The Wienermobile

Its the fantasy of many a child: take the hot dog - the ubiquitous and unofficial food of summer; the object of desire at every baseball game; the focus on your plate at every BBQ - and turn it into a car. What more could you ask for than the ability to step inside one of your favorite childhood foods and drive around? Nobody wants a damn Broccoli Van, Apple Car, or Potato Truck, but everybody loves the Wienermobile.

Sometime before noon on Sunday I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw that my friend Meghan had posted a picture of the Wienermobile with the caption, "The wienermobile is in Poughkeepsie!!!" Based on the post, it was headed north on Route 9 and had stopped had at the light at the corner of Route 9 and Spring Rd. when she was able to snap the picture. Good for Meghan seeing it, I thought - and then I was off to do what I had to do.

Fast forward 3 hours or so, when my bandmate/roadtrip buddy/motivator Tony and I pulled into the FDR Presidential Library & Museum to do some filming for one of the two music videos I'm currently working on. We pulled behind the welcome center to park and what do we see? The Wienermobile! It was parked toward the back of the lot toward in the RV parking spaces, so of course we headed over there as soon as we got out of the car. Other visitors and library staff had the same idea, and as one guy mentioned, "All this history and everyone's interested in a giant hot dog." Damn straight, but what are the odds of ever seeing the Wienermobile again? And at a presidential library, no less. As it turns out, the Wienermobile was in town for the grand opening of the new Stop & Shop near the library, so the drivers decided to stop by afterward. I guess in case you ever wondered: yes, Wienermobile drivers are interested in history, too.

And of course I couldn't resist: