Did you know that Oakland, Maine used to be the ax and scythe capital of New England?? Sadly, we were about 150 years too late to witness the great scythe and ax frenzy.
While we were getting unloaded I took Jas for a walk on a misty country road that looked like it was right out of a Stephen King novel, but without any murderous dogs, cars, or prom queens.
This railroad track reminded me of one of my favorite movies ever, Stand By Me (another story based on a Stephen King book) and made me want to have an adventure while looking for a dead body with my weirdo pals in the 1950's.
If you haven't seen Stand By Me, what is wrong with you??, download it or rent it now. The movie is funny, sweet, sad, perfectly cast, and well done. Read this if you're a fan, because Wil Wheaton is awesome and not just for his collating skills.
Later, we found a real restaurant (not a truck stop or a chain) in Farmington that had a parking lot big enough for our truck and we finally got a taste of Maine's famous lobster roll.
It was very simple and at first I thought; meh, kinda bland. But evey bite got better, more lobstery and buttery and toasty bun-y and I didn't want it to end even though halfway through I was full. But like a champ, I kept going because it was that good.
I could eat about 11 more right now.
Random New England Facts
✔ There are more Dunkin Donuts™ per square mile in New England than anywhere else in the world. (I made that fact up but that doesn't mean it isn't true.)
✔ New England uses a stupid, random numbering system on their highway exits so that it's impossible to determine distances.
For example, let's say you're in a normal state and all of a sudden the urge hits you (to pee, poop, have a cheeseburger, whatever). You look on the side of the road for the mile marker to find your location. You then look in the atlas or truck stop guide for that state and highway and take note of the needed exit number.
The exit numbers and mile markers correlate and everyone is happy.✔ In Maine there are signs every few miles alerting you to the fact that moose could be crossing the road at any moment, so be careful. I'm sure Maine has other wildlife besides moose but they don't want you to know about them. It could be because of this:
The baby bears in Maine have freakishly huge heads.
That is all.
* The load that brought us to Maine on Tuesday started in Colorado last Friday. It was 2,143 miles. It's fairly unusual for us to get a load with that many miles. More typical, are loads of 500-700 miles that deliver in a day or two. It was a nice long stretch and change of pace to do 13 states in 5 days and this is the first time on this blog that I posted in (almost) real time. You likee?
Oh, I love new England! Wish I couLd get up there more!
ReplyDeleteWe were lucky to get up here in the fall a couple of years ago. Would be nicer if we didn't have to lug this truck & trailer around.
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
You left me hanging. Did you see a Moose?
ReplyDeleteWe saw moose everywhere!!...in the gift shop, on road signs, on postcards. :)
DeleteGlad you survived the horror movie capital of the world & lived to write about it. Wait! You did survive, right? You aren't some undead writer now. Right?
ReplyDeleteI'll never tell...Did you know they have direct flights from Bangor, Maine to T&T????
DeleteHere in Oregon we consider Maine an Oregon want to be. Sure, their Portland may have been founded before ours but I've been to both and ours is much better. Also? Stand By Me was filmed in Oregon, so suck it Maine.
ReplyDeleteHuh, I didn't know that. What about lobster rolls, though? I think they may have you beat there AND Oregonions don't have a distinct accent like the Maineiacs either. 2 points for Maine!!
DeleteOK, they have on the whole lobster thing. There's no arguing that. But we have way more trees than they do and our Portland is the childhood home of Matt Groening and many of the Simpsons characters are named after our streets. So in your face Maine.
DeleteMan, you are just full of facts and slightly aggressive Oregon pride.
DeleteOk, you win. I just looked up the state mottos and Maine's is something about a dingo and everbody knows dinogos only live in Australia.
"The great scythe and ax frenzy" sounds positively terrifying and will probably keep me away from Maine for the rest of my life, even if it was over 150 years ago. It's better not to take chances with that sort of thing. I wonder if they'd deliver that sandwich to Michigan.
ReplyDeleteOh man oh man it was good. I swear it kept getting better and better and if anybody had tried to take it away from me, they'd *wish* they had an ax and scythe! [insert manaical laughter]
Deleteha. from the eerie corn fields where the children of the corn hang out...to the misty maine country roads where the MIST itself can be deadly...and filled with creatures only King can think of...
ReplyDeletebut that lobster roll...yum! makes it all worth it. mooses and bears and lobsters, oh my!
It did! I'm so glad we got a chance to try it, I hate going someplace that's known for a certain kind of food and getting stuck at a truck stop or chain restaurant.
DeleteI want to climb into that sandwich. I'll never forget how astounded I was at the number of Dunkin Donuts in Boston. We went there for a class trip senior year of high school and I obnoxiously yelled out "Plymouth Rock" every time our bus passed a moderately sized rock. The actual rock was a big disappointment.
ReplyDeletehahaha,I love that! How hard, really, could it have been for the pilgrims when there were so many Dunkin Donuts around? Bunch of sissies back then.
DeleteThat picture must be the infamous lobster roll you wrote to me about. Man, oh Man does that thing look good enough to eat. Makes me want to go out and buy a lobster and try one at home. I'm sure it wouldn't be as good but it's the closest I'll ever come to what you experienced.
ReplyDeleteI was so intrigued by your references to Will Wheaton. (I read the attached links you gave). I didn't know he was in Stand By Me, which is a favorite of mine as well. Actually, I had never heard of him until he made an apperance on Big Bang Theory. I knew from the references made on the show that he was famous for something but I didn't know what. Someone told me he was famous for appearing in one of the Star Wars movies. Do you know if this is true? I'm so out of touch, I have no idea what he's famous for.
Yep, it was!
DeleteIsn't it a great movie? We listend to the audiobook of The Body (the book the movie was based on) and they were so similar, it was one of those times where the movie was every bit as good as the book.
Wil Wheaton was on the tv show Star Trek: Next Generation. He's a prolific blogger and writer and does a bunch of geek stuff.
Also, it probably comes as no surprise, but I *love* Sheldon!
Man, I hadn't thought about Stand By Me for years - a real classic. Also, I hadn't realized the story was by Stephen King. Filmed in OR for sure, tho - sorry, Maine...
ReplyDeleteThose baby bears have to be adoptees - could NOT have come from that mama bear!
I do love that movie and it stayed so close to the book, which is unusual.
DeleteI agree. I feel sorry for whoever had to birth that giant headed baby, though!