Wild Week

Mello Yello has reappeared. I never even really noticed it disappear and was never a fan of the soda. I remember it being available in Maine at some point and I know that, some years ago, I used to buy it every so often. It was a soft disappearance, just something I didn't really care about. Yet all of a sudden it's my drink of choice. I was drawn to it in a convenience store since it was one of the drinks I hadn't seen in Maine. I noticed that it had a different, retro, label than the one I last remember seeing. I was a fan of the throwback sodas that Pepsi was putting out last year and decided to try one. That was the first one, about 8 Mello Yellos later it has (alongside coffee) become my official "settling into Massachusetts life" drink.

I've had my flirtations with soft drinks before, and I've eventually left them all behind. I'm a person who really feels compelled to try the new flavors that come along at least once. So many of these oddly named beverages have I guzzled down. Sodas like Vault, Surge, Citra and so on. I'm sure I'll get over Mello Yello real quick, but I am wont to have a "drink of the moment" so I'll stick with it for a few months.

The odd thing was that it is even found on tap at fast food places down here! I guess it's just one of those things that pulled out of Maine. Oh Maine, you don't know how little you have. I found it on tap at Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Enfield, CT. That in itself was a fun excursion that I must talk about.


Five Guys Burgers and Fries is a fast food restaurant that I had never heard of, and that is saying something.  I thought I'd heard of all the major American chains including the ones that weren't in the northeast.  Whataburger, Carl's Jr., Chick-fil-A, White Castle, and all the Californian brands were places I could only dream about.  At least I knew the names of those brands.  I heard about Five Guys three days ago from a list of highest rated fast food places I found online.  I researched Five Guys on their website and Wikipedia.  I texted Ashes and told her that we were going there for lunch the next day.  I found the closest one over the border in Enfield, CT.  The prospect of going to another state for lunch is unusual for someone like me that spent their entire life living in central Maine.  However it's not an entirely unfamiliar concept since we often went to Canada for lunch when visiting Ashes' parents in northern Maine.  Still, the closest Five Guys was 30 minutes away in Enfield.

When we got to the location we entered a store that was packed with people ordering and waiting for their orders.  All the burgers were being prepared out in the open and the lobby was filled with bags of potatoes that would be turned into fries.  We got in line to order from the extremely simple menu.  The only options were burger, double burger and hot dogs.  From their you customized every topping.  The blank slate was burger and you decided what to add rather than remove.  I ordered a double cheeseburger with pickles and green peppers.  We also got an order of small fries.  We waited for our meal (20th in the order) which didn't take very long.  Our food came in a plain brown bag with extra fries shoveled in for good measure.  What I ate was by far one of the best fast food burgers I've ever had.  The patties were ground beef.  The cheese melted on in gooey goodness.  The fries were cut potatoes with a bit of spice and salt tossed on.  Five Guys is one of the top three fast food places I've ever been to and will probably take other people here if I get visitors.

Loving the food and drink and Massachusetts.  So that's a little summary of some of the little unimportant stuff that's going here in my new life.  It might not seem exciting but to me it truly is.  Living in the same small town for 27 years means that the small differences and new options make me happy.  There will most likely be a great deal of posts about minor and seemingly inconsequential stuff for this reason.  Get ready for it people.