Kid in a Candy Shop

Last time I talked about Houlton, I told you about Historic Market Square.  One of my favorite businesses in Market Square is Uncle Willy's Candy Shop. 

It's full of candy.  What is not to love?

What type of candy?  Everything from penny candies to truffles.  I have bought huge rolls of Smarties for the teens, truffles for my husband, and chocolate covered blueberries for myself. 

It is a candy lover's dream.

Be seeing you.

Aids and Influences

I use a Samsung PL120.  I need to learn more how to use it, but I have been impressed on the quality of picture I get from this camera.  I am not using it now as it is taking it's turn in front of the camera.  Forgive my cel phone pics.

It has a front screen so you can easily make self-portraits.  You get pictures like this.

My girls really like this feature.

I have some favorite blogs that I have enjoyed.  Particularly, The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, a teeny tiny bloggy about itty bitty kitties.  Laurie fosters kittens in her home in Washington state.  Kandee Johnson does make-up tips and motivation.  Both are very fun, readable blogs.

Now for the shameless cross-promotion.  Photo Musings is a photo blog from a friend of mine.  Patrick and I were friends in high school.  Since November he has been posting and commenting on a photo a day.  He has a great eye, and I have enjoyed his photos and comments. 

I hope my blog can hold up against these. 

Be seeing you.

Ice

The weather in Milo, Maine is the worst today.  Snow going to freezing rain going to rain.  In honor of that, I thought I would discuss one of the pitfalls of living in the North where we have a real winter.

That pitfall, in a word is ice.

Snow is pretty and can be dangerous.  The worst thing about snow for me is early in a snowstorm, especially a snowstorm that is putting down snow quickly.  If the snow is coming down fast, and road crews are not talking care of it quickly enough, it can be dangerous driving. 

But much as I hate driving in snow, I hate driving in ice all the more.  There is not much defense against ice.  I have studded tires on my little tank which does help a lot.  Chains on your tires can help, too.  They grip and break up the ice a little.  But where 4-wheel drive can help greatly against snow, it is not so helpful in ice.  You start to slide, good driving habits can help, but, more often than not, you are sunk. 

It is way to easy to slide off the road when it is icy.  And wet ice is the worst.  Wet ice is extra slick making that slide much more likely to happen. 

And ice can be deceiving.  We talk about black ice a lot in Maine.  That is ice that just looks like wet road.  So you don't know you are in trouble until you start to slide. 

So those of you who do real winter driving, be careful out there.  And those of you in more temperate climes, enjoy the fact you don't have to deal with ice.

Be seeing you.

A nice surprise

I got home from Houlton today to find a nice surprise.  My husband and son hit Bagel Central when they went to Bangor yesterday.  They brought home blueberry bagels and knotted rolls.  Of course, I grabbed a knotted roll and ate it with butter.

Bagel Central is an authentic jewish deli in Downtown Bangor.  It is a nice place to hang out and get a good lunch.  It is open and airy with solid wood tables and chairs.  They bake their own breads and supply a few businesses, including Eastern Maine Medical Center, the larger of the two hospitals in Bangor.  They have soups and sandwiches and latkes (potato pancakes) and bagels and fun desserts.  My children love their bagels and knotted rolls.  It is a great treat when we bring some home.

The knotted roll is made from challah, a jewish egg bread.  The egg provides flavor, moisture, and stability to the bread.   Loaves of challah are made by braiding three ropes of dough, so it is an ideal bread to make these rolls. 

These are great for sandwiches, and the bread toasts well.  My kids love to eat them plain or with a little butter.  I agree.

Bagel Central is a thriving business and institution in Bangor.  If your travels bring you to Bangor and you like Jewish delis (or if you just like to people watch) this is a great stop. 

Be seeing you.

Wandering Main St: Houlton

Route 1 in Houlton is the major business district, but Main St. is much more interesting.  In particular, Historic Market Square.  Old buildings line Main St where there are a number of smaller businesses.  This is a town that sports a Wal-Mart.

I say good for Houlton!

I will highlight a number of businesses here.

First, the Temple Theater.

Movie theaters are scarce north of Bangor.  It is nice to see one in Houlton.  I have not gone yet.  One of these days a good movie will be there when I can go see it.

Yorks Books

A little independent bookstore and card shop.  They carry and encourage Maine authors.  My husband loves history and I bought a book on the Maine Civil War regiment there.

There are other businesses including some nice eateries.  Houlton has become a foodie town.

But that is a topic for another day.

Be seeing you.

Almost like home

I has been way too cold to get the pictures I want.  It was below zero this morning.  My fingers, usually very warm, were frozen. 

So I will talk about the Old Iron Inn.  They are celebrating 20 years as a bed and breakfast.  I have been an erstwhile regular there for the past two years.   I know I will get a cozy room and good company. 

If I stay an extended stay, and they have one available, I can stay in a furnished appartment.  I am torn sometimes as getting to talk with Kate and Kevin McCartney is part of the pleasure of staying there.  We catch up on each others lives when I come stay.

But being on the road as I am, nothing beats being able to cook your own food.  Last night, I broiled a lambchop and some brussel sprouts.  It was a great treat. 

And to have a real living room to hang out in?   It is just nice.

Gotta run home before the next storm --

Be Seeing you.

Life at the End of the Road

Now that I am back at home, I can prattle on and tell a proper tale.  The spotty wifi signal made blogging in Fort Kent really annoying.  I lost part of my "S is for Snow and Sled" post and had to retype the last couple of paragraphs before publishing.  It was amazing I got the "Breaking Bread" post done.

But enough whining, I love Northern Door Inn and Fort Kent in general.  I have a topic to discuss.

Fort Kent marks the northern tip of US Route 1.  This sign is right outside the Northern Door Inn, where I stay.  The other side of the sign is the same but marks it as mile 0.  US Route 1 runs from Fort Kent to Key West, Florida.  It still is a major pre-interstate highway route.

In Maine, it runs along the St. John river on the northern border from Fort Kent to Van Buren.  Then it turns south and goes through Caribou and Presque Isle to Houlton.  It eventually leaves Aroostook County and enters Washington County in Danforth.  It keeps going south and connects the border town of Calais to the coast.  Machias is one of the coastal Washington County towns it connects to its more popular and more touristy cousins further down the Maine coast.  Then it runs near the coast to the New Hampshire border. 

But let us return to Fort Kent.

The America's First Mile Monument

This is right near the border crossing to Canada.  You can catch a glimpse of the bridge to Canada in the background.  You have to cross the St. John River to get to Clair, New Brunswick.  I plan to talk of these topics in future blogs, but I will mention now that the St. John River defines the northern border of Maine with Canada and that people on both sides of the border here are bilingual. 

English and French are spoken on both sides of the border.  The Quebecois think they have the corner market on the French language in Canada, but there is a rich French tradition in New Brunswick, too.

Although US Route 1 ends here, the road travels west into the towns of St. Francis and Allagash.  I had the pleasure last fall of wandering a little this way and to see the Allagash River.  It is gorgeous country out there.

Well enough of the end of the road for now.

Be Seeing You.

Remind me

When I am asked preference for a hotel room, to say "I want a strong wifi signal."  I have a nice king size bed to lie on and blog.  But the wifi signal is spotty in this room.

It is my fault.  I said I like the roomy bed. 

But I got some of the pictures I wanted from Fort Kent to tell some of the stories I want to tell.  I will be home tomorrow with my nice strong wifi connection.

So forgive this brief pause in my blogging spirit.  The sun will come out tomorrow.

Be seeing you.

Breaking Bread at Custom Cake

My Saturday night treat when I am in Fort Kent is to have dinner at Custom Cake Cafe.  I have been living on their soups for lunch lately, but dinner on Saturday is a treat.  I work too late to hit dinner on Thursday and Friday, but Saturday I am out early enough  to catch them when they open at 5 pm.  I usually sit in the front room and watch the bustle from the back.

Usually I get an appetizer and a dinner salad.  If there is a good special (for example I had duck breast with a blueberry glaze last week) I will indulge.  They have retooled their dinner menu, so I tried the pork marsala.

I got a very tasty dish. 

I brought a Red Velvet brownie back to my room to top it off. 

They sell soup, salads and sandwiches for lunch.  Thursday is Mexican night.  A limited dinner menu on Friday and Saturday nights. 

Thanks for joining me for dinner (I should say "supper" but I am from away).

Be seeing you.

"S" is for Snow . . . and Sled.

Aroostook County loves the snow.

The tourist economy in the County centers mainly on outdoor activities.  And in the wintertime that means snow activites.  Fort Kent has a ski area Lonesome Pines for downhill skiers, and 10th Mountain for cross country fans.  And ice fishing is very popular.  But the real money is with the snowmobilers.

Oh . . . wait . . . did I say snowmobilers?  What I meant to say is the real money is with the sledders.

Because we don't snowmobile in Maine.  We sled.

Local hotels fill up with people, sleds in tow, to hit the ITS trails.  Restaurants and bars fill up with people after a long day of sledding.  The money comes in, and Aroostook County is happy.

Only that wasn't the case last winter.  Southern New England got more snow than Upper Aroostook County last year.  I was happy about it because I don't sled.  I was in the Upper County a lot last winter, and less snow means better driving conditions.  This year wasn't looking too well so far either.

This storm made its way slowly to Maine, but it has finally arrived.  Milo got snow beginning mid-afternoon.  Fort Kent saw snow around 7pm.  The National Weather Center in Caribou has told us to expect up to 7 inches when all is said and done.

So let's hope happy sledders pack up their toys and head on north this weekend.

Be seeing you.

About My Banner

I spent yesterday really getting my blogsite looking like I want it to.  Many thanks to Blogger for making this very easy.  I have placed the image I used for my banner here so this blogpost will still be relevant if I decide to change things up at a later date. 

This picture was taken in Houlton, Maine.  Houlton is the county seat of Aroostook County.  Simply known as "the County" to the locals, this county is the largest county in the state.  Houlton is also a border town.  Woodstock, New Brunswick is on the other side of the border crossing here. 

So where is this exactly?  This is the Shiretown Inn.  Currently, there is no restaurant on the premises, but it is a very nice place to stay.  Governors, a small chain of restaurants in the state, used to have a restaurant here.  Then Elm Tree Diner had a presence here after a fire damaged its main restaurant.  They ran both for a while after they got their original location repaired.  The currently empty restaurant location is located right behind the car in the foreground. 

That car in the foreground is my 2005 Scion XB.  It serves me well.  I like its van-like feel and its good gas milege.  Gas tends to be more expensive near the Canadian border, so I like the fact that 10 gallons of gas goes a long way.

Currently, I call my car Little Tank.  Studded tires makes this car handle well in snow and ice. 

But I much prefer avoiding the snow and ice altogether, if possible.  So it is off to Fort Kent for me a day early as they are predicting a massive storm system to come up from the south tomorrow when I planned to travel. 

I will collect some pictures along the way to aid me in my blogging.  I am looking forward to share my stories and adventures with the World Wide Web.  There are so many of them to share, I can hardly contain myself.

So I guess it is time to think of a standard way to end my blog.  I was thinking of "until next time" which is what I say when I leave a location because I am never sure when I will be back.  But I think I will use the phrase used in The Prisoner, a trippy television series from the sixties.  The Prisoner is still a favorite of mine.  I think this phrase sums up the good will I would want followers to have with me.

Be seeing you.

Where to begin

I thought I would kick things off with a magical picture of snowfall in Fort Kent, Maine.  It was a full moon that night, but it looks a lot like the snow reflected off the lights on the porch. 

I am a flatlander (a person not from Maine) who moved from Connecticut in 1995.  My work has me travel around Central and Northern Maine.  So I have been kicking around the idea of showing people the "other" Maine.  That is the majority of the state, not Portland, not the coast. 

This would give me incentive to further appreciate the state I call home.  Who knows?  If I can give people incentive to travel to this great state, or people who live here to take a little more time and see what I see, I would say I have done a good thing.

 So here is to my initial blog.  I hope I can show you the cool things I love about Maine.