Driving and Dining

I ♥ Hot Chocolate Today, an ode to hot chocolate – a sweet treat popular around the world and available everywhere: from fancy restaurants to vending machines, concession stands to the comfort of your own home. Hot Chocolate History Xocolatl The Spanish Conquistador Cortez of Mexico had a goblet of hot chocolate every day – [...]

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 [...]

It’s Apple Season It’s apple season and my husband and our two daughters headed out to our local apple festival. Next year, we will arrive early because we got there an hour before the end and they had sold out of apples! They also didn’t have any apple pie left. Sigh. On a happier note, [...]

World’s Biggest Pumpkins Howard Dill of Nova Scotia is given credit for starting the giant pumpkin craze. According to worldsbiggestpumpkins.com, he has won the Guiness title for world’s largest pumpkin four times.  He also developed Dill’s Atlantic Giant Pumpkin Seeds. World’s Fastest Pumpkin? This pumpkin carriage was made by Kenny Tetrault at Creaturemankt.com. Windsor, Nova [...]

Candy Apples Today we take a look at a common concession confection: the candy apple. Personally, I always think these things are much more appealing in theory than the actual experience – but some people out there must love them because they are very popular. While many people tend to call apples wrapped or dipped [...]

August 19th is Potato Day Just when I’ve finished celebrating Sneak Some Zucchini On Your Neighbor’s Porch day (August 8), I realized that Potato Day is right around the corner on August 19th. I had a lot of fun celebrating SSZOYNP (see above) day this year because it was my first year with a vegetable [...]

Drivingandining regulars 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, and others. The Big Pretzel The [...]

Memorial Day Memories Memorial Day began as Decoration Day, a day to honor soldiers who died during the Civil War. A Federal holiday, Memorial Day grew to become a day to remember all men and women who died during US military service. Traditionally people visit cemeteries or memorials to pay tribute to fallen military personnel. In [...]