GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — If it weren’t that this DCist ran across additional snow flakes yesterday driving through the unseasonably cold spring weather, Lake Michigan looked down-right enticing when we went to the beach. Calm water, some sun, and the summer tourists from Chicagoland were nowhere in sight. And for $1.50, a bag of chocolate-covered peanuts from Fortino’s on Washington Street was welcome treat. But we should have gotten a Pronto Pup, which is “a hotdog dipped in a corn meal batter and deep fried,” according to this Grand Haven community center site. According to Jason Kottke, the pronto pup seems to have made its way across the lake to Minnesota. But the Grand Haven variety, which have been around for the more than 50 years, are an essential beach food.

Although Lake Michigan and the Potomac River don’t seem like they share much in common, they are facing troublesome invasive species that are putting native creatures in their respective watersheds in danger. With the Potomac, we deal with the northern snakehead and gender-confused bass. With Lake Michigan, the folks here must contend with sea lamprey (which suck the life out of trout and whitefish) and zebra mussels (which stick to boats and clog up water intake pipes).

So for the next part of the DCist pre-Cinco de Mayo party trivia challenge, we ask the following questions sort of but not really related to invasive species: First, zebra mussels were introduced to the Great Lakes from ballast water dumped from European ships and can be traced to the Caspian Sea. Name the former Soviet republic that has coastline on the Caspian Sea and has its Washington embassy located on 34th Street NW. Second, a few doors to the south from that country’s embassy there is an embassy of a tiny nation that just got a new leader. The leader’s natural-born name sounds similiar to the name of a deli we drove past on the edge of Columbus’ German Village. What is the formal name of the new leader and what is the name of the deli?

Stay tuned later this evening and/or tomorrow for the final clue and the final question. Remember the final question will build off of all the other questions. If you win or are the runner-up, there are some prizes in store. One is a complimentary Flickr Pro account. The others are some goodies we have up our sleeves. Perhaps we’ll be bringing some Faygo Redpop with us as a souvenir …

For the first part of the trivia challenge, click here.
For the second part of the trivia challenge, click here.
For the third part of the trivia challenge, click here.