25 Ways You Know You’re from the North Shore

Photograph by Toan Trinh

We asked and you told us: You know you’re from the North Shore if…

1.

You’ve hosted your bachelor party at the Golden Banana.

2.

You’ve hosted your toddler’s birthday party at Bonkers Funhouse.

3.

You’ve ordered a wiener from Joe Hot Dog in Gloucester.

4.

You’ve gorged on cider doughnuts at Russell Orchards.

5.

You’ve downed a mai tai (or three) at Kowloon.

6.

You can finish the phrase “Lynn, Lynn, City of—.”

7.

You know that a “roast beef three-way” isn’t something dirty, but delicious.

8.

You make an annual pilgrimage to the Lynn Fells Parkway to revel in the blow-up Santas, sparkly reindeer, and blinged-out manger scenes.

9.

You’ve endured the scourge of greenheads at Crane Beach.

10.

You’re proud to tell your non–North Shore friends that Necco wafers are made in Revere.

11.

You wouldn’t dare miss a polo match at Myopia.

12.

You’d rather face the gallows than visit Salem in October.

13.

You know how to spell Masconomet.

14.

You religiously monitor the tides at Wingaersheek.

15.

You’ve laced up at the gloriously Day-Glo Roller Palace.

16.

You’ll always have a soft spot for the orange dinosaur, the Hilltop cactus, and Pinky the Elephant.

17.

You’ve gone quarry-jumping in Gloucester—and gotten chased out.

18.

You’ve broken into the Danvers State Hospital at midnight—and gotten chased out.

19.

You know how to drive from Rockport to Beverly without getting on 128.

20.

You know the difference between Beverly and Beverly Farms.

21.

You know “Motif No. 1” isn’t a famous painting but a Rockport landmark.

22.

You spend your weekend mornings waiting in line at Bagel World.

23.

You’ve watched Mr. and Mrs. Claus arrive by lobster boat to State Street Landing in Marblehead.

24.

Your idea of “the Cape” is Cape Ann.

25.

You’ve never been to the South Shore.

— OR —

Are you from the South Shore?

See more North Shore vs. South Shore. »