KSO VI Announced the new rules for 2009. Big move by Krystal, and I'm excited. No dunking? Seriously?! This is going to be interesting, in a good way. All I keep thinking about is the funnel cake eating contest when Ryan Nerz briefly announced that dunking would not be allowed; talk about terrified competitive eaters! Maybe it was because they were not prepared, in which case Krystal has given ample time for preparation but still, this is huge! Also, they have implemented another twist that I am almost positive was inspired by Super Mario Brothers. Each eater will have five of Krystal's new Angus Big Burgers. These burger are the equivalent of five average Krystals, and the eaters will be able to eat these at any point in the contest in order to boost up their count. All I have to say about that, is that Krystal will need some very good Bunnettes for this change, and I think Sadie and myself are perfect candidates (cough!cough!).
I'm excited. Krystal, you never disappoint and I am way excited for the trip to Chatty!
Jamie
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Day 6: 4th of July!
Yet another early start for us on our trip, but it was easy to get out of bed knowing what was to come on this 4th of July. Bagels in hand, we got on the subway again for the long journey to Coney Island. We got to Surf & Stillwell around 8:40 Saturday morning, trying to scope out a good spot to stand for today's momentous event. Gates were set up all around the stage area so no one was really allowed to get close to the stage. Around 9:30 security opened up those gates to let in the masses and we fought our way to the front like crazy women fight for a free snow globe on the day after Thanksgiving. We ended up getting spots right in the spray zone and were surround by fans from all over the country who soon became our friends for the day. A couple from California right in front of us came to cheer on Kobayashi. Some Pennsylvania boys beside of us were die hard Joey Chestnut fans who came to NYC without telling their parents, hoping they wouldn't be spotted ESPN.
Nathan's did a good job of keeping us entertained for the 4 hours we stood there in the hot sun before the contest began even though they passed out thundersticks. Ever since last year's Krystal Square Off I have decided that thundersticks have to be the most annoying thing ever invented. Anyway, some old school funk type band played for a while and there were a few circus acts performed on the stage including jump ropers, weenie dogs who can do tricks, and a contortionist/gymnast type person. George Shea also did a pretty sweet Michael Jackson tribute--moonwalking and doing the MJ lean.
One of the best parts of the pre-show was Badlands Booker's rap about saving Coney Island. It kind of got down right political; people were yelling "TAKE US NOW" right along with Badlands and everybody seemed to get into it. It was awesome to be there right in the middle of it. Badlands Booker: if you read this you should totally post a recording of that song online.
Finally, at high noon, the big show had begun. The bunnettes came out on stage and it was cool to see some of them after reading the bunnette boot camp stuff online. We had been reading Zoe's blog and were glad she made it as a bunnette this year. Next, the eaters were announced. The eaters only had one introduction this year, not really giving them a lot of time to flaunt their stuff on stage. The intros actually seemed a little rushed. Pat Bertoletti came to the contest dressed as Tony Clifton, and as a long time Andy Kaufman fan, I thought it was an excellent idea! The crowds screamed for the favorites as they were announced, and everyone was excited to get the show on the road. We did notice that one eater was missing--Rich LeFevre. We didn't find out until a few days later that he was absent because of an illness. The judges were brought out and Beautiful Brian Seiken was judging right in front of us and gave Jamie his camera to take some pictures for him.
Around 12:40 the countdown started and the eaters began eating the first few minutes were chaotic to watch, not knowing where to look. It was exciting to be right in front of the stage, but it was also hard to see around the judges. Joey and Kobayashi looked to be neck & neck throughout most of the competition and Eater X definitely held his own as well. From where were standing it was hard to see Pat Bertoletti but we knew he had to be close as well. We had a really good view of Hall Hunt, Juliet Lee, and Humble Bob so we cheered them on from our spot in the spray zone.
In the end, Joey Chestnut won the contest eating 68 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes, Takeru Kobayashi in 2nd with 64.5, Pat Bertoletti in 3rd with 55, and Eater X in 4th with 53. Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas also set a new female record eating 41 hot dogs and buns.
After the contest, Jamie managed to get a left over hot dog and we went to the boardwalk. It was nice to finally sit down after standing up for five hours. We got a little sunburned during the contest, but that wasn't something a few beers at the after party couldn't fix. It was fun getting to hang out with some eaters and friends after the contest and we even met some people we hadn't met in person (Steakbellie, Crazy Leg's mom, & others). We even got a personal invite to the after-after party by none other than Crazy Legs Conti himself.
By 3:00, our stomachs were telling us it was time to go, and we headed back to Manhattan. We made a mad rush to McDonald's because we hadn't eaten in like 8 hours and nothing seemed more delicious at the time than a double cheese burger and a large chocolate shake. Bellies full and rested up, we got ready and went out to the after-after party. The night was filled with drinking many drinks, making new friends, blowing in a breathalyzer, and doing our best drunk white-girl dance. A fun night was had by all.
Sunday morning at 7:14am, we boarded our train and rode from Penn Station to Trenton, Trenton to Philly, and drove the long haul from Philadelphia to North Carolina, arriving back home Sunday night. Round trip, we spent 986 miles driving in a car and probably 200 miles on a train. Totally worth it--I would do it again tomorrow if I could.
Being at Coney Island on July 4th was the most American way I could ever imagine spending Independence Day. This will definitely be the first of many more July 4th trips to New York City!
For more pictures, from our trip click here!
We've got a few videos from our trip that I have yet to upload, so be sure to check back for those.
Thanks for reading, ya'll. See ya at Krystal on September 27th (...or maybe before, who knows)!
--Sadie
Nathan's did a good job of keeping us entertained for the 4 hours we stood there in the hot sun before the contest began even though they passed out thundersticks. Ever since last year's Krystal Square Off I have decided that thundersticks have to be the most annoying thing ever invented. Anyway, some old school funk type band played for a while and there were a few circus acts performed on the stage including jump ropers, weenie dogs who can do tricks, and a contortionist/gymnast type person. George Shea also did a pretty sweet Michael Jackson tribute--moonwalking and doing the MJ lean.
One of the best parts of the pre-show was Badlands Booker's rap about saving Coney Island. It kind of got down right political; people were yelling "TAKE US NOW" right along with Badlands and everybody seemed to get into it. It was awesome to be there right in the middle of it. Badlands Booker: if you read this you should totally post a recording of that song online.
Finally, at high noon, the big show had begun. The bunnettes came out on stage and it was cool to see some of them after reading the bunnette boot camp stuff online. We had been reading Zoe's blog and were glad she made it as a bunnette this year. Next, the eaters were announced. The eaters only had one introduction this year, not really giving them a lot of time to flaunt their stuff on stage. The intros actually seemed a little rushed. Pat Bertoletti came to the contest dressed as Tony Clifton, and as a long time Andy Kaufman fan, I thought it was an excellent idea! The crowds screamed for the favorites as they were announced, and everyone was excited to get the show on the road. We did notice that one eater was missing--Rich LeFevre. We didn't find out until a few days later that he was absent because of an illness. The judges were brought out and Beautiful Brian Seiken was judging right in front of us and gave Jamie his camera to take some pictures for him.
Around 12:40 the countdown started and the eaters began eating the first few minutes were chaotic to watch, not knowing where to look. It was exciting to be right in front of the stage, but it was also hard to see around the judges. Joey and Kobayashi looked to be neck & neck throughout most of the competition and Eater X definitely held his own as well. From where were standing it was hard to see Pat Bertoletti but we knew he had to be close as well. We had a really good view of Hall Hunt, Juliet Lee, and Humble Bob so we cheered them on from our spot in the spray zone.
In the end, Joey Chestnut won the contest eating 68 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes, Takeru Kobayashi in 2nd with 64.5, Pat Bertoletti in 3rd with 55, and Eater X in 4th with 53. Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas also set a new female record eating 41 hot dogs and buns.
After the contest, Jamie managed to get a left over hot dog and we went to the boardwalk. It was nice to finally sit down after standing up for five hours. We got a little sunburned during the contest, but that wasn't something a few beers at the after party couldn't fix. It was fun getting to hang out with some eaters and friends after the contest and we even met some people we hadn't met in person (Steakbellie, Crazy Leg's mom, & others). We even got a personal invite to the after-after party by none other than Crazy Legs Conti himself.
By 3:00, our stomachs were telling us it was time to go, and we headed back to Manhattan. We made a mad rush to McDonald's because we hadn't eaten in like 8 hours and nothing seemed more delicious at the time than a double cheese burger and a large chocolate shake. Bellies full and rested up, we got ready and went out to the after-after party. The night was filled with drinking many drinks, making new friends, blowing in a breathalyzer, and doing our best drunk white-girl dance. A fun night was had by all.
Sunday morning at 7:14am, we boarded our train and rode from Penn Station to Trenton, Trenton to Philly, and drove the long haul from Philadelphia to North Carolina, arriving back home Sunday night. Round trip, we spent 986 miles driving in a car and probably 200 miles on a train. Totally worth it--I would do it again tomorrow if I could.
Being at Coney Island on July 4th was the most American way I could ever imagine spending Independence Day. This will definitely be the first of many more July 4th trips to New York City!
For more pictures, from our trip click here!
We've got a few videos from our trip that I have yet to upload, so be sure to check back for those.
Thanks for reading, ya'll. See ya at Krystal on September 27th (...or maybe before, who knows)!
--Sadie
Day 5: Humans vs Elephants/Touring NYC
Friday morning greeted us with a list full of fun activities. We mapped our routes for the day which started by taking the subway from Manhattan to Coney Island to witness the first ever elephant vs human bun eating contest. Once in Coney, we walked around the boardwalk for a while and finally made our way to the Boom-A-Ring circus area for the morning events. As fans of all things white trash, we were excited to find Gravedigger (the monster truck) on display at the circus.
We met up with fellow eating fan, Valerie, who managed to get in the press area and was able to take some amazing pictures. Before the contest began, we were able to talk to Juliet Lee who is as lovely in person as she is in pictures. It was pretty exciting because she knew who we were even before we introduced ourselves.
Right before the contest began, there were some PETA protesters right outside of the gate yelling stuff about Ringling Brothers and how they treat their animals. Coming from small-town North Carolina, we had never seen any PETA protesters before in real life, so that was interesting. Anyway, the humans put up a good fight against the elephants, cramming as many buns as possible in their mouths, but the gentle giants prevailed in the end. It was actually pretty cute watching the elephants eat because sometimes one bun would fall on the ground and they would reach down and grab that single bun instead of a big bunch of buns on the table. In the end, the humans ate a combined 147 buns and the elephants ate a total of 505.
After watching mass bun consumption, it was time for us to do some eating of our own. Carrie, Jamie, Valerie, and I made our way over to Nathan's Famous on the corner of Surf and Stillwell to experience the glory of a Nathan's Hot dog--well they did, I had chili cheese fries instead. I am not a hot dog eater--at all--but I did taste a bite of Carrie's chili dog just to say that I had eaten one, and it was pretty good (for a hot dog).
We made our way over to the Coney Island Cyclone which was a pretty big damn deal for us because of our past roller coaster obsession. Any coaster enthusiast knows that the Coney Island Cyclone is the ride everyone must take at least once in their lives, and riding it was amazing! We each sat in our own seat and were tossed around on every turn and were lifted out of our seats, experiencing maximum airtime. The Cyclone is officially the best wooden coaster in the world!
Leaving Coney Island, we found our way through Brooklyn to Junior's restaurant for a slice of cheesecake. The slices were huge, and still being full from Nathan's, we decided to split a piece of devil's food cheesecake. Excellent choice on our part, because the cream cheese mixed with the dark chocolate was a tasty combination.
Other things we did on our day of being tourists:
-Saw Wall Street/New York Stock Exchange
-Visited Canal Street and bought knock offs (Carrie got a purse, I got a watch. Both broke within 24 hours.)
-Found the outside shot of the Cosby Show house
-Saw the Dakota, where John Lennon was shot
-Went to Strawberry Fields
-Walked around Times Square at night
-Ate at the Magnolia Bakery (I had a brownie with cream cheese icing/toffee/pecans. DELICIOUS!)
Overall, our touristy day in New York was busy and awesome. Next post: 4th of July!
We met up with fellow eating fan, Valerie, who managed to get in the press area and was able to take some amazing pictures. Before the contest began, we were able to talk to Juliet Lee who is as lovely in person as she is in pictures. It was pretty exciting because she knew who we were even before we introduced ourselves.
Right before the contest began, there were some PETA protesters right outside of the gate yelling stuff about Ringling Brothers and how they treat their animals. Coming from small-town North Carolina, we had never seen any PETA protesters before in real life, so that was interesting. Anyway, the humans put up a good fight against the elephants, cramming as many buns as possible in their mouths, but the gentle giants prevailed in the end. It was actually pretty cute watching the elephants eat because sometimes one bun would fall on the ground and they would reach down and grab that single bun instead of a big bunch of buns on the table. In the end, the humans ate a combined 147 buns and the elephants ate a total of 505.
After watching mass bun consumption, it was time for us to do some eating of our own. Carrie, Jamie, Valerie, and I made our way over to Nathan's Famous on the corner of Surf and Stillwell to experience the glory of a Nathan's Hot dog--well they did, I had chili cheese fries instead. I am not a hot dog eater--at all--but I did taste a bite of Carrie's chili dog just to say that I had eaten one, and it was pretty good (for a hot dog).
We made our way over to the Coney Island Cyclone which was a pretty big damn deal for us because of our past roller coaster obsession. Any coaster enthusiast knows that the Coney Island Cyclone is the ride everyone must take at least once in their lives, and riding it was amazing! We each sat in our own seat and were tossed around on every turn and were lifted out of our seats, experiencing maximum airtime. The Cyclone is officially the best wooden coaster in the world!
Leaving Coney Island, we found our way through Brooklyn to Junior's restaurant for a slice of cheesecake. The slices were huge, and still being full from Nathan's, we decided to split a piece of devil's food cheesecake. Excellent choice on our part, because the cream cheese mixed with the dark chocolate was a tasty combination.
After consuming thousands of calories between Nathan's and Junior's we decided that it would be a good idea to walk back to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. Walking the bridge was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip because we were able to see great views of the city without being rushed.
Other things we did on our day of being tourists:
-Saw Wall Street/New York Stock Exchange
-Visited Canal Street and bought knock offs (Carrie got a purse, I got a watch. Both broke within 24 hours.)
-Found the outside shot of the Cosby Show house
-Saw the Dakota, where John Lennon was shot
-Went to Strawberry Fields
-Walked around Times Square at night
-Ate at the Magnolia Bakery (I had a brownie with cream cheese icing/toffee/pecans. DELICIOUS!)
Overall, our touristy day in New York was busy and awesome. Next post: 4th of July!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Day 4-Thursday in NYC
Our journey to New York City began around 8:45in Philadelphia. Our Philadelphia hostess, Amanda, helped get us to the subway train that took us to the commuter train which took us to Trenton, New Jersey. The ride from Philly to Trenton took about 45 minutes and then we hopped trains from Trenton to Penn Station in New York, which took about an hour or so.
Once in The Big Apple, we hailed a cab to take us to my friend Stephanie's apartment. We had originally planned on walking to her place but it started raining and I had a heavy bag full of Sun Drops to deliver to our New York hostess, so it seemed easier to catch a ride. By this point it was time to eat again, so we dropped off our bags at our new home for three nights, met up with Stephanie, and walked a block or two to Blockheads and indulged in some delicious burritos and tons of chips and salsa. We parted our ways with Stephanie after lunch and headed out to explore the city.
We didn't really have an agenda for the first day so we just walked around until we saw something to look at. We ended up finding the Plaza Hotel, which was exciting for us because we love Home Alone 2! We also checked out F.A.O. Schwartz and saw the Big piano, Trump Tower, and walked into a few expensive fancy New York clothes stores.
We were pretty tired after traveling/walking all day so we decided just to take it easy Thursday night. The evening was spent laying around Stephanie's apartment, gorging on pizza and garlic knots from Fat Sal's, and watching the Sex and the City movie. Another early night in for us!
Coming next: Humans vs Elephants, Cheesecake, & Gurtitation.
Once in The Big Apple, we hailed a cab to take us to my friend Stephanie's apartment. We had originally planned on walking to her place but it started raining and I had a heavy bag full of Sun Drops to deliver to our New York hostess, so it seemed easier to catch a ride. By this point it was time to eat again, so we dropped off our bags at our new home for three nights, met up with Stephanie, and walked a block or two to Blockheads and indulged in some delicious burritos and tons of chips and salsa. We parted our ways with Stephanie after lunch and headed out to explore the city.
We didn't really have an agenda for the first day so we just walked around until we saw something to look at. We ended up finding the Plaza Hotel, which was exciting for us because we love Home Alone 2! We also checked out F.A.O. Schwartz and saw the Big piano, Trump Tower, and walked into a few expensive fancy New York clothes stores.
We were pretty tired after traveling/walking all day so we decided just to take it easy Thursday night. The evening was spent laying around Stephanie's apartment, gorging on pizza and garlic knots from Fat Sal's, and watching the Sex and the City movie. Another early night in for us!
Coming next: Humans vs Elephants, Cheesecake, & Gurtitation.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Day 3: Philly
We left Baltimore around 9 and headed towards Philadelphia. Our first major stop once in Philly was to settle the great cheesesteak debate: Geno's vs Pat's. We plugged the address into the GPS and it took us directly to the intersection of artery-clogging heaven. We decided to try Pat's first. We sent Carrie to order our "Cheese Wit" because Jamie and I were too intimidated.
We'd seen the TV shows about how to order sandwiches at these places and were afraid we'd mess up. Anyway, the sandwich was delicious. Cheez Whiz may or may not be real cheese but it sure does make a sandwich delicious.
We'd seen the TV shows about how to order sandwiches at these places and were afraid we'd mess up. Anyway, the sandwich was delicious. Cheez Whiz may or may not be real cheese but it sure does make a sandwich delicious.
After Pat's we walked over to Geno's. By this point, I was over my fear of ordering and got our sandwich. This time we got a cheesesteak with onions and provolone. Once again, we were not disappointed with our sandwich choice.
So, which is better according to the HungrySisters--Geno's or Pat's? We couldn't come to a unanimous decision, but here is what we did decide:
So, which is better according to the HungrySisters--Geno's or Pat's? We couldn't come to a unanimous decision, but here is what we did decide:
-All three of us thought that the bread at Geno's was far superior to Pat's
-Sadie: Liked the chopped meat at Pat's and preferred Cheez Whiz to provolone
-Carrie: Liked the sliced meat at Geno's and preferred provolone cheese
-Jamie: Liked it all
With our bellies full of steak & cheese, we set off. We did all of the American touristy things: saw the Liberty Bell, Constitution Hall, Independence Hall, Ben Franklin's grave, Carpenter's Hall, and went to Reading Terminal Market. We literally could have spent all day in the market sampling the different foods. We will definitely be back to visit! It was awesome! We were still full from our sandwiches earlier so we just had a snack in the market at Famous 4th Street Cookies. I had a pecan chocolate chip cookie, Carrie had an original chocolate chip cookie, and Jamie got chocolate chip dipped in chocolate icing. The cookies were amazing; they look like they will be hard and crunchy on the outside but they are deliciously dense and chewy on the inside.
After many miles of walking and sight seeing, we met our friend/Philly hostess Amanda who took us to a bar participating in Center City Sips--a Wednesday night happy hour program in Philadelphia. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but I do know that they had $2 Yuenglings and 1/2 price nacho supreme appetizers, an excellent way to end a long day of touring Philly.
We headed back to Amanda's place and fell asleep pretty early again which seemed to be an on-going yet very necessary theme of our trip.
--Sadie
American Road Trip: Night 1/Day 2
Recap of the beginning of our trip
Monday Night, Night 1:
-Made lasagna for Carrie and Jamie so we wouldn't have to stop and eat on the way
-Left Winston-Salem, North Carolina around 6:00
-Arrived in Charlottesville, Virginia around 9:15
-Stayed with high school friends Matt and Kristina. Watched the Golden Girls until Midnight.
Tuesday Morning, Day 2:
-Woke up to a delicious breakfast cooked by Matt
-Parted ways with our first hosts around 9am.
-Stopped at the Prince Michael Winery in Virginia for a free tour and wine tasting at 10:30am.
-Drove into Baltimore
Monday Night, Night 1:
-Made lasagna for Carrie and Jamie so we wouldn't have to stop and eat on the way
-Left Winston-Salem, North Carolina around 6:00
-Arrived in Charlottesville, Virginia around 9:15
-Stayed with high school friends Matt and Kristina. Watched the Golden Girls until Midnight.
Tuesday Morning, Day 2:
-Woke up to a delicious breakfast cooked by Matt
-Parted ways with our first hosts around 9am.
-Stopped at the Prince Michael Winery in Virginia for a free tour and wine tasting at 10:30am.
-Drove into Baltimore
Tuesday Afternoon:
-Stopped at Charm City Cakes in hopes to catch a peak at the Ace of Cakes but did not succeed. It was exciting to see the building, anyway.
-Stopped at Charm City Cakes in hopes to catch a peak at the Ace of Cakes but did not succeed. It was exciting to see the building, anyway.
-Checked into the Radisson Lord Baltimore Hotel around 2:00. Carrie found a sweet deal on Travelzoo for a plaza level room which included a free cocktail hors d'oeuvre reception.
-By this point we were starving so we headed down to the Inner Harbor and enjoyed a delicious crab cake sandwich.
-The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around Baltimore admiring the city. It started raining so we took advantage of relaxing in our awesome hotel room.
-By this point we were starving so we headed down to the Inner Harbor and enjoyed a delicious crab cake sandwich.
-The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around Baltimore admiring the city. It started raining so we took advantage of relaxing in our awesome hotel room.
Tuesday Night
-Around 9:00 we got hungry again so we tried to venture outside of the hotel for some food but ended up just walking around the block and back inside. It was still raining a little and some sketchy people were outside of our hotel so we just went back inside to the hotel restaurant.
-An annoying drunk tourist man at the hotel restaurant kept trying to come sit with us and would not leave us alone. Our waiter asked him to leave us alone and then the guy started to verbally abuse the waiter. The guy got kicked out. Thanks Christoper at the Lord Baltimore Radisson for defending our honor!
-Went to sleep around 10:00.
-Around 9:00 we got hungry again so we tried to venture outside of the hotel for some food but ended up just walking around the block and back inside. It was still raining a little and some sketchy people were outside of our hotel so we just went back inside to the hotel restaurant.
-An annoying drunk tourist man at the hotel restaurant kept trying to come sit with us and would not leave us alone. Our waiter asked him to leave us alone and then the guy started to verbally abuse the waiter. The guy got kicked out. Thanks Christoper at the Lord Baltimore Radisson for defending our honor!
-Went to sleep around 10:00.
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Great American Road Trip
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Starting today, not two but three Hungry Sisters will set out on our 'Great American Road Trip' with the ultimate goal of ending up at Coney Island for the hot dog eating contest on July 4th. As of right now, our route goes as follows:
Asheville NC>Hickory NC>Winston-Salem NC>Charlottesville VA>Washington DC>Baltimore MD>Philadelphia PA>Manhattan NY>Coney Island NY.
We've got lots of fun American stops planned on the way which consists of visiting lots of old friends, tourist traps, museums, local dive restaurants and many other fun surprises. Be sure to follow us either here or on our twitter. We'll update whenever we get the chance!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
King's Dominion/Funnel Cake Contest Trip Report
4:45 am came very early Saturday morning, but it was easy to wake up knowing the fun day that was to come. Jamie and I left Mooresville, N.C. around 5:15 and set out to our destination of the day: Kings Dominion in Doswell, VA. Our drive through the great states of North Carolina and Virginia was very pleasant—no traffic problems at all.
Our first stop on the trip was at Biscuitville . Biscuitville is a chain of 52 restaurants, located in North Carolina and Virginia that serves (obviously) breakfast biscuits. Although it is a North Carolina chain, this was our first time visiting a Biscuitville since there isn’t one in our hometown. We’ve always wanted to go to one, though, and decided to seize this opportunity and stop for a quick bite to eat. I ordered a sausage biscuit and Jamie got the bacon, egg, & cheese along with a side of grits. Biscuitville’s claim to fame is that they make fresh biscuits from scratch every 20 minutes. Where we ate (in Burlington, NC), there was a window at the front of the restaurant where you could see the biscuit lady actually rolling out the dough…nice touch! Our breakfast was delightful and we would definitely stop at a Biscuitville in the future, however, if I had to choose between here and Bojangles, I would pick BoJ’s.
Back on the road, we stopped two more times, once at the I-85 Virginia State Line Welcome Center, which was a very nice rest stop, and again in South Hill, V.A. to get gas and use the facilities. The South Hill gas station was a peculiar little place…the only thing around the exit was this one gas station and a Mexican restaurant. Luckily, we were here to not only take a bathroom break but to make a purchase as well because there were signs all over the doors that said “It costs to flush the toilet, you must make a purchase to use the bathroom, etc.” Out of all of the convenience store bathrooms I’ve visited, I have never seen anything like that in my life. Very interesting. This was our last stop until we arrived in Doswell.
We got to Kings Dominion around 10:45 a.m. and went to guest services to pick up our tickets. Many thanks to John at Kings Dominion who hooked us up with some complimentary “press” tickets to cover the events of the day. Once in the park, Jamie and I decided to squeeze in a few rides before the Funnel Cake Eating Contest at 1:00. We planned on riding Dominator but the line looked too long and we didn’t want to risk anything. We moved on to Anaconda and only waited for about 10 minutes before we were able to ride. This is an older coaster so it definitely threw riders around a little. The first drop was awesome, though, and the ride itself was worth the short wait in line.
By this time it was getting close to 12:30 so we made our way to the Eiffel Tower, where the Funnel Cake Eating Contest was to be held. A crowd had already started to gather and many of the eaters were already there mingling. Ryan Nerz was announcing and was looking pretty fly in his gray suit and orange tie…yeah I bet ya’ll didn’t know we did fashion commentary as well. This was the first time we’d seen him be the M.C. so that was cool since we’ve both read Eat This Book. Badlands Booker busted out some flows before the contest began and got the audience pumped up by rapping about the Sweet Science of Competitive Eating.
By around 12:45 all of the eaters had arrived except Sonya Thomas so Ryan had to stall a little to see if she would show up in time. After 1:00, the Black Widow still hadn’t shown, so he decided start without her. After all of the eaters were introduced on stage and began filling up their cups with their respective beverages, Ryan began announcing the rules of the game. Each plate of funnel cake had been weighed in at 2 pounds. The funnel cake was baked, not fried, and contained no powdered sugar on top. The contest would be 10 minutes long and no dunking would be allowed. Wait, WHAT? No dunking? The look on a few eaters’ faces was pretty priceless. I’m not sure if Ryan accidentally said that, if he was just joking, or if that was the original plan, but he quickly retracted the statement and said “dunking is okay”. Just as the contest was about to begin, Sonya Thomas arrived. Looking very cute but a little disoriented, Sonya was running late because of traffic, but she did make it on time to compete!
A few minutes later, the countdown began and the eaters were off. Strings of funnel cake drenched in water/kool-aid/Gatorade/whatever were shoved into the mouths of the eaters. Pat and Joey seemed to be pretty neck and neck the entire contest. About two minutes before the contest was to be over Joey broke the record for funnel cake consumption. As the last minute approached, the eaters looked pretty relieved it was almost over. The contest ended, all of the funnel cake debris was picked up off the ground and wringed out of the cups, placed on the plates to be weighed with the remaining cakes. The King’s Dominion officials took a while to tabulate up the weight of the consumption and finally came to the conclusion that the totals for Joey Chestnut and Pat Bertoletti were too close to call. There would have to be an eat-off.
The rules of the eat off: The first to eat either two pounds of funnel cake or whoever ate the most funnel cake in two minutes would win. Both competitors looked a little worried about having to stuff even more funnel cake in their bodies, but they accepted the challenge and the eat-off began. In the end, Joey Chestnut ended up winning with 7.3 total pounds of funnel cake. It was a good contest. We’d never gotten to see an eat-off in person, so that was pretty exciting! In the end, Hall Hunt came in 4th place eating 3.8 pounds, Humble Bob in 3rd with 4.8 pounds, and Pat Bertoletti ended up eating 7 pounds. Dora the Explorer awarded the top four winners were awarded a big blue check, signed by Sponge Bob.
After the contest was over, Jamie and I left the park and set up our tent at the King’s Dominion Campground. The campground itself was pretty cool, they had a pool and a little ice cream booth, and it was the perfect little place to camp while visiting King’s Dominion. Once we set up or campsite, we went back over to the park and rode Dominator (a floorless roller coaster), which was awesome and then decided to head over to Volcano: The Blast Coaster—the #1 thing we were hoping to ride. The line was pretty long, around an hour wait, but we decided to stick it out because we really wanted to ride. We saw Pat B. and Nasty Nate waiting in the line, so I guess eating the funnel cake didn’t stop them from taking advantage of their day at the park. The ride itself was definitely worth the wait and was our favorite ride of the day. We tried to go hit up the water park but it was pretty crowded, so we just went back to the campground and enjoyed the pool there for a while.
By this point, it was getting late and we were getting really hungry. After checkin out the Doswell scene, we quickly found out that if we wanted something to eat, our few options would be Burger King, Denny’s, or the restaurant at the truck stop. Doswell isn’t the most happening place in the world, that’s for sure. Craving pizza, we decided to go down the road a few miles to Ashland and ended up eating at Tony’s Grill and Pizza Restaurant, ordered a mushroom pizza, and devoured it in like 5 minutes. Ashland was a fun little town; if we ever go back to King’s Dominion I think we’ll stay at either one of the hotels there or maybe even Richmond. Lots more to choose from in regards to food and entertainment. It was starting to get dark and we were pretty tired so we called it an early night and slept to the sounds of crickets chirping in our secluded little campsite. It was nice to finally get a little rest.
Wow… I didn’t mean for this to get this long…! Anyway, to sum it all up, our trip was really fun, the roller coasters did not disappoint, and the contest was quite entertaining. We drove about 630 miles round trip and made it back home around 1:30 Sunday afternoon. It was a Memorial Day weekend well spent.
Upcoming Plans for the Summer:
-Nathan’s Qualifier in Charlotte, NC—June 13th (the only person we know of in the contest is Super Paul Barlow, anyone else going?)
-Las Vegas, June 14th—Honeymoon/anniversary/gambling/eating/drinking/fun
-July 4th—Big road trip planned that involves Philadelphia, Jamie’s first trip to the Big Apple, and of course Coney Island. Stay tuned!
We'll try to upload some more pics to our blog, but if you wanna see more, check out Sadie's facebook.
See ya next time!
--Sadie and Jamie
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Full Circle
Long before our love for competitive eating developed, the Hungry Sisters used to be die-hard roller coaster fanatics. We took MANY family vacations throughout the eastern-ish part of the U.S. to visit some of the best amusement parks around. Between all three of us, we've at least covered Cedar Point, Disney World, Busch Gardens, Holiday World, Six Flags over Georgia, Carowinds, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, and others I can't even think of off the top of my head. We read CoasterBuzz religiously. Come to think of it, our love for roller coasters is also one of the factors of our then-developing Dairy Queen obsession--we stopped at many Dairy Queens off the interstate on these long family vacations.
We watched every Travel Channel show ever produced about roller coasters and amusement parks and even had a lot of them recorded on VHS. We rode Millennium Force the first year it was open; we dreamt of getting tossed around on the Coney Island Cyclone. The thrill ride is what thrilled the Carpenters.
Jamie, Carrie, & Me in front of Deja Vu at Six Flags over Georgia, Summer 2001
We watched every Travel Channel show ever produced about roller coasters and amusement parks and even had a lot of them recorded on VHS. We rode Millennium Force the first year it was open; we dreamt of getting tossed around on the Coney Island Cyclone. The thrill ride is what thrilled the Carpenters.
Then...we all got old and went to college. The epic amusement park road trip became a thing of the past
Until now. Next Saturday, Jamie and I will unite our past love of roller coasters with our present love of competitive eating at the Kings Dominion Funnel Cake Eating Contest.
Maybe this is the start (or should I say re-start) of a new era of roller coaster themed trips. Now, if we could only have a Dairy Queen Blizzard Eating Contest IN an amusement park, our lives would be complete.
We'll be sure to post a review and pictures of this momentous event....but for now, let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we?
Maybe this is the start (or should I say re-start) of a new era of roller coaster themed trips. Now, if we could only have a Dairy Queen Blizzard Eating Contest IN an amusement park, our lives would be complete.
We'll be sure to post a review and pictures of this momentous event....but for now, let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we?
Jamie, Carrie, & Me in front of Deja Vu at Six Flags over Georgia, Summer 2001
Daddy, Me, Carrie, & Jamie in a 4 hour line for Millennium Force--Cedar Point, June 2000
Memaw, Jamie, Carrie, & Me at the entrance to King's Dominion, June 2002
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Confirmed!
Hungry Sisters Road Trip
When:Memorial Day Weekend
Where: Kings Dominion, Doswell, VA
Why: Watching/covering the Funnel Cake Eating Contest, riding roller coasters, and possibly tent camping
What a great way to start this summer off right!
When:Memorial Day Weekend
Where: Kings Dominion, Doswell, VA
Why: Watching/covering the Funnel Cake Eating Contest, riding roller coasters, and possibly tent camping
What a great way to start this summer off right!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Our Favorite Foods #6: Krispy Kreme
As implied in our Bojangles post, we have been blessed to grow up in North Carolina. Call me partial, but no other state in the country has a more delicious food history as the Old North State. In a recent article, students at a North Carolina school learn the history of classic North Carolina foods such as Mt. Olive Pickles, Cheerwine, Bojangles, and the ever-so-heavenly Krispy Kreme Doughnut.
Krispy Kreme
Original glazed
Hot and now: right off the line
Give me a dozen
The flavor explosion that occurs after eating a still-warm Krispy Kreme Doughnut is something that cannot be replicated. The thing literally melts in your mouth. Sadly, though, I can rarely enjoy this treat because there isn't a Krispy Kreme in my current town--we only have a crappy Dunkin' Donuts. However, in two months I am moving to Winston-Salem which just happens to be home/national headquarters of Krispy Kreme. My despair will soon turn into joy, accompanied by weight gain.
Krispy Kreme is a big deal here in North Carolina. I've taken part in MANY Krispy Kreme FUND Raisers throughout my day as a youth group member and marching band participant. Although I consider Krispy Kreme a "N.C. thang", some of my most fond Krispy Kreme memories come straight from South Carolina, where many hot doughnuts were consumed after midnight, following an evening of Myrtle Beach mayhem:
Krispy Kreme
Original glazed
Hot and now: right off the line
Give me a dozen
The flavor explosion that occurs after eating a still-warm Krispy Kreme Doughnut is something that cannot be replicated. The thing literally melts in your mouth. Sadly, though, I can rarely enjoy this treat because there isn't a Krispy Kreme in my current town--we only have a crappy Dunkin' Donuts. However, in two months I am moving to Winston-Salem which just happens to be home/national headquarters of Krispy Kreme. My despair will soon turn into joy, accompanied by weight gain.
Krispy Kreme is a big deal here in North Carolina. I've taken part in MANY Krispy Kreme FUND Raisers throughout my day as a youth group member and marching band participant. Although I consider Krispy Kreme a "N.C. thang", some of my most fond Krispy Kreme memories come straight from South Carolina, where many hot doughnuts were consumed after midnight, following an evening of Myrtle Beach mayhem:
--Sadie
P.S. we have finally joined the twitter craze: http://twitter.com/hungrysisters
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Hiatus
This time of year is generally busy for us.... but have no fear--school is about to end which means we'll have more time to write!
Quick Updates:
-Jamie signed up to compete in the Charlotte Nathan's Qualifier but hasn't heard anything yet whether or not she'll get a chance to eat. Either way, we will be there to witness this event. Maybe I can get shot #3 as a bunnette??!!??
-We're thinking about driving up to Doswell VA for the Funnel Cake contest on May 23rd at King's Dominion. Eating contest + amusement park = a good time. Two of our all-time favorite things!
-July 4th plans are still up in the air.
-The new Dairy Queen Midnight Truffle Blizzard is one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten in my life. This thing should be added to the permanent menu.
--Sadie
Quick Updates:
-Jamie signed up to compete in the Charlotte Nathan's Qualifier but hasn't heard anything yet whether or not she'll get a chance to eat. Either way, we will be there to witness this event. Maybe I can get shot #3 as a bunnette??!!??
-We're thinking about driving up to Doswell VA for the Funnel Cake contest on May 23rd at King's Dominion. Eating contest + amusement park = a good time. Two of our all-time favorite things!
-July 4th plans are still up in the air.
-The new Dairy Queen Midnight Truffle Blizzard is one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten in my life. This thing should be added to the permanent menu.
--Sadie
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