Distance Makes the Car Go Farther

My Grandparents always operated under the assumption that New England was a state. After all, it has a local NFL team, an Aquarium, a University and a Journal of Medicine, right? They'd fly up from Florida for a weekend to visit both my parents in Maine and my aunt Pat in Connecticut (Total Estimated Distance: 203.74 miles).

I bring this up because this weekend, my Grandmother is flying in and out of Maine for a wedding in Rhode Island (Total Estimated Distance: 166.43 miles). It's cool, cause she gets to drive down with my dad, who seems to be the only person who can give her a hard time and get away with it. But there is an airport in Providence, which is only about 10 minutes from the ceremony. I'm just saying...

I suppose you have to cut her some slack though. After all, she grew up in New York, where there are basically two regions: The City, and Upstate. The dividing line is somewhere around Yonkers, which I think is technically in the "The City" region (at least according to the people in Yonkers).

Jen grew up in the Upstate region, in Colton, NY (near Pottsdam) which is about 30 hours north of Buffalo. People from this area refer to it as "The North Country." I like to call it Canada.

I, on the other hand, grew up in southern Maine, a region the locals refer to as "Downeast." You'd think "Downeast" wouldn't aptly describe the northernmost continental State, and would instead be somewhere around South Carolina or Georgia, but no -- that's the "Deep South". And the locals in Maine make geography VERY simple. They divide the whole earth into two regions. Maine, and Away. ("She from Buxton?" "No, she ain't from heeyah... She's from Away")

The only other state Maine-iacs will recognize is Massachussets, and that's just because of the Red Sox and Bad Drivers.