pace, so investing in Real Estate there is a fairly safe bet.

Beach Property

I like the beach and the warm weather. The wife and I have dreams of packing up the old Hot Dog Truck and heading south some day. Living in a beach community year-round would be ideal. Florida is nice, we've been there many times.

Unfortunately, there is not much unspoiled beach front property left in Florida. We've never been to the Florida panhandle. Destin seems like a lovely beach community in that part of the state-its about midway between Tallahassee and Mobile, Alabama. This part of the Florida coast (on the Gulf of Mexico) is called the Emerald Coast and the communities of Destin, Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island are home to some of the best beaches in the world. Sounds like a place I'd like to live someday.

We were looking at Destin real estate sales & rentals the other night and came across the folks at East Pass Realty. They have tons of Destin real estate sales & rentals from modestly priced land and condos to mega million dollar waterfront palaces!

Next winter when we're in Florida, we're going to take a drive up and see them.