I am a Virginian. Although my heritage is something I am mostly proud of, I can freely admit that my home state has plenty of quirks. First of all there’s that ridiculous First Families of Virginia nonsense, the Country Club of Virginia crowd who get under my skin. Then there’s the whole northern Virginia/beltway people who have virtually nothing in common with the rest of the state. Most Virginians consider anything north of Fredericksburg as greater DC. But other than that Virginia was a gorgeous place to grow up and still remains a terrific place to live.
When it comes to Maine my general rule has always been to never speak ill of a place where you are a guest. It is not the job of the state of Maine to accommodate me—it’s my job to accommodate the state of Maine when I come here to visit 8-9 weeks every year. One of the reasons I love this place so much is because it’s not like home. I love the fact that there are so few national chain stores/restaurants in Maine. I love that every time you need something it’s a 25 minute drive and that the roads are almost always two-lane with no lines. However, having declared my love for this place for the entire 16 year history of this blog—it is also true that Maine has its share of quirks. There are two that come to mind.
One thing that Ive noticed over the past 40 years of coming up here is the ubiquitous existence of what I will refer to with an acronym—UHIP—unfinished home improvement projects. They are literally everywhere. Some guy decides to replace the siding on his house in the summer of 2023. By 2025 the Tyvec is up and about a third of the siding is completed. By 2026 it’s like the guy says, “Screw it. That’s enough.” Or some guy decides to build an addition or a new free-standing shed in his back yard. Five years goes by and it’s still a work in very slow progress, the studs of the future wall already an aged gray. Try this in Virginia and your neighbors would have taken you to court after three weeks of inactivity! If some of my local Mainers can explain the UHIP phenomenon I would appreciate it.
The second quirk is something relatively new. By new I mean…this is the first year we’ve noticed it. Maybe it’s because we are up here later than we have ever been so Halloween is right around the corner. In Virginia, we take a back seat to nobody when it comes to decorating for the Trick or Treat season. But in Maine there’s something unique…the decorative Skeleton. I am not exaggerating, they are everywhere. Small ones and, more often than not, huge seven foot ones! Yesterday Pam and I walked in to the Walgreen’s in Camden and right at the entrance was a display of skeletons for sale—at a Drug Store. It was here when we discovered that that gigantic seven foot ones I was talking about cost $129! And, this decorative skeleton craze is not a rich man/poor man thing. We see them in front of beat up shacks out in the country and also in the front yards of some of the finest homes on the coast. Not just human skeletons either, there are dog and cat skeletons too. In the front yards of a gorgeous home in Camden there is a full scale football game being played, two teams, referees and cheerleaders too—every one of the participants skeletons. It blew our minds.
Our 2026 time in Maine is rapidly coming to an end. In a couple days we will be on the road back home to the Old Dominion. We are already thinking about next year’s adventure in this fabulous place.
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