Wicked Rural Homestead
Live Simply
Down By The Trading Post.
I could be wrong, but I think that our little Maine town has exactly one of everything- a town hall, fire station, school (grades k-8,) post office, two church and a trading post.
The trading post is the only store IN Acton. The closest grocery store to our house is technically in a different state.
For the first time in my life I have a job that does not revolve around food. This has been bittersweet and a HUGE adjustment for me, mostly because it means I have to BRING food with me if I want to eat during the day.
A totally new concept.
When the need for food is paired with my morning laziness, it results in me heading down to the Acton Trading Post to get my lunch.
It is strategically placed right on highway 109 and across from the lake we throw the boys in all summer.
We tend to stay clear of the trading post during the invasion of tourists that IS summer but during the off season it retunes to the locals and we can enjoy the uninterrupted view of the lake.
Now, the docks sit quietly waiting to be hauled out- in preparation for the big freeze. When the lake will sprout ice fishing camps and become a highway for snow mobiles.
In the fall it is also the place to register and tag deer after hunting. This means that most November days there are one or more trucks with gutted deer hanging off the back when I pull in.
Reminding me that I live in Maine.
The offerings change with the seasons but it always remains the center of town activity. From the morning coffee newspaper to your nightly pizza, fishing/ hunting licenses, groceries, gossip, gas, beer, booze, lottery tickets- all the basics of rural life.
If they don’t have it you don’t need it.
They won’t have the exact brands you are looking for but they will have something that will do. You will not go without.
The trading post is one of the most iconic representations of rural life in Maine. We live in a beautiful place, a place where people come to “get away” from all their troubles. When you live here most of the troubles you have are from these migrant influences, traffic, asshole etc…
It is a system adept at “making hay while the sun is shinning” and enjoying the peace and quite of the remaining year when locals can show up with a carcass in our truck without a second glance and you can get anything you need without leaving the town or the state.
The trading post is not the only place to get lunch but it is an experience and one I am grateful to have near by.
Be well!
Wicked Rural Homestead 
In Appleton, ME we had precisely one of everything – but less than one of many things. Just one store, one school, and one Church. One major intersection, but no gas station — had to go into Union to get gas. But at 2400 people, Acton is a bustling metropolis compared to Appleton. 🙂
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