Keep the Quirks Comin'

If you haven't noticed by now, I'm mildly obsessed with regional differences - in dialect, in food, in thought. I've already written about the abomination that is the Boston Left, the penchant for vanity plates, & the Oh, God, that accent.

I've already done a round-up of New Hampshire oddities, but guess what? I found more.

1. I spent awhile looking at the menu of the Friendly Toast wondering what the hell a "regular frappe" was & asking aloud if they sold milkshakes. Apparently, frappes (pronounced "fraps") are milkshakes. If you order it as a milkshake, they ask you if you want ice cream in it. Wait, what? That's because a "milkshake" here is just flavored milk. Yes, really.
   
   
2. There is no normal bowling here. Instead, there's candlepin bowling, which is, as far as I can tell, the miniature golf of bowling. Stick-straight pins (called "wood" - ha), smaller balls & weird scoring. Regular bowling, which cannot be found here, is commonly referred to as "big-ball bowling." Candlepin bowling is only found in Canada, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts... & one location in Wyoming, OH, which no one has ever heard of, so it doesn't count.
   
   
3. Hot dogs buns are different. I know, you're like, "Who notices this?" but hey, I do. Hot dog buns here aren't your typical doughy potato rolls. Apparently, what they have here are called "top-loading buns," which amount to a folded-up piece of white bread that doesn't hold up well against condiments. I don't like condiments, but that's not the point.

In short, I continue to discover that New England is a foreign land. Never fear: I shall report additional oddities as they are discovered.

Images: Bun , milkshake, bowling