|
We hold these truths to be self evident: that every mother’s spaghetti tastes
better than anybody else’s, and that every hometown has a hot dog dive serving
up the best hot dogs on the planet.
No argument on the spaghetti
issue, although honestly, MY mother’s spaghetti can beat YOUR mother’s
spaghetti. Also, the Dairy O hot dogs in my hometown, Orangeburg, South
Carolina, really are the best anywhere.
It’s only natural for folks to
claim their hometown eatery to be better than anybody else’s because being
loyal to hot dogs, apple pie and barbeque is the American way. Nowhere is that
more true than south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
In Orangeburg way back when,
there were two hot dog dives, one with curb service and one without. The place
on Broughton Street was truly famous for
hot dogs served to you in your car. They were ugly dogs, but who cared? A
Julius’s hot dog, even today, can bring to life saliva glands in a corpse.
In Babe’s hometown, DuBois
Pennsylvania, folks show up at Bailey’s when they crave a taste of yesterday.
Nailed to the walls are hundreds of football, basketball and wrestling team
pictures. Some of them go back as far as the forties and fifties. Bailey’s
sells all manner of fast food, but their made-to-order hot dogs topped with
their secret sauce, is why people keep coming back for more. I have to admit,
Bailey’s puts out a pretty good of a hot dog, but … they are not as good as
the ones served up at Orangeburg’s second
most famous place to bug dogs: the Dairy O. It’s impossible
for me to pass through the burg without stopping for one.
In Hendersonville it’s Hot Dog
World, touted to be one of the best restaurants in North Carolina. I know a
fellow who, when on vacation in the mountains, heads for Hot Dog World before he
unpacks a suitcase. There was even one couple who actually hosted their wedding
reception at Hot Dog World. (I didn’t make that up.)
Close to Duke University in
Durham, Pauly’s Dogs rule. Each one, created by Pauly himself, is named
appropriately. The Southern Belle is the standard h.d. with mustard, catsup,
onions and Pauly’s special sauce. Aunt Jamima is a breakfast hot dog topped
with maple syrup, and Cap’t Crunch is topped with you guessed it. Somehow I
doubt he’s ever offered one named Fido.
St. Simons Island’s hot dog
claim to fame is called Hot Dog Alley. The owner set up his business on a corner
fifteen years ago, a cart on wheels often seen at county fairs and flea markets.
I call them Roach Coaches, but that’s just me. He eventually bought the
building on that same corner next to an alley and voila! Hot Dog Alley was
re-born. A pretty good dog, but not great. But tmy opinion is jaded due to my
past eating experiences at the good Dairy O in Orangeburg, SC.
Walterboro South Carolina has
Dairyland and my kids, raised in that small lowcountry town, claim it to be the
very best. Ehhh…
When I was a student at USC in
Columbia, South Carolina, we used to go to the old Sears store in Five Points
where we gobbled up the best slaw dog ever made. Sadly, the little annex hot dog
joint that was hooked onto the big Sears building has been gone for more years
than I can count. Only the memory of that special taste is left. But oh, what a
fine memory it is.
I am on a quest to find out
where the best hot dogs can be found. Tomorrow, I am going to Hendersonville to
chow down on a recommended one from an appropriately named place: Piggies. I am
told it is so good you won’t want to stop with just one. We’ll see.
In any case, as we approach the
Fourth of July, America’s official National Hot Dog Day, I hope you’ll stop
for a moment and think about that special dive you knew as a kid, the one that
floods you with memories of days gone by. And by all means, stick to the July 4th
menu by cooking up a bunch of dogs. Serve them to your kids and grandkids while
telling them about that special place in your old hometown that served the best
hot dogs on the planet.
I dare you to name one of them
FIDO.
Mama, striving for detente, glared at her and changed the subject. “Polly, did you eat the only pulley bone on the fried chicken? I told you it was for company.” My aunt put on her sanctimonious lizard lips and smiled. “Pass the okra,” she said, “and some more of that creamy macaroni pie. Yum.”
Anytime the temperature hovers over a hundred-degrees and smothering humidity is stuck at ninety-eight percent, I can count on fried chicken, butterbeans, okra, sliced tomatoes, homemade macaroni pie, collard greens and lots of sweet tea to keep me from spontaneously combusting. Comfort food to the true Southern soul.
Oh, in case you’re wondering what happened to the token Yankee? You don’t want to know.
* * * * *
 Before writing humor columns, Cappy Hall Rearick, proudly held the title of
Miss Wikipedia. Her crown was snatched away and given to a real uppity Yankee
when, after much hemming and hawing, Cappy failed to pronounce the word
Wikipedia.
Cappy writes two humor columns and has authored three books. You can visit
her website at www.simplysoutherncappy.com
|
