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It was a lovely Memorial Day weekend! The weather was nice, I went to a couple of fun places, and saw many friendly faces. I celebrated the holiday this year in Atlantic City, NJ and Island Park, NY. One of the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Contest qualifiers was held at the Trump Plaza Casino Beach Bar. What a neat place that is - very exotic, with palm trees and an island theme on the beach. The crowd was huge, friendly, and very enthusiastic. I won the contest and set a new personal best of 30.5 hot dogs and buns. This was a little short of my goal, but I'm not too disappointed with that total. As long as I continue to make some progress, I can stay optimistic about what I can eventually do.
George Shea was the master of ceremonies and head judge. I like it when George oversees the contest because he is strict about making sure everyone follows the rules and fair about making deductions. Even though I thought that I ate a bit more than what I was credited, I'm fine with George's determination. There's always next time, I know I can do better, and I'm only the second woman ever to eat over 30 in competition. The people from Trump Plaza gave me really big, pretty trophy, too. That was a fun surprise.
Actually, I thought everyone did really well Saturday under the bright sunshine on the beach. Several eaters, like Eric "Steakbellie" Livingston, Dave "US Male" Goldstein, and Pat "from Moonachie" Philbin achieved new personal bests and clearly are strong contenders for the final table in Coney Island. I hope they all make it, and look forward to seeing them on Independence Day.
The next day, I headed to Long Island in search of Cherrystone clams. I'm pretty familiar with oysters, but I don't recall ever eating raw clams on the half-shell. Peter, Dominic and his wife Yolanda from Peter's Clam House were so nice when I stopped by the restaurant to try a couple. They're good, but I was kind of surprised at how different they really were from oysters. The other food I saw on the menu looked tasty, so it took some willpower not to eat everything I wanted before the contest. Peter's Clam House is another of those super sponsors that obviously makes everything about their contest and the eaters a top priority. They demonstrated that you don't have to be a billion-dollar operation to hold a top-notch contest. This contest will probably become one the 'must do'events on the CE circuit after word spreads about what a great job everyone at Peter's does.
I won the contest on Memorial Day with a total of 23 dozen plus one extra oyster in six minutes - a new world record! Tim "Eater X" Janus came in second with 20 and Micah "Wing Kong" Collins rounded out the top three at 16 dozen. Actually, I had several more before I left just because they were good. You might say that I left the contest "happy as a clam."
Stay Lovely,
Juliet
