Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It’s a day no follower of this blog would ever want to miss.

It’s the day the nation honors all that is good with a very special taste treat.

It’s National Hot Dog Day on Wednesday.

How appropriate that just days before the big day this blogger (while visiting my parents) stumbled upon this massive hot dog, with mustard and relish, hanging in the atrium in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in my native Cleveland.

Not that I have any problem with it, but it begs to ask, why is a huge hot dog hanging from the I.M. Pei designed glass ceiling of this shrine to Rock ‘n Roll in Cleveland? (headlights and all).

Well low and behold it’s the infamous Phish hot dog!

Phish hot dog?

Where have I been?

“Hot Dog! A 15-foot flying frankfurter used as a prop by the band Phish is headed for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Members of the quartet rode to the stage aboard the jumbo frank (to the tune of an original song titled "Meatstick") when the performed New Year's Eve for 75,000 fans at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in Florida. Phish's marathon concerts and improvised mix of rock, jazz and other musical styles have won the Burlington, Vt., group a Grateful Dead-like following.

The hot dog made its debut in 1994, along with a side order of giant fries and an oversized cup, when Phish headlined a show in Boston.

"They were playing around with all kinds of ideas. Out of the blue, our drummer, Jon Fishman, blurted out, 'What if we flew out in a giant hot dog>' Everyone thought it was the greatest idea in the world," said John Paluska, Phish's manager.

Plans call for the wacky wiener to hang from the ceiling in the rock hall's main lobby, with the fries and soda installed on the museum's lower level. The steel-and-foam foodstuff on loan from the band indefinitely, will go on display in the spring, said rock hall chief curator, Jim Henke.

"The hot dog is in sort of bad shape," Henke said, "Some of the paint needs to be touched up and there are a few chunks missing. We're going to spruce it up a bit before it goes up.

We've been making an effort to go after items from more contemporary bands . . . The hot dog was just a fun piece to have. Obviously, it wasn't for the serious rock 'n' roll history of it."

The props were designed by artist Chris McGregor and built by Rocket Science, a scenery company based in San Francisco.

Asked why Phish's hot dog belongs in the rock hall, Paluska replied, "That's a good question."

Upon further reflection, he added, "I think Phish belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They're really serious musicians. But they understand the value of comic relief." "

Well you learn something every day. Add this blogger to the list of folks who believe Phish needs to be inducted into the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame!

So now you know where this blogger will be on this weekend on July 26th and 27th.

Merriweather Post Pavilion for the Phish concert. Us h ot dog lovers need to stick together. Al just a few days after National Hot Dog Day.

Thanks for the big hot dog Phish and here’s to my new favorite band getting inducted into the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame in the near future.