Sugar House

Somehow I have managed to live in Maine most of my adult life and never visit a sugar house in the spring. Years ago, we actually made a pint of maple syrup, but for one reason or another, I just never got around to examining a real sugaring operation. When the kids were at an age when they might have found it interesting, there were greenhouses to contend with and once they were running and filled with plants you didn't go anywhere as a family group. Someone had to stay there just in case the furnace decided to have a bad day.

So, when Kris suggested a trip to visit a sugar house, I thought it sounded like fun. It would round out my education in an area that had been lacking for years. Plus, we would end up with real maple syrup for my sourdough pancakes. Normally, we would be way too cheap to buy real syrup, but since it would be the culmination of an educational trip, I suspected we would succumb to temptation.

The closest sugaring operation that appeared interesting was in Dover Foxcroft, "Bob's Sugar House". "Bob" had quite a good website and we would have to drive by the new Tractor Supply store on outer Broadway in Bangor (always a fun stop) and go through Corinth, a nice farmy area, to get to "Bob's". It's too bad Bob didn't have a more interesting name. Something a little more unique to Maine- like Lyman or something. Well, you can't really fault him for that so, we piled into the Ford Ranger and headed off. The money we saved in gas from taking the ranger instead of the GMC would, we reasoned, help pay for the syrup. (very sound financial planning).

It had been in the upper teens over night and it was still chilly with bright sunshine, heading for the mid-thirties, great sugaring weather. It was a nice drive and Tractor Supply still had the side by side four wheeler with a dump body for $5995(for some reason that's comforting, although I have no intentions of buying it.)
Anyway, after a very pleasant drive we arrived at "Bob's" sugar house, in downtown Dover Foxcroft.

In my mind's eye, sugar houses were located in the woods at the base of hills which were covered in sugar maples and tubes ran down the hill to the sugar house where wood smoke and steam filled the air. After a short walk into the woods, you would arrive at a rustic building that smelled sweetly of maple. It just hadn't occurred to me that E. Main street in Dover was a suitable sugar house location, so I was surprised to find that "Bob's" was an urban operation.

Steam was pouring forth, but Bob had switched from wood to oil and no smell of wood smoke at Bob's. I am sure the neighbors appreciate that, but I am guessing that Bob may be wishing he had stuck with wood at these oil prices. Inside the building, Bob had a rustic decor and, as advertised, a large evaporator making syrup. The evaporator was an all stainless box with a hood. Except for the steam, there was no evidence to indicate what was going on. I am sure the state health inspector gets warm fuzzy feelings when he sees such a sterile operation, but I thought sugaring may be losing some of its charm.

Bob did have good free snacks, always a hit with us retirees, and in addition to syrup, we bought a couple of maple walnut truffles that were really good. I am guessing "Bob's" decision to locate in town was a good financial decision since there is more impulse traffic around during the season than there is in the woods.
Still, to us destination sugar house customers, a hillside and a wood fired evaporator that had a lot less stainless parts would have been nice.

Well, I gotta run, we're having sourdough pancakes with real maple syrup. (Not the light colored stuff with no flavor, but the dark amber syrup that is loaded with it.)