STL DPB IN NEW YORK - NATHAN'S

 

On Tuesday, we took granddaughter Ellie to Coney Island, on the Atlantic shore of Brooklyn. (There is no island in sight.) It is home to a string of amusement areas that have been around since the early 20th Century. I loved our rare family visits when I was a kid. Ellie went on the wildest rides over and over, things that would twist my stomach and spine.

Coney Island is also home to another American institution, Nathan’s hot dogs. On the Fourth of July, our Independence Day, Nathan’s has a hot dog eating contest. How many sausages and buns can you cram down your throat in 10 minutes? It’s on national TV and is a bizarre spectacle. The men’s winner put away 54, which was nowhere near the record.  See https://tinyurl.com/587rxebs             

CITY DAILY PHOTO DECEMBER THEME DAY - COMFORT FOOD

 

 

Time for the City Daily Photo monthly theme day. Now that I'm the administrator I can pick anything I want, bwahahahah. The choice isn't controversial, though. We could all use some comfort at the end of this awful year. For Americans, semi-junk food like what's on offer here just goes down so good. This place isn't in St. Louis though, but in Chicago. The one place we  had that was comparable went out of business.

Dining In Manhattan

You don't need a bank loan to get something to eat in Manhattan (although it really would help in some establishments). Sabrett hot dogs sold from pushcarts have been around since my childhood and, no doubt, long before. There is another brand, Hebrew National, renowned for its quality because it is kosher. The rabbis ain't letting any pork snouts into them, no sir.

The choices these days are wider. If you don't want kosher you can get hallal or load up on falafel. If the warmth of a restaurant is preferable on a cold day, you can't spend that much at the Hard Rock Cafe (although you will certainly spend more than the food is worth). If the restaurant added an eighth day it might get an apparition of The Beatles.

FLYING WITH CARDINALS: No, not Adam Wainwright or Yadier Molina from the local baseball team. We have a lot of American Airlines points and wangled an upgrade on our way home yesterday. We ended up sitting across the aisle from His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York. He's from St. Louis. Cardinal Dolan is a tall, portly man, two weeks older than me (I looked it up). He wore a very plain wristwatch, a muted jacquard-patterned sweater over his priest's shirt, ordered the barbecue chicken salad rather than the hummus and pita plate and didn't drink alcohol (unlike us). He is known for his hard conservative theological views but was very pleasant to everyone. He read The Wall Street Journal. I guess it counts as a celebrity sighting.