BOO! I have some scary news. Its officially the end of October. That means its the end of my 5th month as a hotdogger. Ah! NO! Now lets completely ignore that, live in denial, and talk about this past month (also sorry again for the length).
October has been a BUSY one. There have been lots of friends, lots of excitement, and lots of fun. So lets start from the beginning because its been awhile: Knoxville!
So you heard about the month of maintenance. Lets talk about some good stuff. Knoxville was a new city for me and Troy. Neither of us had really explored it before. On my first off day I took a rental car out of the city and headed for Burgess falls. I was feeling the need for a little mother nature, and when I arrived I was very satisfied.
At first I was a little disappointed because the waterfall wasn’t quite as big as I was expecting, but then I realized that was because it wasn’t THE waterfall. When I finally got to Burgess Falls it literally took my breath away. Absolutely worth driving out of the city for a day.
The next day, Troy and I went downtown and explored a little. We got to see the sunsphere, walk around UT, and explore the market square in Knoxville. Knoxville is very quaint and exciting. At one point, all these people were out in the park. Troy and I ran over all excited and asked, “Is this a party!!!” to which they replied “No. This is an evacuation. But you can make it a party if you want to.” Market square was so hopping we thought an evacuation was a party… Slightly off, but I did buy some great plums from the market.
We also ate at this amazing place on the square called Myrtles’ Chicken. One of the best meals of my life. Troy suggested it and I will be forever grateful. If you go to Knoxville, get this chicken.
The next night, Troy ditched me for a concert. I didn’t want to sit in the hotel, so I decided to go eat alone downtown. Parking the Wiene downtown in any city isn’t always the easiest, but that night I got lucky. A fire department waved me in, let me park the wienermobile at their station, and offered to walk me to dinner. THANK YOU FIRE DEPARTMENT. You guys are the best.
I ended up eating at this place called soccer taco. They probably thought I was weird, because I just sat there by myself eating tacos and reading a book for three hours. Whatever. Thanks for keeping me company soccer taco.
We also got to see friends in Knoxville. We went to Trivia night with a few of Troy’s friends one night and got ice cream with my friend Nick another night! Nick is so awesome and a large reason of why I have this job. He showed me a different style of leadership and encouraged me to take on more responsibility. So round of applause for Nick 👏!
The last main point of Knoxville was the FRIED PICKLE FESTIVAL. So. Much. Fun. Okay, so we roll in and they have snakes, pitt puppies, porcupines, and CAMELS! They literally had a camel at this place. They have fried pickles, cotton candy, fried oreos, and popcorn. It was heaven in a field. Take me back to the fried pickle festival. Troy and I got to pose for lots of photos with Mr. Pickle, which was an honor. The whole event was FUN FUN FUN…. and did I mention they had a camel?
CAMEL! 
SNAKE! 
PICKLE! 
TROY!
Okay, lets keep ‘er movin’ (I hang out with too many wisconsinites (@LukePitzo @ParisKarstedt)). After Knoxville, we headed on home to good ole Atlanta, GA. But going home was even sweeter because we were joined by none other than THE NUTS! Oh yes, ladies and gents. The nutmobile graced us with its presence and it did not go unappreciated.
This is mostly very exciting, because this means Troy and I get to see other people our age! YAY! On our off day, we explored centennial olympic park, ponce city market, went for trivia at Mellow Mushroom, the battery, and then dessert at my house. Ponce was a blast because we ended up taking the scooters along the Beltline and participating in a free wine tasting.
The next day, we attended the NACS convention downtown at the Georgia World Conference Center. For those of you who don’t know, NACS stands for National Association of Convenience Stores. This means that any product you would find in a convenience store was present….any… product. There was roomfuls of candy companies, meat companies, alcohol companies, gas companies, energy drink companies, bread companies, slushi companies. IF YOU HAVE SEEN IT IN A CONVENIENCE STORE, IT WAS THERE. Get that through your mind how massive this event was. Okay, we good? Good. It was massive.
Another thing, they basically just wanted the Wienermobile. They didn’t so much want me and Troy, so we spent the day wandering and raking in all the free stuff they had there. It was wild. I now have a light up baseball cap that is super stupid looking and I am not ashamed.
Also the event was just extra as all get out. So know that too.
The next day was all about chores, seeing family, seeing friends in town (@samfowler) and work. Troy and I went out with the nuts to one of my favorite spots, the Painted Duck after they finished work, but the whole day was pretty low key.
However, the day after… a magical day. We not only attended the concert of, but also met MASON RAMSEY. You might also know him as yodel boy. He is 12, and he is a star. We offered him a ride in the Wienermobile and Nutmobile, but he had no idea what they were. Sweet little nug. Mason, know you have huge fans in us. Also, I’d just like to say, that he signed a Wiener Whistle for me. He was confused, but he did it.
Saturday was also an exciting day. Troy and I got to surprise tailgaters at GA Tech! We literally just spent the day driving up to tailgates, passing out free hot dog goodie bags to people with a grill, and making memories. At one point the whole GA Tech band came and played music next to the Wienermobile. It was fairly iconic.
THEN WE WERE OFF! New week, new city. We drove up to St. Louis, but I didn’t really see it because I left on my three off days for VEGAS! And what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…. so onto the next city.
Just kidding. I arrived in Vegas and was greeted by none other than the Luke Pitzo. Luke Pitzo had a game plan, as Luke Pitzos often do. First we explored the sites: Bellagio, Eiffel Tower, Casinos… an amazing ramen place (note, food will become a key component of this trip). After the ramen place, we met Luke’s hotdogger partner, Amanda, and her boyfriend (also Luke) at a place called flights for more food (told you).
Bellagio 
Fake Eiffel Tower
This place was awesome. They had a plane hanging from the ceiling, the waiters and waitresses were called flight attendants, you pressed a button to get their attention, all the food and drinks came in flights, and they had clever names. I was very amused.
The group at flights 
This killed me
After flights, we got drinks at the chandelier bar and then headed to dinner. Yes… we did just eat twice and then go to eat again. ITS VEGAS BABY! and they have great food. After dinner, Luke and I went on a gondola ride. They gondola dude told us some pretty weird stories, which I don’t think I should share here. But if you’re curious, feel free to call me.
Post gondola, we explored the underground mall in Cesar’s Palace and then watched the Bellagio fountain show. Nothing. Beats. That. Its so cool. Whoever programs those fountains…. props to you.
The next morning, we attended a time share meeting…. Hilton told us if we attended this meeting then they would give us our rooms for like $25 dollars and give us $150 of spending money. So yea, worth it for the rooms. I was low key kind of sold on the time share though. They are very good sales people. Luke was not amused with me entertaining the idea 🙂
Once we’d gotten our spending money, we hit up the hotel pool and spent it all on more food! Everything in Vegas is extremely over priced. We spent a few hours chilling pool side before dinner (more food) and seeing the VEGAS sign! Luke also took me to this really cool rooftop bar with an amazing view of the strip. We did not fit in, but I loved it.
pool side 🙂 
Views 
vegas sign!
After that it was back home to the wiene and to Troy (don’t worry. He was at Mizzou the whole week with all his college friends while I was gone). We took the Wiene down to Mizzou and got to be a part of Mizzou Homecoming. “Hey idk if you knew, but Mizzou was the first school to have homecoming.” If another Mizzou person says that to me….. Ugh shake it off.
Before the parade 
Me and Truman
But in all seriousness, it was cool to see Troy in his natural habitat, plus we had a different group of nuts with us too, which always adds to the fun! We did the huge homecoming parade and Troy got to sit on the bunroof with Truman the tiger (who he used to be). Later, We passed out hot dogs at the tailgate again and chauffeured Truman around. It was a pretty amazing weekend.
To add to the fun, I got to spend a night tailgating and cheering for the Tigers with my best friend from home, Cole. We are about as different as two people can get, but man, I love every second I spend with that guy. He is truly an amazing person down to the core. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, so the quality time was appreciated. Love you Cole Loco.
Before we left Missouri, we had a final stop to make. The Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival! Woot woot! For a town that small, Hartsburg sure knows how to put on a festival. There was some pretty amazing food, including the tornado potato, which I shoved down my throat in the span of a minute. Thanks for the invite Hartsburg.
POTATO TORNADO 
pumpkins
Then we were off to Atlanta again! But another adventure was on the horizon!
On my off days in Atlanta, I decided to take another vacation to go see the wonderful Mikayla. Another hotdogger/best friend who I have mentioned before. We both decided to fly out of our markets and meet up in LA to drive up the coast on Pacific Coast Hwy 1.
I arrived in L.A. pretty late on my off day and was surprised at the airport by none other than Mikayla and Luke Pitzo!!! And of course, they came riding up in our sweet mustang convertible that we had rented.
We dropped Luke off at his hotel and started girls trip. Mik and I covered a ton in 2 days. Like a ton. We drove up the coast of California from LA to San Jose, stopping at a variety of places along the way. The brief version is this:
The first night we stayed in an adorable RV air bnb where the woman customized all these signs for us and went and got us groceries. When we woke up we hit all the major spots in LA: Hollywood sign, observatory, palm tree street, and walk of fame. Then we headed to the coast and Santa Monica Pier.
Next we hit up Pepperdine outside of Malibu, one thousand steps and Stearns wharf in Santa Barbara, and the beaches of Gaviota for the sunset. We drove through the Santa Ynez valley at dusk and then went to sleep in a new air bnb up in Cambria.
When we woke up the next day, we started by viewing the elephant seals at the vista point. They were so gross sounding and hilarious. I think its safe to say the seals were one of our favorite stops.
From there we drove up to Big Sur. The morning had some of the worse fog I’d ever seen, so the drive was very different from the previous day. It was still incredibly gorgeous in an entirely different way, but the sun soon came out and the ocean view returned. We made a quick stop at McWay Falls and a secret cove the guide app we were using told us about (long live Steve).
Next up was Pfeiffer Beach. We were worried about making it to Pfeiffer because we had heard it was always full and people were blocked from seeing the beach. However, the guy at the gate told us we were lucky and the beach was fairly empty. It was probably one of the most beautiful beaches I have seen. The sand was tinted slightly purple and the rock formations jutting out of the icy ocean were astounding. Definitely another one of our favorite stops.
Next we made it to Bixby Creek Bridge, which was a moment Mikayla and I had been dreaming about. Bixby Creek is the iconic Highway 1 bridge that you see pictures of everywhere. We spent a while appreciating the bridge and the surrounding view before heading on up to Monterey where we did a section of the 17 mile drive before having to leave to get me to the airport.
The trip was absolutely incredible, and doing it with Mik made it even better. I know its something we will both remember for the rest of our lives. If you want to see more, I posted a video I made on my Facebook and Instagram.
Back in Atlanta, the week was pretty standard save for a very cold, rainy, and windy event and a sandwich I made into a Wienermobile. Nothing too crazy. I have to say, going from driving a mustang down the coast of California to standing in the cold rain outside a Kroger was a bit of a shock, but lucky for me the Wienermobile has blue skies always so everything was fine. Plus, when I got home to the airport this guy was waiting for me, and he always puts a smile on my face.
And here is the Wienermobile sandwich….. mmmm appetizing.
Troy almost vomited watching me make it. I’m clearly showcasing the meat product in a desirable way.
I was able to spend a few nights at home thought, as well as go to the haunted house in Atlanta with my sister. Friday night me and papa Sprat also made the drive up to Greenville, SC for Furman Homecoming. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time there, but it was worth it to see my people.
Netherworld 
Furman Homecoming 
Furman Friends 
Still in uniform….
Onto our last city! You’re almost to the end, I promise. After Atlanta, we headed to Goldsboro, NC. Its tiny and not near much. The days here were LAZY and AMAZING. Troy and I vegged out and did nothing. At one point I left the hotel to get my phone fixed and to see a friend, Colleen, from Furman. But beyond that, nothing.
I think Troy and I were both pretty exhausted from the previous weeks, so it was just time to crash and we were both very okay with that. Now we are in Gainsville, FL celebrating Halloweenie! I’ll leave the details of Gainsville for the next post, but I appreciate those who have stuck it through to this point. You probably feel like this:
Per usual, Franks for coming to ketchup with me!
Hot Diggity Dot
And if you’re wondering… here is my schedule over the next few weeks:
- Oct 28th – Nov 4th: Gainsville, FL
- Nov 4th – Nov 12th: Augusta, GA (this is an exciting week!!!)
- Nov 12th – Nov 18th: Charlotte, NC
- Nov 18th – Nov 19th: Dayton, OH
- Nov 19th – Nov 22nd: Milwaukee, WI
- Nov 22nd – Nov 24th: Chicago, IL
- And then home for Franksgiving!!!
Hot Dog Dot and the Wienermobile! 