Dan's Trip to Maine

I flew home recently to spend a week with my Dad in Maine.  Of note, he just celebrated his 93rd birthday!  

Besides several breakfasts out at our favorite “Mariner’s Diner” in Camden, and several lunches at Quarry Hill (where he resides in Independent Living), two of the week’s events stand out for me.  

First off, on my way home to Camden, I stopped off to see an old childhood friend who shares the name Al with my Dad. Maybe 50 years ago while I was cleaning out my Dad’s office building cellar, I came across the original AL’S sign from the famous AL’S EATS (now Red’s Eats).  My Mom (Marnie) and my Dad ran this hotdog/lobster roll stand back in the 1950s.  When I found the sign in that cellar I gave it to my buddy Al.  I don’t think I even asked or told my Dad about the sign.  Anyways, my buddy Al still have the sign in his barn and agreed to loan it back to me.  I then got permission from Quarry Hill to put it in the community room, and I snuck it in.  The look on his face was priceless when he saw that sign.  He hadn’t seen it since the early ‘60s and I’m sure didn’t think it still existed.  The sign had been removed from AL’S EATS back about 1956, when he sold the stand.  

The other event was more making lemonade from lemons.  I planned to pick Dad up Thursday morning for breakfast out in his 1930 Ford Model A, which is stored in my barn.  Problem was, when I got it out of the barn, it stalled and wouldn’t start.  So we drove to breakfast in the Prius.  On the way home I swung by my place where the Ford was sitting in my dooryard.  I said, “Okay, we’ve got to get this thing running.”

Well we proceeded to remove the carburetor and give it a good cleaning, and after the second time we cleaned it and put it back together (this time with all pieces) she started right up and we had a good ride around town.  We call it the “smile maker” since people can’t help but smile when we drive by.  I think we’ll both agree we had a pretty good week!