Belfast, Maine: Perry's Nut House

Mostly a tourist souvenir stand with a few mounted animals, Perry's still has a charm about it with Ape-Raham the gorilla, a gator strapped to the ceiling and assorted random stuff all around. Not a bad place to stop.

Billed on RA as a house of oddities. Well, yes there are a few oddities there...but it is more of a tourist trap selling some of the cheapest stuff around!

O.K., I will admit there was this sweet little old lady selling fresh homemade fudge (of all flavors/varieties) and so I indulged. The fudge made at Perry's Nut House is well worth the stop!

There was a giant stuffed Gorilla as you walk in the front door (contest to name it...and if you win...you get your picture with the gorilla). A large stuffed albatross, a mummy (looked a bit doctored up). Some cool things outside to get your picture with.

I was very disappointed with Perry's Nut House because I used to go here all the time as a kid. However, the careful observer will notice that some of the old Nut House charm still exists.

They have a "lost mummy," which is obviously fake, but still kind of cool, a big stuffed albatross, some shrunken heads, and maybe a few other oddities. However, the focus is definitely on buying candy and tacky Maine souvenirs. Still worth a stop if you're on your way somewhere, but definitely not worth a trip just for that.

You will be happy to hear that Perry's Nut House, under the management of new owners George and Ellen Darling, is back and better than ever. I'm their next door neighbor and have seen Perry's coming back to life.

Perry's Nut House is celebrating their 80th Anniversary this year. The dusty old store is being spiffed up with lots of great things to see and do. They still make their own fudge, a favorite far and wide.

They are also working on getting a new giant elephant, as the previous one was purchased at auction about 10 years ago and currently resides at the local movie theater. It may not be the Perry's Nut House that your grandparents remember, but there are many things that are even better. And the Albatross is back and bigger than ever!

The summer of 1991, before my final year in college, a friend and I hitch-hiked around the east coast. One woman who picked us up thought we should certainly see Perry's Nut House, home to the world's largest nut collection and all sorts of moth-eaten taxidermy. Of course, we loved it. The woman came in with us and shopped around with us -- then suddenly disappeared. We wandered out of the store a few minutes later and found our backpacks in a pile on the ground and the woman peeling out of the parking lot. I'm not sure why she suddenly decided to abandon us, but I guess Perry's Nut House was as good a place as any to be left stranded.