In the town of Rangeley, Maine, you'll find a small restaurant that goes by the name of Doc Grant's. It is in a small to midsize white building with a sign hanging out front that proudly reads "Doc Grant's Restaurant, Halfway between the Equator and the North Pole." It's right on Rangeley's main street, and should be no trouble to find seeing how Rangeley has only one main street.

Doc Grant's probably makes about the best bacon and eggs in the state of Maine, and I highly recommend the food, but there is another reason that one should go to Doc's and that is the place itself. The minute you walk into Doc's (usually dressed for fishing), you just feel right. You feel, I guess you could say, real.

Doc's has a rather large dining area, and on one of the large white walls there is a painting of sorts. It is in black and white and concerns the overall tone of the whole place. On one side there is a hula girl and on the other side there is a similar-looking girl in some sort of Arctic get-up. Between the two pictures there are the words "Halfway between the Equator and the North Pole." The fact that the painting is done in black and white, and in a very simple style only adds to the character of the place.

In Doc's you sit down to eat your eggs and bacon while surrounded by several older men dressed in plaid shirts who are smoking, reading the paper, and discussing local things. When you are in Doc's, you get the sense that all of it is real. That it is not part of the cardboard cut-out, made-up world we have created.

So, next time you are in Rangeley, I recommend Doc Grant's Restaurant; it's real and the food's good too. n