Connecticutisms

Every state in the nation seems to have a unique name for some things, and here are some of CT's. T and I went to get lunch our first day here, and came across grinders. It sounded like a sandwich, but there was a sandwich section on the menu, so I finally asked the counter guy what the difference was. Apparently, a sandwich is exactly that...white, wheat or rye bread anyone? and a grinder is a sub sandwich. Interesting, but almost every eating establishment around here, including the pizza places, offer grinders.

Another thing they have here are carriages instead of shopping carts. The first time I saw "return carriages here" I will admit that my mind was picturing carts with a horse pulling them through the store, and it definitely hit my funny bone (even though I knew they were talking about shopping carts. Oh well, Those are all the ones I know for now.

In driving, each lane has it's own light, and many of the on and off ramps are backwards to what one would find as the norm in the west. For instance, our exit going north is on the left hand side of the highway, so you have to stay in the fast lane to exit. But the on ramp puts you on the 6 lane bridge, on the left side, so in order to go to town, you have the length of the bridge to swoop across to the exit. Makes for some interesting driving.