Driving and Dining

1. Live Each Day Like It’s Your Last If you are reading this in 2012 (or, even better, 2013) than the world did not end as predicted. Still, there are definitely benefits to everyone if each day is treated like the precious gift it actually is. Let’s all say “I love you” more often this [...]

Even free events can add up to big money when you add in transportation, snacks, meals, beverages, souvenirs, and more. A.C. Haury’s’ tips for Saving Money at the Ball Park can be applied to any other event. She suggests buying tickets (when applicable) at a discount ticket site or box office and also taking public [...]

The Mermaid Parade Today we’re going to look at a local community event that takes place in Coney Island, NY once a year: the Mermaid Parade. Coney Island Mardi Gras According to the event’s page at coneyisland.com, the Mermaid Parade was  “founded in 1983 by Coney Island USA, the not-for-profit arts organization that also produces [...]

Amusement Parks That Move From Town to Town Excitement builds as you watch them set up various carts and mobile kitchens at the fairgrounds or the shopping mall parking lot. All of the usual suspects are there: the Octopus ride, the Ferris wheel, the games of chance, and the hot dog and cotton candy concession [...]

They are open year round but it seems like this month is an appropriate time to write about the Santa Claus themed parks around the  U.S. A Driving and Dining Christmas Roadside attractions seem to be closing down left and right, yet you just have to look online to see how many people love the [...]

Market On Your Calendar: Christmas Markets Near You ‘Tis the season, and Christmas markets are setting up all over the world. They exist predominantly in Germany and the UK, but there are markets in many other countries (France, Estonia, Austria, Italy, Poland). Germany The oldest Christmas market is in Dresden, Germany – it has been [...]

Snow Cones, Sno-Cones, Shaved Ice, Ice Cones Ice + flavor = whatever you call it, it’s the perfect treat for a hot day at a carnival, state fair, rodeo, parade – any outdoor event! Today I continue my regular feature about tasty concession treats, this time from a snow cone trailer. If you can buy [...]

If you’re a regular reader of drivingandining, you know that I’ve decided to feature some of the tasty (and sometimes surprising) foods you can buy from concession trailers, carts, or counters. If this is your first visit, welcome! Check out some of my other concession obsessions: the hot dog cart, the corn dog, funnel cakes, [...]

An Ode to Cotton Candy Cotton candy and carnivals – you can’t really have one without the other! Cotton candy is a staple of the concession stand culture I love so much. I bought my daughter her first cotton candy at a Disney on Ice performance. We shared it and it was a special moment, [...]

On Easter weekend I came across something I haven’t seen since I was a kid: a carnival set up in the parking lot of a shopping mall. Maybe I just haven’t been spending much time in suburbia, but this was such a fun surprise! We pulled in just as they opened and we didn’t have [...]