I Met the Wienermobile

And other celebrations

My new headshot. Photo credit: “Sizzlin’ Steve”, Hotdogger

Hi, Everyone. I want to thank you so much for all the birthday wishes I received over the past week. I’m really very touched. Also, a warm welcome to the many new subscribers who have recently joined.

A special note of gratitude to those who took the occasion of my birthday to become paying subscribers — so appreciated. I’m getting very close to a major milestone number here on Substack, so if you enjoy TTK and are able to upgrade to a paid subscription —or share a gift subscription— that would be lovely. All the best, Jolene

Hot Dog!

Back in January I (half) joked in a post here that I wanted to rent the Wienermobile for my 70th birthday.

The party I envisioned would include champagne, cocktail franks and a handful of fellow Wienermobile enthusiasts (I’m looking at you

Sarah Miller

and

Annette Laing

). We would be driven down Lake Shore Drive by a designated “Hotdogger” and feel as if we were on a parade float.

That didn’t happen. It’s trickier than you might think to secure one of the six vehicles, but I did make inquiries.

What did happen, however, is that one of the ‘mobiles blew into Chicago the afternoon of my birthday-eve for a pre-NASCAR Chicago Street Race event. So, at the eleventh hour, I was finally able to experience the grandeur of this 27 foot-long wiener-on-wheels.

Steve and Sarah, Hotdoggers Extraordinaire. Photo: Jolene

Hotdoggers with the handles “Sizzlin’ Steve” and “Sarah-Kraut” had just driven in from St. Louis and welcomed me enthusiastically. The large door of this frankfurter sanctum sanctorum opens like a DeLorean and once inside the sky ceiling looks like what

Leigh Stein

calls the “Sistine Chapel of Wieners.”

That sky! Photo: Jolene

Billed as “moving monuments to fun” the iconic Wienermobiles have been exploring America’s roads since 1936. Whether you love hot dogs (I do) or think they are the culinary handiwork of the devil himself, I think it would be hard to see this cartoon-like vehicle and not at least crack a smile.

With “Hotdogger” Steve

Of course, I wore my Substack t-shirt to convey a sense of goofy gravitas befitting my reportage. Steve and Sarah could not have been better sports, so a big shoutout-thank-you to them.

A brief history of the Wienermobile. Photo: Jolene

July is National Hot Dog Month, so it seems the perfect time to share this charming graphic by Laura Szumowski of a Chicago Style Hot Dog. I’m still partial to my NYC Gray’s Papaya hot dogs with mustard, but if you want a “dragged through the garden” Chicago dog, this is how you do it.

Chicago Style Hot Dog by Laura Szumowski ©️

Celebrate

With so much conflict and chaos in the world, shared celebrations, however small —and even in the most dire circumstances— provide moments of warmth and hope. We need them. They are not frivolous. They bring with them the essential strength and joy of connection.

I’ve never celebrated a milestone birthday with more gusto than this past one, and that makes sense to me. But after this post, I won’t be talking about it again, I promise!

So the final party favors of this birthday are some photos from the past two weeks of how I ushered in my eighth decade. It was with the joy of connection and with people I love, and for that I am grateful.

I’ll see you soon and thank you again so very much for all of your well wishes! Jolene

At my brother’s restaurant with family and friends. And, Tiramisu. (Thanks for the picture, Julia!)

With my wonderful friend of many decades, Taylor Mac, at the opening preview of his new play “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” (based on the non-fiction novel by John Berendt) at the Goodman Theater in Chicago, go see it if you’re here, closes August 11!

At 5:30pm on Sunday, June 30th, I decided I wanted to see The Rolling Stones. I snagged a single ticket for $130 bucks and by 7pm I was in my seat at Soldier Field. Everybody was given a fan and I posted this picture on my Instagram and then Soldier Field reposted it on their stories. I felt famous for 24 hrs. I had great seat mates on either side of me, the show was amazing and we all had a blast.

If you want to experience inter-generational joy and connection, just put everybody in the same place with a great band.

The Rolling Stones, June 30th, Soldier Field. Photo: Jolene

Never, never, never stop. ✨