NEEDHAMS
When we met up with our friends, Donna and Norm, in Portland, Maine, Donna told us about a candy that is peculiar to Maine. They are called "Needhams". I think they should be called "Need'ems" because if you eat one, you think you need'em all the time. They are DELISH!
The Maine potato candy known as the needham has always stood in the shadow of the whoopie pie, another big thing in Maine, but generations of Mainers have nonetheless revered the sweet candy.
Mainers find needhams in their Christmas stockings. Maine moms get them in gift boxes on Mother's Day. Maine grandmas make them at home. Maine convenience stores display them by the cash register.
Few Mainers know much about the faith healer after whom the needham was named, or that he was a product of historic conflicts between English and Irish, Protestant and Catholic.
The candy itself combines coconut, sugar, chocolate, and that classic Maine ingredient, the potato. Maine once harvested more potatoes than any other state, and the potato is still a major drop in Aroostook County.
In 1986, Maine writer John Gould described the needham as 'sacred and peculiar' to Maine. He told the commonly accepted story of how the candy originated sometime around 1872.
A candymaker, Mr. Seavey, introduced a new item when one of his cooks brought forth a chocolate-covered coconut cream with a secret ingredient -- potato. He passed it about to see what Mr. Seavey and others, thought of it. Significantly, the new candy had a square shape.
Mr. Seavey and others immediately approved the candy, but they didn't know what to call it. Mr. Seavey said, "Let's call 'em needhams, after the popular preacher," according to Gould.
And so the candy became the needham, for a century a native Maine delicacy. "Seavey's Needhams are as Maine as the lobster, the first sunrise, and the ayeh," wrote Gould. If you love Mounds or Almond Joys, you will LOVE Needhams even more. They are melt in your mouth, tantalize your tastebuds, mouth watering good.
WARRENSBURG
When we were in Lake George, the little town of Warrensburg was having what they bill "The Largest Garage Sale in the World." It may just be. This was huge. The town has 2 main streets through the middle of town. Each street, the main part of the street, is about 2 miles long. Vendors were lined side by side down each side of each street down the entire 2 miles. Some of the areas veered off and had vendors down side areas and residential areas.
This little town really handled the crowd well. They opened their park ride lot and had vans to take you to town and drop you off. It worked really well. I can say that there were a ton of people there and a boat load of vendors. But, there was a great variety of items being sold and food to eat. It happens the first weekend in October each year and people come near and far each year.
ERIE CANAL
We had a rainy day and decided to ride over to the town of Lockport one day. The town is best known for the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal was built to create a navigable water route from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. When completed in 1825, it was the second longest canal in the world (after the Grand Canal in China) and greatly enhanced the development and economy of New York, New York City, and the United States. It was faster than carts pulled by draft animals and cut transport costs by about 95%. The canal gave New York City's port an incomparable advantage over all other U.S. port cities and ushered in the state's 19th century political and cultural ascendancy. The canal fostered a population surge in western New York and opened regions farther west to settlement. It was enlarged between 1834 and 1862.
They have a great historical museum in Lockport and we toured the museum. We learned about the men who actually designed and helped build the canal. They faced many obstacles and not one of them had ever had any training or experience in building the canal with a lochs system. It was well worth the tour.
So, that wraps up a few things that I had not written about but were worth mentioning.
This little town really handled the crowd well. They opened their park ride lot and had vans to take you to town and drop you off. It worked really well. I can say that there were a ton of people there and a boat load of vendors. But, there was a great variety of items being sold and food to eat. It happens the first weekend in October each year and people come near and far each year.
ERIE CANAL
We had a rainy day and decided to ride over to the town of Lockport one day. The town is best known for the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal was built to create a navigable water route from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. When completed in 1825, it was the second longest canal in the world (after the Grand Canal in China) and greatly enhanced the development and economy of New York, New York City, and the United States. It was faster than carts pulled by draft animals and cut transport costs by about 95%. The canal gave New York City's port an incomparable advantage over all other U.S. port cities and ushered in the state's 19th century political and cultural ascendancy. The canal fostered a population surge in western New York and opened regions farther west to settlement. It was enlarged between 1834 and 1862.
They have a great historical museum in Lockport and we toured the museum. We learned about the men who actually designed and helped build the canal. They faced many obstacles and not one of them had ever had any training or experience in building the canal with a lochs system. It was well worth the tour.
So, that wraps up a few things that I had not written about but were worth mentioning.
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