YANKEE DOODLES

YANKEE DOODLES

JUNE 2007

by Ham

Every once in awhile we come across an amazingly absurd place in the middle of nowhere that neither of us have ever heard of before. Upon doing a quick Google search, I could not find Yankee Doodles in Canastota, NY on any major travel or roadside attraction sites. I also have never seen it mentioned in any of the various New York state travel guide books that I've looked at over the years. The above picture of the front of the store was taken on our first stop at Yankee Doodles in December 2006. However, we never went in the store on this day for some reason (either it was closed or we were too scared to go in - I can't remember). The rest of the photos on this page were taken in June 2007, when we experienced Yankee Doodles in all its glory.

While driving down Route 31 in Canastota, NY we couldn't help but notice these two awesome spectacles by the side of the road:

The short "Yankee Doodle" standing on a drum with a feather (called "Macaroni", no doubt) in his cap stands directly in front of the store, while the horse pulling the man and his wagon o' fudge is in front of the house next door (presumably owned by the family that owns the store). Now, these two signs on their own are a little misleading. It leads one to think that this old time country store sells only fine giftware, old fashioned candy, and lots of fudge. If someone doesn't desire fudge or giftware, they may drive right on by this fantastic store. However, if you pull into the "parking lot" (which is really an exaggerated driveway) you'll notice several spectacular wood carvings and other strange things in front of the store.

There are a couple more pictures to show of the front of the store, but let's examine the above two photos first. All on the same porch there are (among other things): two barrels, two bears, two guys with large hands playing checkers (notice these guys were absent in the December 2006 picture - maybe they didn't like the cold weather), and a lady wearing a pink dress and holding a broom. Placed directly in front of the porch are a treasure chest, a seaman, and an unpainted pirate. Now, if that wouldn't want to make you go into this store I don't know what will!

Taking a closer look behind the woman in pink, we see an old Squirt cooler! I believe what I thought to myself at this time was, "Awesomeness!".

Looking around the yard we saw the following:

In the first photo above, a bear is kissing a tree in front of a fence covered with rakes and saws (of course!). We also spotted a garden gnome sitting on some mushrooms and an ancient gas pump.

The first thing we saw when we walked in the store was an old stove cooking a cloth cheeseburger:

Aside from the stove, the store included several rooms with loads and loads (and loads) of things carved out of wood, plus household decorations and candy. We were a bit overwhelmed at first.

I loved how all of the bears appear to be smiling.

Here are some other examples of some of the things in the store:

The last two pictures above are actually two sides of the same carving. I realize Captain Ahab's head is not in proportion to Mr. Dick's body, but it's still a cool sculpture.

Just when we thought we had seen everything that Yankee Doodles had to offer, Kelly found a door leading out into a side yard that featured some of the strangest things that I had ever seen in a store that I originally thought only sold fudge and giftware.

I'm not sure where to begin. There was an old man sitting in front of his house, an outhouse (called "The TeePee"), a chopping block with an axe, some scarecrows next to a graveyard, and much more. Here is what the inside of the old man's house looked like:

Speaking of the inside of things, I'll bet you're wondering what was inside of the outhouse. You're not? Well, I was. So, of course I opened the door and found this lovely lady doing her business:

If you're ever driving on Route 31 in Canastota, NY and see a short Yankee Doodle waving at you, please stop by and check out the store. We need to support places like this. I even did my part to help keep their business alive. Well, my purchase was only $5.35 but at least it was something - and, Good Golly Miss Molly, was it something! I got me a Monkey Pen!

(Posted 6/2007)