The real estate buyer was supposed to be in Maine last week to look at a Main Street Houlton ME victorian.

This morning he called and passed the heart stress retest. Got the thumbs up from the cardiologist. He is hoping to run a restaurant...on a very very small scale, in house but the Maine state fire marshal's office is another hurdle to clear. Another test to pass. Have you ever thought about running a little inn or just serving meals without renting the rooms as a Bed and Breakfast would?

     Can you see living in the upstair of a Maine victorian home, while running the tables, serving the meals, shooting the breeze with dinners downstair? Asking them "How was your steak?" "Do you like my grandmother from the old country's Italian sauce on that chicken? Too spicy?" Or like the big fella pictured, "How was your fish?" knowing the only fish fresher is still swimming in the Maine sea, the Maine lake.

    

Serving the public...literally feeding them something they enjoy.

Providing the right music, the right volume of tuneage in the background. Low lights but so low that you feel like three blind mice groping with one hand for the salad fork, spilling your water glass with the floating lemon in it with the other hand in the meantime.  Making sure the kitchen has not wooden surfaces where germs, bacteria, mold could grow...that the water in the dishwasher is scalding hot to disinfect. You do not want to serve even one salmanila blue plate or your business is cooked, history, swerved away from by those not wanting an intestinal flu or sickness. A memorable meal, but not in a good way.

     What images, artwork, pictures for the walls around your in home restaurant that show the essense, the flavor of the area of Maine you are from? Mr Moose caught taking a Saturday afternoon bath might be on one wall if you are living in Maine, showing the diners what the area is all about.

     Designing your menu with the right colors, a certain font and the right diner lingo to fit the cruisine you are serving. What table clothes, dinnerware pattern?

     Dining is an experience and you are not operating a drive thru.

     Your meals are not to be hurried and conversation, a little laughter and a glass or two of wine  or your favorite livation part of the experience or not. Up to you. To each his own.

     And after the meal in your favorite part of the home, you walk to the local movie theatre, take in a show. Or if your small town provides a local Maine McGill's band like Houlton ME does, that may be the last course of the dining out meal extravaganza.

Our area is lucky as we are not far from the ocean, and right on the Canadian border. So border hopping to shop, eat or just leave the country for a few hours is common. I joke that  not many of us on the American side would not pass the test of being at least a quarter Canadian dna.