Thursday, September 06, 2007

Signs from Maine

Megan, my fab life partner, aka spouse, grew up in western Maine, in the foothills of the white Mountains. We were married about one year ago, and many of my friends ventured up to that great state to take part in the festivities. I just don't think my Ohio friends completely "got" Maine in the short time they spent there. To me, western Maine is really, really, really quirky and hilarious. But it is all pretty subtle and you have to be immersed in the culture to really "get it".

Here are a few signs that point to what I'm talking about.

Restaurants are pretty common across the country, but rarely do they take second billing to baked beans. Yes apparently, Andy's Baked Beans are just so good that the fact that you can eat them in his restaurant is merely an afterthought as evidenced by this sign. Mainers really want you to get the point.

 


Ok, the next sign I thought was hilarious since the Oxford County Fairgrounds, are, well, rather worn down looking, especially when the fair isn't going on. The second fact about this sign: Maine only has sixteen counties. So just the fact that somebody hands out a "most improved county fair" award is just silly since your chance of getting is pretty great. And after giving this award once to every county, are the fairs really go to improve all that much? I thought this sign was hilarious.

 



Finally, Smedberg's grocery store advertises their "native" Maine products, but they have clearly misspelled lobster on their sign. And I think the Milk & Meat is just hilarious as well. I'm not sure why milk & meat go together, but in Maine, they do.

 
Posted by Picasa

3 comments:

  1. Hey Tom, it's your fab life-partner here...seems like you are finally starting to understand where I grew up, how I grew up and why sometimes I think Ohio is funny or weird! I love you! Meg

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is so funny to see this pic. I am from central Ohio and spend lots of time in the western Maine mountains. The sign in your pic used to read "lobster clams". I would tell the wife we need to stop by and see "lobster clams" because I had no idea what they were :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very Nice- Its always nice to talk to other Ohioans that have Maine ties. I just got back from the Oxford Hills, my wife if from Maine and her parents still live there.

    That is funny about the Smedberg's sign. We just went by last week, and the sign still reads lobesters. It might say lobster clams on the other side, I'll have to check the next time I'm in Oxford.

    Tom

    ReplyDelete