And now a word from our sponsor’s. OK, so that’s not entirely true but this past weekend I had adventured up to Coney Island, Brooklyn to see some friends doing a Metal “Fest” at the now only Peggy O’Neill’s space. If you’ve gone to see The Brooklyn Cyclones at Keyspan Park, oops I mean MCU Park then you have very likely walked right passed the place or even stopped in for a beer or three. Of course, this narrative is NOT about the bar or even the Metal gig. It’s more about the side trip I made while up there.

My journey started at just after 4pm, and traditionally getting up to Coney Island from PM.com HQ was a 30 minute ride on the B64 bus.  A little boring yes, but play with your phone or music player and the time passes by quickly.  Sadly all the massive changes and cuts in the MTA service found me discovering that the B64 bus was gone and instead of a single conveyance trip, I would now have to switch three times to get to the same location.  One of the MTA workers described this as “easy” to do.  I looked at her with a level of disdain that could melt steel.  Anyways, I eventually made it up there after 1 hour and 38 minutes and had missed the first band.  Oh well.

Since the bar I was hitting was only a couple of blocks away from the classic establishment, I decided to wander back and take some photos.  My initial plan was not to eat since the bar was cooking on the grill outside as well.  I just love this particular sign at Nathan’s since it suggests “taking home” the food.  I’ve tried this a number of times and cannot even get back to the car or train without consuming my order.

My angle was a little bad for this one, as I was standing directly below the sign instead of further away.  It was a brutally hot day and there were myriads of people around so I did these shots quick.

Another look at this same space from a little more to its left side.  As it brags, this is the site of the Original Nathan’s meaning the very first hot dog stand for the eventually famous franchise. It was a tiny place way back in the day, and eventually transformed into this half block long establishment.

I didn’t bother to take shots of the folks inside cooking on the grills as I didn’t wish to appear too “touristy” and instead focused on the signage.  Above is the giant neon sign which while looking rather awesome in daylight, is much more attention getting under the moonlight.  Tell me if you disagree.

The bands were still pumping out the Metal just a block away and I could hear them clearly over the festive noise of the crowds and the nearby Cyclone roller coaster screams.  I know that I should have gotten another photo of the animated hot dog neon sign now that it was dark or said Cyclone, but now I was on a mission to eat and that was all that was on my mind.

My order was a simple 2 hot dogs and a small french fries, I’m trying to watch what I eat so I left it at this quick and easy nosh.  Did you know that Nathan’s also makes burgers, corn on the cob, fried clams, chicken sandwiches and yes frogs legs.  In the past I have had the burger, chicken sandwich and clams, but never once touched the frog’s legs.  Maybe they are good but that just doesn’t seem to be my thing.

Despite all the other culinary treats that they make, there is just something special and New York about one of this places authentic hot dogs.  The crap from the week that led up to the weekend seemed to drift away as every bite was consumed and it was clearly leaving me with a state of euphoria and calm.  Good food does that to a person, and I know that the health nuts will argue that hot dogs are not good food at all, but stand a group of them in this line over at the original Nathan’s and watch at least half of them cave into its power. Now it was time for me to return to the Metal show and see how it was progressing.  Take my advice in this because if you ever find yourself in Coney Island Brooklyn, you should make a pit stop at the Original Nathan’s.  To go out there and not do this is almost a crime.  I can’t help you if you are a vegetarian of course, but I am sure that they serve something that you can enjoy while your friends indulge this particular dining experience.

Learn more about the franchise and its history by clicking their Wikipedia entry: HERE