Tasty cheese fries, easy on the fries.
Death Cab for Cutie’s song Coney Island has been looping in my head since Chris and I trekked to the beach spot last weekend. Maybe because of the lyrics, I anticipated a desolate relic “of summers past,” a kind of Santa Monica meets Tombstone.
I can hear the Atlantic echo back,
roller coaster screams from summers past.
and everything was closed at Coney Island
and I could not help from smiling
Brooklyn will fill the beach eventually
and everyone will go except me.
The band was smart to travel off-season. This Memorial Day, it seemed every city in the world sent a delegate.
We rode the subway for an hour and, without thinking, I hopped in line at the sprawling Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand across from the station. It’s several stands, really, with lines for hot dogs, fried chicken, hamburgers and frog legs. I’ll let you guess which was shortest.
An hour away from fried bliss.
It took an hour to get a corn dog, meanwhile Chris found a taco stand, devoured his quesadilla and explored the peninsula. (Did you know Coney Island is no longer an island? A creek separating it from Brooklyn was filled in some 50 years ago. But “Coney Peninsula” doesn’t roll off the tongue.)
I can’t say the dog isn’t worth the wait. All beef aside, its history is compelling. A Polish immigrant, Nathan Handwerker, founded the business with his wife’s recipe in 1916. Al Capone and Cary Grant were regular customers. And forget kissing babies – Nelson Rockefeller said you must be photographed eating a Nathan’s hot dog to get elected in New York.
But I’d suggest walking past the big stand and hitting the boardwalk and carnival. Both have smaller Nathan’s vendors with shorter lines. And if you are feeling extra sacrilegious, hop over to the competition for a Chicago-style dog.
In the end you’ll have more time to play on the beach, eat cotton candy and check out the freak shows, which is what you’re really hungry for.
"Victory!" Or, "I went to Coney Island and all I got was fat."
Planning a trip? Try
And coming up at The Wander List: The Headless Woman, Shoot the Freak, and other Coney Island oddities.
