9th Annual Hot Dog Tour - South Western NH

 

Per Alan’s usual attention to detail and generosity, we were handed our mystery bag with our intended itinerary for the day. 

Yup, Beth guessed NH and she wins the prize.  We knew it was going to be a bit further than previous tours because we had a 9:00 am “be there” at the Aubins.  

HD Swag

Not only did we have a colored itinerary of the hot dog stands/places we would be visiting, but hand wipes, Slim Jim’s wrapped to look like hot dogs, gummy dogs and baseball caps with a hot dog on the front.  Women got pink and gentlemen, I use that term loosely, received blue caps. 

We took flight first to Walpole, NH and Dog Daze Hot Dogs.  I use the word “flight” because NH was the first public flight of the Wright Brothers in 1908.  There would be no “flights” of beer today, though; all hotdogs!

Nicole and Ryan - Dog Daze

We were excitedly greeted by Nicole who owns the stand with her husband Ryan.  They bought the business from her parents three years ago.  Prior, her parents owned it after he had enough of the car sales business and after 6 years of dishing up dogs, he decided it was time to wrap it up.  So Dog Daze is a family owned business.  When she saw us approaching in our gray A to Z hot dog tour shirts and baseball caps, she knew we weren’t the run of the mill customers. 

When there are many different varieties to choose from, it takes us a few minutes to make our selections.  Dog Daze has a spin the wheel with all their dogs on it for those who just can’t make up their mind.  But, each of us made our selections with little hesitation.

BLT & Luau

Beth, or Battling Betty, as she is known because she battles to keep  up with Tom, Alan and Terry, chose the first ever on a menu, Asher.  The Asher is a steamed, natural casing Kayem hotdog with peanut butter, fluff, chocolate syrup and real bacon bits served in a New England style bun (All DD dogs are done this way).  It did not disappoint.  Really good!  Her second choice was the Anna (her daughter’s middle name is Anna and her m.i.l. was Anna).  The Anna was a dog topped with cooked peppers and onions.  Plentiful and tasty.   No complaints at all on these two.

Anna & Benny

Tom had an Anna also, We do love our daughter.  The Benny was his second dog.  The Benny consists of Asian slaw, sirracha mayo and sesame seeds.  Not surprised by that choice.  He loves it HOT!    Again, all good things to say about his dogs.

Alan tried the BLT, a Special for t he day.  MMMM good!  Cooling it down a bit, he had the Luau for dog number two.  Fried spam!  Yup, you are reading it right, spam covered in pineapple chunks and bacon.  Nothing bad to say about the Luau either.

Asher and Buffalo Blue

Terry followed Beth’s choice of the Asher  and then a Buffalo Blue.  The BB consisted of wing sauce, ranch dressing and bacon.  No bits or buts here, always fresh cooked bacon bits.

Nicole told her the Asher was originally called the Skunk dog which her parents had on a trip to Winchendon, MA.  The PB/Fluff and Chocolate syrup does look like the stripes on a skunk.  But, it doesn’t smell like a skunk, it smells sweet and heavenly.  So, when her dad started Dog Daze, he kept that dog and called it Asher.   I didn’t ask why Asher, sorry,  If you go to Dog Daze in Walpole, NH, remember to ask how the name Asher came to be and let us know.

Ryan was so taken by our annual hot dog tour, he gave us four free black nylon Dog Daze T-shirts with their logo on the front and on the back it says, “The party doesn’t start until the wieners come out!”  I would say, Dog Daze was the weiner (winner) of the tour today.  Not only for their great tasting dogs and 25 different dogs from which to choose but for their generous spirit.  In keeping with NH’s motto – “Live Free or Die”, they were very generous with four free t-shirts and their
dogs are to die for.

Only thing they could do to improve the experience would be to have a couple of tables with umbrellas for people to eat under in the shade.    8 Dogs eaten and 26 more to go to beat our record of 34 for one tour.

Wooo Dog

Motoring on, as they do at Loudon Motor Speedway in NH, we headed to Swanzey, NH for Wooo Doggies.  Yes, Swanzey, not Swazey as in Patrick!  Sorry to disappoint!  Anyway, Wooo Doggies  was purchased by Kevin in Oct. of 2023.  Kevin also serves steamed skinless Kayem dogs in a Pepperidge Farms NE bun.   Kevin offers 6 – 5 sided tables with Coca Cola umbrellas for his customers to sit and enjoy.    There is also a port-a-potty there for customer convenience.  But, on to the more important reason for us to be here.  Beth started with a Bacon Bleu.  You guessed it – Bleu cheese dressing topped with artificial bacon bits (sad) but okay.  Second dog was your typical chili cheese dog.  I believe the chili was canned but had fresh tomato chunks on top with liquid cheese topping.  Again, standard and nothing really exciting.  Hard act to follow after Dog Daze. 

Hot Diggity Dog & Chili Cole Slaw

Tom keeping with being the man of hot, did the hot diggity dog.  And it didn’t disappoint, it was HOT!,  Tom also chose the Bacon Bleu for his follow up dog.  Bleu cheese dressing cooled down his palate after the Hot diggity dog.

Alan saw Tom enjoying his hot diggity dog, so he joined the ranks of the men of hot.  Followed by a chili slaw dog.  Chili topped with slaw.  This was the special of the day,  2 chili slaw dogs, bag of chips and a drink for $7.00!  Not bad. 

Terry went for the chili cheese dog and then a steamed dog with BBQ sauce and onions.  Good choices for her too. 

Wooo Dog Seating

Both Dog Daze and Wooo Doggies had a steady stream of customers despite the heat.  Good for them!!

Each year, when we get together once a month to enjoy pizza (yes, not always dogs) and play games and cards, we play SCAT or 31 using scratch tickets.  Winnings are then put into the Hot Dog Tour box and we use that money to offset the cost of our dogs.  This year, we had $41 in winnings so we used it for Wooo Doggies leaving us with $9.00 for either ice cream (as Terry tries to convince us to cleanse our palates, but we know it’s her love of ice cream) or our next step.

16 dogs in our bread baskets!

Ain’t no Stoppin’ Us Now! 

Keene NH

NH is the first in the nation to hold a Presidential primary and I wonder if it’s because NH also has the Presidential Range of Mountains in the White Mountains.  Anyway, Alan has a Keene sense when it comes to planning our tours.  Keene is spelled right here because our hot dog tour break was in Keene, NH.  Terry loves to shop and Main St, Keene is a great place for shops showcasing local artists, eclectic mix of restaurants and of course, the all important Ice Cream or in this case, Gelato in the Eat More Cake Bakery.  Getting out of the muggy heat and into the frosty cool air made me think of Robert Frost who wrote a collection of poem called New Hampshire which won the Pulitzer Prize.   The men opted to save room for more hotdogs but us women, went for the Belgian Chocolate Gelato.  We convinced ourselves that gelato was a healthier and lighter choice.  We can talk
ourselves into anything!!  As often happens when we are on our tours, people spot our shirts and ask, “what is this hot dog tour all about.”  This happened again as Beth was walking down Main St..  Two couples from Fairfield, CT on a brewery tour, asked for information.  People are always impressed about our annual tour and often suggest considering us to open it up as a side business.  I won’t say it hasn’t been discussed but then it wouldn’t be fun, it would be a business. 

Forgot to mention on the way up, we found a playlist of songs about hot dogs and listened to a couple – one by Buck Owens and the other sung by Led Zepplin.  Now there are two Old Men of the Mountain (NH reference of their once famous Old Man of the Mountain) which is now sadly in need of a serious face lift.

The Dog House Walpole, NH

Break time is over so let’s continue….Go East young man, go East.  All Aboard with engineer Tom driving to Milford, NH to check out The Dog House.  Hellyn Egan started the business on 7/11/1982.  Her daughter, Bridget and son Tom, now run and operate both the hot dog house and the rustic treasure.  The Dog House has been nominated for the best hot dogs in the 603 area.  603 being the area code for this area of NH.   The Dog House also placed in the top 5 best hot dogs in NH.  It also has on site a small Rustic Treasure Gift Shack – how did Alan know?  Trying to stay in good with the wife Alan???

Toasted Homemade Bun

What probably make their dogs amongst the best are the homemade grilled rolls from Bova Bakery in North Boston, MA.  They were very good.  Light but yet sturdy enough to house a good size hot dog.  They offer three hot dog lengths 6”, 10” and 12”.  Can you guess by now what Beth ordered?  Well, she wanted a 6” but in order to get the homemade BOVA bun, you have to order a 10” or 12”.  Well, she manned up as they say, and ordered a 10” skinless, steamed Kayem dog topped with sweet pepper relish and a no sugar A&W crème soda to enjoy at the picnic tables under a large pine tree wrapped with twinkling lights.  There are also Adirondack chairs, tables and café style set ups to sit at for your dining
pleasure. 

12" Hot Dog

Of course, the remaining Amigos each ordered 12” dogs.  Tom had his dog topped with Sabrat red onions (interesting topping of onions in a transparent sauce with a little kick).  Terry joined Tom in the same choice.  Alan’s 12” hotdog was topped with bread and butter pickles.  They enjoyed canned sparkling apple cider by Live Appley out of Hollis NH.  They both had good ratings for their beverage.  For their desserts later in the day or week, Alan bought a raspberry and white chocolate Whoopie Pie and Terry brought home a traditional chocolate with cream filling Whoopie Pie along with a couple of souvenirs from the Rustic Treasures.

In our tally so far, we count 12” hotdogs as two hotdogs.  Adding up 3 – 12” dogs and Beth’s 10” dog, we concluded we have now eaten 24 dogs before heading home.  Now, the pressure is on.  Can we beat 34 hot dogs?

Gouda Stuffed Hot Dogs

 A little mix up on Beth’s part but easily remedied, we took food she had made at her house over to Alan and Terry’s for chef extraordinaire Alan to heat up and add to his back-home menu.  Thankfully, our ride back to MA from Milford NH was just under two hours.  We took the scenic route home to avoid the early weekend highway traffic.  This gave us time to digest what we had consumed and prepare our tummies for more dogs going down the hatch!

Berlinki HotDog

The internet is full of hotdog recipes.  Beth opted to make cornbread muffins with 1/3 of a dog in the middle along with canned jalapeno peppers as an appetizer.  She prepared Wardinski hotdogs from Buffalo NY  by inserting slices of Gouda cheese in the middle wrapped by cooked bacon strips and glazed with BBQ sauce, similar to a Memphis style dog.  Another app was ½ a Wardinski dog with small slices half way up the dog then the other half wrapped in Pillsbury dough wraps, brushed with an egg wash and rolled in grated Parmesan cheese.  When baked the slices curl up and it resembles an octopus.  You then add eyes from sliced black olives for the finishing touch.  Lastly, for dessert were hotdog sugar cookies food colored to resemble a hot dog in a regular dough bun topped with green food colored coconut and gel strips of mustard. 

Octopus Shaped  Hot Dogs

Alan also had Berlinki thin Polish hot dogs purchased in New Britain CT with red onions as an option.  His dessert was homemade pound cake in the shape of a hot dog bun.  The hot dog was chocolate ice cream formed into the shape of a hot dog, frozen and then placed inside the pound cake bun!  So much creativity; a great advantage of Google.

Dessert Hot Dog

So I know you are wondering – did we beat our record?  Counting up the ½ dogs in the Octopus app and the 1/3 hot dog cornbread muffins plus the naked Memphis dog Beth ate and the dogs Tom and Alan ate, we were still down by two.  But wait, I forgot Terry.  Earlier in the tour, Tom was warning Terry that eating ice cream had no place on a hot dog tour and could jeopardize our effort to beat our record.  Well, Terry, never to be outsmarted put us up and over to 36.3 hotdogs!  “Tom, put that in your smipe and poke it.”  All in good fun!

Starting from scratch again, that’s scratch tickets, I mean.  We not only had 36.3 weiners today, but we had winners of $46 for our Hot Dog Tour box for next year’s tour which will be the 10^th annual.  We are planning an overnight tour possibly in NY. 

Good bye from the Granite State and look forward to 2025 with us in the Big Apple State.