"...youth's a stuff will not endure." (Shakespeare 'Twelfth Night'

.....There used to be two locations where I could get a couple of hot dogs and fries from Nathan's--one in Boca Raton and one in Boynton Beach and then the one in Boca closed down.  Oh, yes, and there was a Nathan's venue in the Lake Worth plaza on the Florida Tpke., but it closed down also. Sadly, then the one in Boynton Beach closed down, and I was devastated and had severe withdrawal symptoms for lack of a Nathan's hot dog and fries. This lack went on for a whole year and was severely exacerbated when I also broke my hip back in March and both of these events led to a depression unalleviated and painful. Yes, having to endure a Hebrew National hot dog did not help either the pain or the depression. However, I became my old cheerful self once again when I discovered a Nathan's venue very recently inside of a K-Mart store just east of I-95 and Palmetto Park Rd.!  It was rather strange to be eating Nathan's hot dogs inside of a department store, but that did not affect the delicious experience.

.....I was reminded of the zeitgeist days that I used to go to Coney Island when I was a kid and ate at the ORIGINAL Nathan's.  Hot dogs were a nickel back then, but the high price did not matter to me.  Along with the hot dog, I also used to opt for a chow mein sandwich which Nathan's offered at the time.  Coney Island was a long way from the Bronx on the el, so I had to make the most of it as far as having fun was concerned.  Of course, I was always with a girlfriend and we went on the Cyclone roller coaster, of which there was no equal in the world.  Then what was called The Steeplechase, where you sat on a horse--not a real one, but almost-- for the ride was on rails and you rode that horse as though it was Seabiscuit; although it was way before that horse was born. Then there was the Spooky House which led you on a scary ride, mostly in the dark.  That gave the girlfriend an opportunity to scream and grab me around my neck; and gave me the opportunity for other things a guy might do in the dark, driven by raging hormones--and also a bit scary, depending on how well you knew the girl.  

.....After the rides, it was wonderful just to walk on the boardwalk and smell the ocean and watch the seagulls. We would stop and get some salt water taffy or some cotton candy or some chocolate fudge and then stop for awhile to play some miniature golf.  Sadly, it was dusk by this time and I had to get the girl back home before it got really dark. The experience cost me about $1.35--almost all of my weekly allowance, but I had to admit it was worth it; especially Nathan's and the darkness of the Spooky House.  There is no fun like that anymore; not anywhere. Not even close. Why is it that by the time you get your head straight, you're too tired or too ill or too immobile to do anything about it. I have no regrets about youth being wasted on the young; I guess I wasted my youth having fun and eating hot dogs, but who cares?