It may seem a bit strange that a grown man would put “Riding in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile” on his bucket list, but life has no spice without a little quirkiness. Besides, ever since I first learned of the Wienermobile as a kid, it’s been something that I’ve wanted to do. When the opportunity finally knocked, I answered the door. 

It happened like this: I was recently participating in a travel centric twitter chat. One of the chat questions asked participants to describe their ultimate road trip vehicle. While most people replied with various sports cars, luxury cars, or recreational vehicles, I mentioned that riding in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was on my bucket list. Within a week, the PR team from Oscar Mayer contacted me offering to help me check riding in the Wienermobile off my bucket list! How cool is that?! 

I invited several friends over for a Bucket List Party the day the Wienermobile was to arrive. The team that drives the Wienermobile are called the Hotdoggers. Their names were Turkey Bacon Becca and Always Spicy Ashley. They were so much fun! They gave everybody Oscar Mayer wiener whistles, gave tours of the Wienermobile, and led us in singing “Oh I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Wiener.” Though it was raining for most of the day, they didn’t let it dampen our spirits. 

Since Becca and Ashley had never been to Atlanta, I wanted to give them a quick drive-by tour of the city. So we hit the road, driving past Turner Field, the Olympic Torch Tower, the State Capitol, Underground Atlanta, past the big neon Coca-Cola sign on Peachtree Street, the Fox Theatre, Centennial Olympic Park, CNN center, and Phillips Arena before finally stopping at Stone Mountain Park where we intended to drive the Wienermobile across the old covered bridge. That didn’t quite work our, as you’ll see in the video.

Everywhere we went, people were smiling, laughing and snapping pictures of the Wienermobile. We felt like celebrities being stalked by the paparazzi. With so many people taking pictures of the Wienermobile, you have to be careful not to pick your nose at a traffic light or it might end up on Facebook. 

Our next stop was at the Starlight Drive-In. We knew we were too early to catch a movie, but couldn’t resist the idea of one day watching a movie from the “Bun-roof” of the Wienermobile. 

If Oscar Mayer ever puts the Wienermobile for sale on Cragislist, I’m totally going to buy it. At my age I need all the help I can get in remembering where I parked. Not a problem with the Wienermobile! 

My Wienermobile journey ended as the Hotdoggers dropped me off a the Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. I had a plane to catch. As a travel geek, I love all forms of transportation. I’ve ridden in or on airplanes, helicopters, jets, cruise ships, kayaks, motorcycles, a fan boat, a Cessna, Can Am Spader, Big Rig trucks, horses, race cars and a snow cat. But nothing is as memorable as cruising around my home town in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and making people smile. 

I can’t thank Oscar Mayer, the PR team, and the amazing Hotdoggers enough for giving me this incredible bucket list experience. 

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