What’s A Starbucks Girl To Do?

June 8, 2012 at 7:35 pm | Posted in coffee, Food and Drink, JUST DUMB, Starbucks, Travel | Leave a comment
Tags: 95, art, coffee, deer, dunkin' donuts, Gray, highway, local, local flavor, Ma, Maine, rest stop, reststop, road trip, sculpture, starbucks, walmart

So….when times are tough and the day has beaten the life outta me, I turn the wheel and my faithful minivan/mom-mobile heads to the closest source of quality caffeine – Starbucks.

The downside of living in a town (actually it might really be considered a “village” since the population is so small – one of these days I really should find out) instead of a city, is that there are no coffee shops nearby. The closest Starbucks location is a rest stop on hwy 95. Since Maine is classier than those people “running on Dunkin'” over in Massachusetts, all of OUR rest stops have a Starbucks inside. (I tell you, no state was longer to drive across on my last roadtrip than MA. ONLY mcD’s and Skunkin’ Dunkin’ for what felt like a thousand miles!)

Fortunately there is a backside access to our rest stops so that the locals don’t have to take the hwy (and pay the tolls) to get there. The first time I found my way there, I did a little happy dance of joy!

Recently, all of our rest stops have been getting a little added flair. One has a giant metal moose sculpture, another has a large metal sculpture of another example of Maine wildlife. Up until recently, the Grey location was without such decorations. Someone apparently thought this should be remedied. Unfortunately, the latest addition leaves something to be desired.

Instead of an impressive artistic rendering of a majestic animal, WE got a pair of fiberglass deer that look like they,d be right at home on a put-put golf course. Or possibly a backwoods grandma’s trailer park lawn. Seriously – I suspect they were purchased from Walmart’s lawn and garden section. They are SO sad.

And last week, they put up a little plaque in front of them.

I decided to get a closer look to see if maybe their true purpose was to educate the public on the local deer population or some other informative tidbit. Unfortunately, even the plaque was disappointing. It instructs the observer to look but don’t touch the deer. I guess in addition to their being cheap looking, they are fragile as well.

Welcome to Gray, y’all!