NEW HAMPSHIRE COUNTRY JOURNAL: THE TWO MIKES, Part 2 (or the THREE MIKES, Part 1) — by Steve Nadis
On our annual drive to New Hampshire each Thanksgiving, Mr. Mike’s is a welcome half-way point, an oasis on a day of closed McDonald’s and abandoned donut stands. On the drive north, as if in a dream, I think I saw two Mr. Mike’s though the second one was a bit of a blur and perhaps apocryphal. My wife’s aunt thinks she saw a second one, too, though she can’t swear to it. On the return trip to Boston, earlier today, my mother-in-law claims to have seen three Mr. Mike’s, which comes as a complete shock to me (the driver). I could only swear to one and figured there could only be two, at most, along our long-familiar route. Yet she, a woman who is not prone to hyperbole, claims to have seen a third. As to how many we’ll see on the next journey, only time–and visual acuity (which may be in short supply)–will tell.
Posted by
at
06:00:12
Any speculation as to who this “Mike” is? And is there a Mrs. Mike?
These are important questions, TB. It appears the mystery only deepens.
In ‘73, the only Mr Mike’s we knew of was up the hill & down the street from our HiSchool… for beer. A private operation that had no problem adopting the new 18+ law for alcohol purchases. In that “heady time” { ;)~ yes, there were a LOT of ‘heads’ drinkin a LOT of “heads”} his store (yup, there WAS a Mike) made it into our yearbook in cartoon form [along with E.F.S. -by the by, Snake!].
BUT…Sorry to pop your bubble, SOMEone started a Mr. Mike’s CHAIN over in Peterborough, NH a year later (1975).
Now there’s 27 (twenty-SEVEN) little Mr Mike’s dotting the Mass, NH & Maine landscapes. And more to come! [And I don't think they'll sell to any 20yr-old college kid.]
What’s past is past & what is, is, well…the slow extinction of the remaining neighborhood Mom & Pops.
{as always, clik link…if you have the[iron]stomach}
Wow, MP, the # of Mr. Mike’s grows by the minute!