In New Hampshire, there are many unpaved roads outside of town. Northern New England has always been known for its wilderness qualities, and we like it that way. But, when you're trying to get to breakfast it can get kind of crazy. Especially if you've never been to the restaurant before. What was amazing was the smell! I wish I could post that here for you! We rolled down our windows and took deep breaths through our noses. It was damp tree, mossy, and pure heaven! There is nothing like the end of summer in the woods after a fresh rain in the days before. While we await the gorgeous Autumn leaves with anticipation, we are sad to see the lush greens and sweet smells of summer go.
Pancakes....Finally.......
"Shannon" our lovely nickname for our map assistant, finally announced our destination was on the right. Still on the dirt road, in the middle of nowhere. It's funny how a business can just pop up in the middle of the woods. They don't cut the trees down here and almost the entire state is in the forest. We pulled up on this quaint New England-ish "sugar shack," where they process pure, natural maple syrup.
You see, Northern New England and Canada are full of maple trees. The maple syrup industry is pretty big here and we can get it pretty cheap. Many of the maple sugar shacks have pancake restaurants, where you can eat it fresh! We admit, we hadn't gone to one before today (we are both from Illinois and California) and it was a treat.
They bring you a large stack of fluffy, homemade from scratch pancakes and your own bottle of warmed syrup. You don't really need much, it's way sweeter than the corn syrup laden "fake" stuff. It really has a different taste that takes a bit of getting used to. This, plus a cup of coffee kept us full until almost dinner! Yay, Carbs!
Uncle Sam's House
After breakfast, we headed back towards home. I wasn't feeling too good, still stuffy from my "airplane goo" and needed to go home to bed. One the way, we found a hidden nugget in the woods. Uncle Sam's birthplace.
We knocked on the door, hoping to get our money back, and were not even invited in for coffee....JK
In reality, Sam Wilson was just a guy who lived in Mason, NH. Around 1812, he was a meatpacker that supplied US troops with meat. He had nothing to do with the US government really, but his friends and neighbors called him "Uncle Sam." The nickname came to be when someone asked him what the "US" stamp stood for on a barrel of meat, he told them "Uncle Sam" and the nickname stuck. The military lovingly called the barrels, "Uncle Sams meat." It caught on and the government adopted an entire personna, so legend says. The guy in the pic, however, is just a picture of a man with a goatee and several different legends accompany the poster picture.
In any case, it was a great breakfast and some fun American history. I was tired, so that was about it for me this weekend. I hope our adventures inspire you to come visit New England. The leaves are starting to show signs of Autumn and I can't wait to share the experience with you!
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Wilson
Photos: All pictures belong to myself and my fiance, Derrick Combs.