Tourney Week

Last week was February vacation for the kids.

Which means it was tourney week.

Tourney week is big.  Teams travel to Bangor and Augusta to play for the High School Championships.  If you can't make it to the Auditoriums, our local public broadcasting station runs the semis and the finals.  It can be exciting.

I got my daughter, Maddie to take some pictures of the Class C Semi-Final game.

She was so wrapped up in the game, she did not take many pictures.

Our Penquis Patriots did very well in the tourney this year.  We got to the semi-finals where we lost to Lee in double overtime. 

Lee is a tough competitor.  We won one and lost one to them in regular season play.  So you might say this game was personal. 

The boys played hard and did us proud.  

Be seeing you.

The Center of it All

Welcome to the geographic center of the State of Maine.

Yes, the Milo Public Library is considered the geographic center of Maine.  I think they measure it by drawing a circle from this point.  Maine is such a funny shaped state, it is the only way to do it. 

I don't live far from there.  So you can say I live in the center of it all.

Be seeing you.

Storytime: Hobnobbers Pub

I thought I would welcome you the way I was welcomed on Valentine's Day.  Our table had a window cling to mark our reservation and a treat. 

Now are you sitting comfortably?  Then I shall begin.

Hobnobbers Pub took the place of a little bistro at the end of the downtown block in town.  This strip would be straight ahead as you headed up Route 16 into town.  Some of the recipes from the bistro were kept including their Bistro salad.

We opted for the pear-raspberry salad for our dinner.

Unfortunately, disaster struck the pub.  A man robbed the place.  In order to cover his tracks, he set a fire behind the restaurant.  The result: the majority of the downtown strip was destroyed.  It was a big tragedy in town.  We had assistance from surrounding communities. 

Sad thing about a small town, many of us watched the firefight.  My kids asked to go watch.  I said, "Okay, but stay out of their way." 

Thankfully, everyone got out alive.  There were a few apartments above the businesses and the residents got out safely.  Only one business survived the fire intact.  Hobnobbers was destroyed.

As with my dinner (my husband and I both had wonderful prime rib), Hobnobbers story has a happy ending. 

The offender was quickly caught and sentenced for his crime.  The town made a deal with the owner and it now resides at the former site of Milo Community Hospital.  They have pictures of people who were born at that hospital on the walls as well as a floor plan of the former hospital. 

Because of all that, we left fat and happy with leftover beef and potatoes we cooked for breakfast the next day.  We love Hobnobbers!

Be seeing you.

Dinner Out at Home

I wanted to take my husband out to dinner.  He does so much for the family, I try to get him out for a good dinner he did not have to cook.  We were going to go to Bangor, but we had kids and grandkids later than we expected.

Thankfully we have a nice restaurant in Milo.  Hobknobbers Pub is where we go to get a nice meal.  We have two diner/family style restaurants in town.  This place is a little nicer. 

We had a tasty meal and some beer.

And for dessert a chocolate lava cake.  With good food so close, it can be hard to drive 45 minutes.

We were so happy, we made reservations for Valentine's Day.  On holidays like that, they serve a special fixed-price meal.  It should be a good night.

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.