10 Top Ways to Celebrate National Hot Dog Day in Upstate New York

July 17th is National Hot Dog Day. And I am ready to celebrate!

Hot dogs are a wonderful "vehicle" sandwich, much like a hamburger. They are a palette on which to paint with delicious toppings. Most franks (but not all) are the same all beef hot dog. That's fine, even though we like Glazier's red hots, and Hofmann "snappy grillers" too. But lets stick with a good old American all beef hot dog. Now, what to put on top of it?

Well, as this list shows, the toppings you can come up with are limited only by your imagination. And these ten hot dog venues really do stretch that imagination. And, lets assume that most folks will put either mustard, ketchup or sauerkraut on a hot dog. But what else?

Meat sauce is naturally a very popular topping and we find lots of them on our list. Funnily enough, many places that have been serving mini-hot dogs with a meat sauce on them are centered in the Capital District. Famous Lunch is on here, but also as a representative of Gus's, Hot Dog Charlie's, and other places that have been grill rolling these babies for 50 and 60 years or more.

So I don't want to spoil it for you. Go ahead and check out these "dog houses." It's a fun gallery. But, I just cant resist telling you to take a look at #9 in this gallery. That place gets the prize for the most creative wieners of them all (you will see a photo).

"Hot dogs!" "Get Your hot dogs!!"

"Hot Dog!!" It's National Hot Dog Day! Celebrate in Upstate New York Here!

July 17 is National Hot Dog Day. Not that we don't celebrate wieners all the time. But this give us a good chance to highlight a selection of the great hot dog places we can dine in around Upstate New York.

So, how do you like your dog? As for me give me spicy mustard and pickle relish and I am a happy camper. Seems basic. Well, wait until you see what some of the hot dog concoctions we have on this list. I mean, a hot dog with Reuben fixings on top? A big yes.

If your favorite hot dog stand didn't make this list (there are over 100 of them), please visit our Facebook page and give it a shout out!

Gallery Credit: Chuck D'Imperio

Is This the Best Museum in Upstate New York? Here Are 25 Reasons Why We Say YES!!

The rarest military medal in the U.S. (given only once). The story of the "Newspaper Weight King" of Upstate New York. A vintage Lion costume from The Wizard of Oz. Who remembers "Grasshopper Shoes" from the 1950s? Or the most famous "Exploding Guitar" in music history.

In this writer's opinion The New York State Museum in Albany is without a doubt the best historic museum in the state. With an uncountable number of items in its collection, one could easily spend a couple of days visiting here (and it is free!). Topics range from the dinosaurs and wooly mammoths that crawled our state in the Ice Age, all the way up to the largest and most comprehensive exhibit about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. And there is a lot of fun stuff along the way. Check out this list for some great and weird surprises you can find at this treasure in our state's capital.

As you peruse this list of 25 of (maybe) the most interesting things in the museum, you might say to yourself "Wait, it is just an old cup," or "OK, so we all had little Kewpie Dolls," and what's the big deal? You will see that they (and all of the others) have fantastic back stories to them and all indeed really were big deals.

With tens of thousands of items to choose from, this writer really likes these 25. I mean, really likes them!

Gallery Credit: Chuck D'Imperio

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