“Hot dogs! Get your hot dogs!” Have you ever been to a baseball game where you didn’t hear the hopeful college student shouting those two words? Up and down every aisle he went, watching as every game-goer attempted to turn down the temptation, but eventually gave in. Who could turn down a hot, juicy Frank with ketchup and mustard? Even the prudest, stuffiest gentleman in his Armani suit and just happened to be at the game on business had to grab one.
Hot dogs have become a staple in American stomach-fillers; some of our most memorable occasions include them, the family barbeque and the Friday night premiere of the latest chick flick. Even President Roosevelt served hot dogs to King George VI during a White House visit.
It seems that hot dogs have become so popular, that lovers of the beef in bun travel the country looking for the tastiest one.
“The best hot dog I ever had came right from Joe-gia,” said Walter, a Virginia native. He admitted to his obsession with the hot dog and had been on a few trips himself searching for the fulfillment of his doggone craving.
A trip to Georgia for most people is a tour of the southern urban charm; Atlanta. Proclaimed by some as the ‘New York of the South,’ people from all over the country come to journey the King Center, be set free by the latest theatrical event at the Fox, or explore new swimming and floating creatures at the Georgia Aquarium. Hot dog lovers swarm to Atlanta to stand in line at the legendary hot dog stand, The Varsity. “I been to that place but it ain’t Georgia’s best,” Walter said. “You won’t good hot dogs, you got to head down south to Al-benny.”
Welcome to Albany, Georgia, the city where Ray Charles was born and is remembered with a bronze life-size, piano playing statue. Not much has changed in Albany over the last 20 years. The troubles of city life and the blues of urbanization have yet to hit this town. No sky lofts downtown, no WiFi coffee shops filled with coffee fiends, and no traffic. The quiet and petite local sheriff’s office and the red dirt roads tell the story of a city that is comfortable, stable and secure in its place.
A scene right out of the 60’s is what the town resembles, with neighbors that speak and know the names of every child and dog in the neighborhood and a place where Sunday dinners are still a routine after church service.
“I grew up in Albany and sometimes I miss the silence that only the country can bring,” Ariel said with a short sadness in her voice. “But it’s just not progressing fast enough for me.”
There is quite a different smell in Albany’s air than what you’d smell in the big city, fresh and crisp, like it just came out of the dryer. Quite a different sky-view at night too, with clusters of shiny stars and a darkness that if not for the peace, you’d be afraid of.
Mornings arrive with home-made biscuits and pure maple syrup. The sun gleams over the Flint River, children are off to school and parents to work, but there is no rush. There’s a since of ‘simpledom’ that exists here, one that we all should experience.
At 12pm, lunch time hunger pains drive the local workers to Jackson Street for a meal that they can get no-where else. A meal that leaves the car and your hands reeking of onions and chili, but so good that the line stretches down the street.
Jimmie’s Hot Dogs has been in business in Albany for over 50 years. While there are hot dog stands all over the city, Jimmie’s has lasted through the Civil Rights riots and floods that so many other businesses succumbed to.
“Now Jimmie’s is the one thing in Albany that I do miss; those hot dogs have got to be the best that I’ve ever had,” said Albany native Ariel Morris. “When I was a kid we would go there every Saturday and eat one hot dog in the store and one in the car. By the time we got home we had chili all over our clothes and we smelled like we’d been rolling in onion powder.”
Let me get four with extra onions and a Pepsi please,” a local businessman with his head barely out of his paper proclaimed to the cashier at the counter.
The hot dogs at Jimmies come boiled or grilled with chili and onions and of course whatever condiments you want. But what makes these dogs worth traveling for is the chili. Ever had chili that tastes like heaven? No? Well, you’ve never had Jimmie’s.
“Well, ours has a special ingredient in the chili and the spices,” said Lorene Parker, an employee of Jimmie’s since 1985.
While the hot dogs are enough to bring you to Jimmie’s time and time again, the history too brings many from near and far. Jimmie’s was one of the restaurants where Civil Rights participants held sit-in’s in the 1960’s. Some even say that Dr. King came in and had a hot dog before he was jailed in Albany, a city that some say started the entire movement.
Nothing fancy on the inside of the restaurant. The workers look like they’ve been there from the first day that it opened its doors. There is a sense of family and comfort there. For some no day is complete without a seat on the bar stool at Jimmie’s and having hands dripping of chili juice.
We come down every summer for hot dogs and usually I order enough to take some back with me,” said Tony Downs an Atlanta native. “I’ve been coming to Jimmie’s for 27 years now cause’ they got the best hot dogs and it’s a tradition to share with my children.”
