Facts and Festivals

Due to the fact that I haven't really been up to much (It has been raining like crazy!) I decided to find out some random things about Brunswick. For starters, Brunswick is located 25 miles northeast of Portland, Maine's largest city. When trying to find the population, I found only a census from 2000. Although, the average population was around 21,000 on sites I checked, not everyone seems to agree. Oh well, I guess it isn't that important.

Brunswick was founded in 1628, by Thomas Purchase and some other fisherman. The original name of the town was Pejepscot (meaning long, rocky, rapids part of the river). In 1717 the name was changed for the elector of Brunswick, who became England's King George I.

Some random facts about Brunswick:

* Site of the first cotton mill in Maine.
* Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin while living here.
* The film Man Without A Face (1993) was filmed here.
* Bowdoin College is located here. Bowdoin is the oldest educational institution in the state.
* Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of Scarlet Letter, is an alumni of Bowdoin College.
* "The number of violent crimes recorded by the FBI in 2003 was 16. The number of murders and homicides was 0." I would love to know their definition of violent!

I am not going to lie. I couldn't really find a lot of interesting facts about Brunswick. But then I always look for the quirky things. Maybe not having a lot of crazy facts about a town is a good thing.

So I gave up on my fact finding and started looking into things for the summer. Here are just a few thing fun things I am excited about:

1. Brunswick is known for it's Bluegrass festival held every year on Labor Day weekend at Thomas Point Beach. And for those of you who know Aaron know he is going to love this kind of festival!

2. The Maine state fair which is held in Bangor. I love fair food. I can't wait to get my hands on a funnel cake!

3. The Yarmouth Clam Festival. I don't even really know if I like clams but this will be a good place to figure it out.

4. I think I am most excited about the Maine Lobster Festival held in Rockland. There will be food, parades, music, the coronation of a Maine Sea Goddess and lobster crate races. How could I not to look forward to it!? :o)

I know it seems like all we will be doing this summer is eating but that will not be the case. Aaron has already been searching for places to hunt, fish and camp. I can't wait for our summer in Maine to start! And don't worry I will definitely take lots of pictures for you!