Running out of things to do

Have you ever been bored and said, “There is nothing to do in this place”? I find myself saying that phrase quite often up here in Northern Maine. I know that every place has its downfalls and every person says that eventually, even in a city. I have traveled from one end to the other of this big county we call Aroostook, looking for things to do. If you love being out in nature, you can find many places to walk, hike, ride, bike, fish, or swim, but other than loving the natural life, there is not much to do up here. Sure there are restaurants, movie theaters, and stores, but who wants to walk around the stores of the county and window shop for hours each day?
If I were interested in starting a business, I know exactly what kind of business I would start. Down in Western NY there is an awesome place that generates large amounts of business each year, and it is located in the middle of a corn field. The reason this place generates so much business is that there is no other place like it in the area. This place is a pizzeria. Yes, I said pizzeria. When I say that to my friends up here, not one person believes me. They often ask me “Why would the busiest place around be a pizzeria? Aren’t there many pizzerias’ in NY?” You might also have those questions in your head and to that I say, yes there are many pizzerias’ in NY but this one is different. The place that I am talking about is the Charcoal Corral. The Corral is not only a pizzeria but many things in one. The Charcoal Corral actually started as a Drive-In theater with a hotdog stand located in the middle of parking. The Corral is not only one of a few Drive-Ins’ left, but the Corral is also the biggest and the best. The Charcoal Corral not only has two Drive-In screens and the original stand, it also has a diner, a pizzeria, an ice cream parlor, an arcade, and a mini-golf course. I love that place and go there every year. My husband, a county boy, loves it as much as I do. My four-year-old son loves the Corral almost as much as his parents do. The Charcoal Corral is a place where young and old can be kids all at the same time. I wish that I had the business skills to start something like the Corral up here, but I am not a business person. If anyone is interested in business, I would be glad to let them know what the atmosphere is like and how to gain it.

Missing the roller coasters.

I used to love to go to theme parks and zoos when I was a little girl. Growing up in Western NY, there were many amusement parks and two zoos within two hours of our town. My parents would take us kids to Darien Lake, an amusement park that later became Six Flags, every summer. Schools would sometimes take students on field trips to Darien Lake, Seabreeze, and the two zoos closest to us. Up in the county, there are no amusement parks or zoos. Long trips down state or out of the state are required for Northern Mainers who wants to take their children some place fun. When making long trips to such places, plenty of money is required. Unless you only want to spend a half-hour at these places, you need to rent a room. This is heartbreaking for me because I look back and remember all of the fun times I had riding the roller coasters and looking at the animals and know that many children up here might not ever experience that joy.

The County can be a frustrating place sometimes.

I love living the rural life. I have lived in rural settings all of my life and I would not have it any other way. One of the reasons that I love living in Northern Maine is because it is a quiet, peaceful place. Many children dream about the house and the land that they will own when they grow up. My dream has always been to own a house that is deep in the country and is not visible from the road. There are many places like that up here in Northern Maine, and many places like that back where I used to live in Western New York. One of the things that I miss about being in NY is that even though I lived in the country, it did not take me long to travel to the city. In Northern Maine, it takes me at least three hours to get to some of my favorite stores. I love living in the country, but I do like shopping in the cities. Cities have many different stores, chain-stores and local shops that rural areas do not have. If I want to do some big shopping in the city, I have to plan a whole day where most of it is driving. I would love to keep my business in the county that I live in, but the pickings are slim up here.

Needhams, Red Hot Dogs, & Buffalo Wings

I am a woman that loves her food. When I find something that I like, I eat it until I’m sick of it, and then I eat some more. Before I moved to Northern Maine I knew that different parts of the country had different kinds of foods. I knew that I would be trying some different foods and some different variations of the foods that I loved. I have found some delicious foods up in Maine that I would have never found any other place, one of those are Needhams. Needhams are mouth-watering candy bars made with dark chocolate, coconut, butter, whole milk, sea salt, vanilla, and Maine Potatoes (yes I said potatoes). To most people hearing that there are potatoes in the candy could be off-putting, but not to Mainers. Needhams are almost like a mounds bar but they taste much better. The little candies are made in a candy shop in Maine, so they are more expensive than the factory made candies, but everyone knows that homemade candies are more expensive and better tasting.

Another thing that I found in Maine was red hot dogs. Though I am not a fan of hot dogs, I have to say that the red hot dogs are my favorite off all of the dogs. Maine is the primary location for these dogs with natural casings. Before I came to Maine, I always called the normal brown hot dogs red hot dogs. It was after I came to Maine that I learned what real red hot dogs really looked like. Real Maine red hot dogs are a bright red because they have a healthy dose of #40 red die. If I have to eat hot dogs red hot dogs are always my first choice and I will miss them if I ever move out of the state.

The one food that I miss living in Maine is a good Buffalo Wing. Some restaurants in Maine serve Buffalo wings, but no one does it quite as well as the original area in which they were created. The origin of the spicy chicken wing is not clear. Many people in buffalo want to take credit for the tasty snack, but it is certain that they came from Buffalo NY. Buffalo wings are well known in any state, and it seems like there are thousands of recipes for the wing. Buffalo wings are well liked and even celebrated in Western NY. Buffalo hosts an annual national Buffalo Wing Festival. The festival was started by Buffalo’s own Drew Cerza, also known as the Wing King. The Wing King has been on many food network shows and even won a chicken wing cook-off with Bobby Flay.

Some of this information was taken from buffalowing.com

These pictures were taken from bing images