What do you do when you have crossed the United States so many times its starting to get boring? Roads that match historic trails are good, but Organ Trail, Santa Fe Trail, etc.. done. What about the fun bits of the BDR’s? Yep, been there done that. I need to interlace my destination with general destinations so that I will avoid the dreaded Interstate which leads just trying to make miles – but how do you make break up the monotony?
This was on my mind when I happened across one of the “click bate” things on the Internet about the best hot dog in each state, “The best hot dog in each state” it sounded just dumb enough to make an interesting route plan. I was telling this new grand scheme of stopping at “the best” hot dog place in each state between Kansas and Florida to one of my friends when he jokingly asked if I was going to call the trip “The Fat Way Down” and the name stuck.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/other/eat-the-best-hot-dog-in-every-state
The whole hot dog thing didn’t work out exactly as planned – but in a way still worked out to achieve overall satisfactory trip. The bad thing about Hot Dog Places is that the hours of operation are not normal at all and absolutely abysmal for the weekend traveler. The good thing was it forced me to take roads and go through towns I would have otherwise missed.
My first stop was in Missouri for O’Doggy’s which as it turned out is completely closed Saturday and Sunday – Thus I started getting pictures of my reflection in the closed door.
O’Doggy’s – Closed Saturday and Sunday. -Missouri
Arkansas was a tougher location to get to as it was in a larger city during 5pm rush hour. Nothing like being in full BMW gear while in traffic and hitting every stop light possible. I eventually found “The original Scoop Dog” and it was open! I walked around it twice before I realized that only the drive through window was open. The Original Scoop Dog had a door to enter and a walk-up window but both those where closed (maybe it was covid I have no idea). I was sweating through my shirt – I had driven all day to get here and it looked like only the drive through windows was open – I was hitting a new level of being super pissed off. I realized I was pissed off from the heat and traffic and decided to just stop for a second. I took off all my gear, set in the shade for a little bit, waited for the drive through traffic to die down and then went and stood in the drive through like an absolute idiot. When I got to the order window, I explained I had been on a bike all day just to get there and wouldn’t be able to carry anything on the bike and that’s why I am walking in their drive through. The guy behind the window was very cool about all this and told me to go set in the shade and they would bring the food out to me.
The original Scoop dog – Arkansas
Small time hot dogs in Mississippi – must be some guy with a literal hot dog cart – because there is no building. I talked to some locals, and they said he shows up whenever a sports event is going on. While I did not even find the place or eat the hot dog – it was a place I would not have otherwise gone to – so I enjoyed the roads and kept on going.
Whacked Out Weiners – Florida
Whacked out Weiners was – you guessed it Closed.
It was fun to get to all these places even if they were closed or only quasi existed. I got to a point where getting to them while they were open would contradict the absurdity of the trip. This was the first time I understood the saying “it’s the journey not the destination”. With that said Hot Dog Places is a great mix to add to trips.
I want to mention the Weiner Kitchen in KC – I would have never known about it if it was not for the click bate thing. It’s a pretty cool place with an interesting menu and like many other hot dog places – it has horrible hours of operation.
The trip mapped from the Garmin InReach Mini
