Apps and Abs

With three weeks of snow almost melted, Jason and I are finally back on our morning schedule at the gym. For a minute there I was really enjoying the "we're snowed in, it's stupid to even try to get to the gym without dying" mode. But I also knew it wouldn't last forever. That's cool. I was missing it anyway. So, we're glad to be getting back on track. Honestly, those two storms just stopped everything.

And good thing we're back on schedule. The title of my post references both my abs and apps. Yes!~ I found a new iPhone app - the Vienna Beef App. Yup. You put in your zip code, and it finds the nearest hot dog stand. Genius. Only one thing - on the east coast, no one knows what Vienna Beef is.

Put in any zip code in the Chicagoland area starting with 600 and literally hundreds of little eateries show up that cook up meats from Vienna Beef. Most famous the Chicago style hot dog, but not to be outdone by the Italian beef and smoked sausages. Scrolling down the list on my iPhone there were dozens of Chicagoland eats including Top Gun Dogs, Fredhots and Fries, Wiener Take All....you get the idea. Put in MY zip code - Alexandria, VA and you get two places. TWO.

I guess no one likes Vienna Beef out here - you'd think it would be more of a nationwide thing.

So out of the two eateries on the Vienna Beef app, the closest one is 26 miles away...that's an hour with traffic. The other location is 87 miles away and i fear would require an overnight stay. Still. Those two places are much closer than Fredhots and Fries in Glenview, IL - 606.9 miles away from me.

I looked into the closest eatery and it was started by a couple who moved here in 1998 from Chicago and missed the food. So, they started up Windy City Red Hots. In a truck. The guy is parked in a nursery parking lot north of DC. It's not a walk-in establishment. That’s cool. Just knowing there’s an Italian beef within an hour of our house is good enough for me.