Aside from my family, there are two things I love in life: food and travel. Life is truly wonderful when those two things happen to meet, and more often than ever, I have been taking the opportunity to travel to different restaurants in different cities. I have taken several barbeque trips recently, and last September I visited Las Vegas and ended up on an impromptu search for the best hot dog in the city. This may seem like a crazy hobby, but with air fares low and me in possession of a LOT of Southwest Rapid Rewards points, a quick weekend to Nashville or Austin is more within reach than ever before. Besides, I have a food blog to add content to. One of the things that fans of Southwest Airlines know all too well is that in order to get to most of their destinations, a trip through Chicago Midway or Baltimore Washington International is going to be a part of your day. Now a normal person doesn’t give much thought to which connecting city they fly through, but the BaconMedic is no normal person. For me, the connecting city is completely dependent on what culinary offerings the airport offers (last year I made it a point to fly through Tampa to have a steak at Shula’s Steak House). So when it came right down to it, Chicago Midway has always trumped Baltimore. Early on I made sure I had a Chicago style hot dog at the famous Super Dawg, and when that closed, my brief panic went away when I found Gold Coast Dogs. My ‘go to’ order, whether it was 8am or 8pm is simple: a Chicago Style Hot dog and an Italian Beef Sandwich (and yes, I hang my head in shame admitting that the word ‘and’ was not supposed to be the word ‘or’).

Understand I’m not criticizing BWI specifically, its just the food offerings have been mostly – well – blah. Chain after chain dot the terminals, so inevitably I end up at Obrycki’s for crab dip and crab cakes. Unfortunately, as quick as they are in serving up some pretty decent grub, sometimes you just don’t have time for a sit down meal when trying to grab a connecting flight - and lets face it, you need to kick back and have a beer or three when eating anything crab. So I have to admit when I flew through BWI on my connection to Nashville last month I did a double take when I scurried past gate B6 and noticed new food outlet with the façade resembling an old airplane. Looking quickly, the motto on the sign said it all: “Spirit of the American Hot Dog’.

Wow, did I want to stop. But my connection said otherwise, I was holding a coveted ‘A’ boarding pass and knew that passengers were lining up. So I did the next best thing: I whipped out my phone while in line and studied the menu, promising myself that for my next trip, I would change my usual Midway routine and give this place a shot.

That promise came quickly, within a few short weeks I was passing through BWI with the BaconFamily on my way to Riviera Maya, but again, I was pressed for time to make the connection. To make matters worse, I was waiting in line for my flight, again with an A boarding pass, at gate B6 – right across from this huge tease. Skunked again!

As they say, the third time is a charm. Flying back from Mexico through BWI allowed me a full 3 hours. We cleared customs, re-checked our bags, and cleared the TSA checkpoint. The BaconFamily, having not eaten since breakfast, were hangry and headed straight for Chick-Fil-A when I pulled a last minute audible. ‘Hey guys, I’ll meet you in the food court. Gunna grab me some dogs!’. I quickly started down the long hallway down terminal B with the pep in my step that only a true foodie would understand – or someone who had just spent 3 hours in flight and needed the restroom. I was quickly in front of this ‘DC-3’ set into the wall. I was already excited about hot dogs, but the vintage aviation theme had me positively giddy. Despite having studied the online menu, I realized that I had no idea what to order; its not that I didn’t know what I wanted however. I actually wanted everything on they had to offer. Would it be the bacon wrapped Tucson Sonoran? The eclectic Q’s Seoul, complete with steak and kimchi? Or maybe the deep fried Jersey Bacon-Wrapped Ripper? I decided that the responsible thing to do would be to order two dogs and save the other options for my next flight through BWI, realizing that if this place was as good as I hoped then I would have to completely change how I book my trips.

I went first with the DC Half Smoke – partially because it seemed to be local based on the name, and partially because it was 3 simple toppings: mustard, relish and onions, my usual ‘go to’ condiments (Ketchup. No). I’m a firm believer that if you want to judge a hot dog, you should at least start with the something simple. My second choice in my mind was a no brainer. As much as I love some of the creative dogs that have been popping up over the past few years and were on the menu, at the end of the day I’m a chili dog guy. Its been one of my favorite foods since my youth when my dad and I would each order one on just about every family road trip we would go on; my favorite memory is visiting Pedro at South of the Border while we munched on these delicacies. The Cincinnati Coney, covered with shredded cheddar, onions, yellow mustard and Cincinnati style chili was screaming my name (BaconMedic! Eat me! You need me in your life! BaconMedic!). I quickly ordered my second dog and was swiftly informed of the worst news possible – they were out of shredded cheddar!

‘Would you like Swiss cheese on that dog instead?’

Huh? What? Are you asking me if I want Swiss cheese on a chili dog? My mind was swirling with this sudden change in fortunes. I was floored. A chili dog… with swiss cheese?

‘No. No thank you’

I suddenly realized I had to make a second choice. My mind was spinning; the pressure was on. In much the same way Ralphie blurt out a football when told by Santa that he would shoot his eye out if he got Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle, I panicked and ordered the Philly Cheesesteak Style Whiz Wit’. Now for those of you who don’t speak Philly Cheesesteak, that would be a hot dog with cheese whiz (the Whiz) and grilled onions (The Wit’, as in Wit’ onions). Now I have nothing against the Philly Cheesesteak as a food item, but honestly you aren’t going to get a cheesesteak better than Massachusetts own TC Landos/Carls, and that’s ‘Wit-out’ the processed stuff. Was this a mistake? In my panic, I missed the opportunity to order one of the other chili dogs on the menu, the New York Coney or the West Virginia Sauce & Slaw Dog. I went back and fourth in my head as to whether I made an error when the young lady informed me that the ‘whiz’ was not yet ready and it was going to be a long time. Now I know I certainly ‘should’ have recognized this as a mulligan, but my logical brain kicked in. Cheeze whiz? Not ready? Are you serious? I can microwave cheese whiz in 20 seconds, mixed with some salsa and you have a pretty decent dip. What’s this ‘long time’ story you are trying to weave? So instead of taking the opportunity to get my chili dog, I did what every typical stubborn New Englander did: I dug my heels in.

‘How long is a long time?’

’10 minutes’

‘I can wait. I still have 2 hours before my flight’

‘Oh.’

3 minutes later…

‘You sure you want to wait? I can put another kind of cheese on it?’

‘Are you serious? Are you going to offer me Swiss cheese again? Are you just being lazy here? What is it you have against cheese, dammit?’

Ok, I didn’t say that last part. But I thought it. Loudly.

‘Yes, I don’t mind waiting’

Of course I mind waiting! The BaconFamily is eating Chick-Fil-A while I am just trying to get a simple hot dog. During the dinner rush when everything should be nice and easy. That’s when it struck me. It was 6pm on a Tuesday night. Lots of people walking by, yet I was the only one in line. This really better be worth it.

7 minutes later, along with a free bag of chips because of the wait, I was on my way to the main seating area to eat with the BaconFamily who met me with confused looks. They were almost finished their chicken tenders and waffle fries, and by this point I was wondering if I should have just followed their lead.

All eyes were on me as I opened my first container: the DC Half Smoke. In all my stress about the Wiz, I had almost forgotten about this guy. My first bite gave me exactly what I look for in a hot dog: the snap. If its not a natural casing dog or sausage, I’m just plain not interested. But it had the snap as well as the perfect amounts of condiments. The dog itself wasn’t a traditional hot dog, it was a perfectly charred half smoked pork sausage and the flavors burst. The BaconMedic was happy, for now. Minutes later I was opening my second container. Now I would know: great choice or huge mistake? Right off the bat I was concerned when I could barely see the bun, let alone the dog. If it wasn’t for the grilled onions on top, I would have been convinced that I was served a mound of liquid cheeze whiz. I gingerly picked up the second dog, seriously worried that half of it would end up on my brand new Xcaret tee shirt. My first bite was – well – mediocre. While I see the allure of Whiz on a Philly cheesesteak, it just didn’t work with a hot dog. Perhaps it was too much Whiz, perhaps it was the combo itself, but my second hot dog ended in disappointment. The Whiz itself overwhelmed the entire dish, so much so that I’m not sure if I missed the snap or if it didn’t exist at all.

So that’s it. This particular order was a mixed bag, but DC-3 Dogs has enough on the menu to make sure I connect through BWI again. After all, there are chili dogs to try.