The Rock of Ages Visitors Center Blog: Vermont Travel Tips, Vermont Recipes and other thoughts of the day

I returned recently from a trip to the coast of Maine.  We enjoy staying at a certain resort in Old Orchard Beach; staying there has become somewhat of a tradition for us. For those of you who are familiar with northern New England, it will come as no surprise that it is easier traveling here from south to north than it is from east to west, as most of the major, modern highways run south to north. Now there is a possible route from Central Vermont to Saco, Maine, that entails the use of more highway than we traverse when we journey east. However, that route with the most highway saves less than 30 minutes driving time, so we still prefer to navigate the secondary routes that wind their way through the towns and villages of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Taking this more circuitous route gives us an opportunity to see wonderful sites that would otherwise be missed when traveling by highway and allows us to indulge in one of our idiosyncratic pastimes—noting odd street names or business names wherever we go.

For example, young people still courting might enjoy strolling down “Loven Lane”. And on Saturdays it sure would be convenient to live on “Ta Da Dump” Road. Those seeking anonymity might be content to live on “Justa Road”, and the jaded among us might feel right at home living on “Dis Dam Road”.

I thought that the name “Cloverdale” was delightful, evoking for me the wholesomeness of “Ozzie and Harriet” and “Donna Reed” all rolled up in one. What a great neighborhood for a young couple to choose to raise a family, I thought. But then I realized that “Cloverdale” was immediately adjacent to “Smutty Lane”. Perhaps not such a great place to bring up kids after all. And for the sake of propriety, I’ll not even ponder the origins of “Tickle Naked Road.”

Before I close, I must mention two hair salons, both in Saco, Maine, that illustrate the advertising importance of a name. We typically buy supplies at a little market called “AZ’s”, which is just a block or two from the resort and the beach itself. Until just recently, AZ’s was next to a hair salon called “Seaside Hair.” Now I don’t know what you envision when you hear “seaside hair”, but it does not bring to my mind visions of a woman at her coiffured best, as she strolls along the beach with seaside breezes tugging at and playing with her lovely locks. On the other hand, I think that the owners of the “Curl Up and Dye” on Route 5 are very clever people with a great feel for advertising.

All of the street names I’ve mentioned today can be found in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. I hope that as you travel, these musings will inspire you to take note of your surroundings so that you are not so focused on your destination that you forget to entertain yourself along the journey. If you run across some unusual names while traveling, please drop me a note and share them with me. I’ll mention the best of them in a future blog: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

~Todd