Signs and "Maine Nice"

Signs

I was in Maine for 2-1/2 days on business. I did a little driving around to go to a lobster restaurant. Thought I'd try some "Maine lobster".

One thing I noticed there (Brunswick/Topsham area), is that there are not many commercial signs. And not many street signs either for that matter. And not many street lights either... It is aesthetically nice because they don't have billboards or tall signs around. There was no sign for the restaurant except for the small sign on the side of the building. There was a small sign on the ground by the driveway to my hotel and one sign on the hotel. It was difficult finding the restaurant because it was hard to find street signs.

"Maine nice"

I keep hearing that people in Minnesota are "Minnesota nice". It seems like the people in Maine are "Maine nice". I ran into a lot of nice people there--nicer than necessary. I didn't find any "not nice" people: the people I worked with, the receptionist at work, the people working at the hotel seem genuinely nicer than usual hotel employees, the person I asked directions from looking for the restaurant was very nice and another person standing nearby volunteered more directions. The waitresses three times at restaurants were nicer than average--and it didn't seem like the "fake nice" that you see sometimes.