A small town is one thing. A small tourist town is a totally different beast. With the Fourth of July a hazy memory for most, tourists everywhere are going home, but they've left their mark on our towns. If you've ever lived in a tourist town, you know these 11 things to be true.

1. You recognize the tourists on sight

Sometimes it's as easy as "oh look they're stopped in the middle of the road taking pictures of the town deer and now I'm late to work." Sometimes you know simply because you've never seen them in your life and they're barely wearing enough clothes not to get arrested.

2. Left hand turns

You change your driving pattern to avoid left-hand turns. You avoid them better than the UPS guy. Because if you have to take a left-hand turn, you've pretty much doomed yourself to five minutes standing still waiting for crawling cars and pedestrians to pass.

3. The corner of doom

There's one part of town (Moxie Java Corner) where every. single. pedestrian. crosses the road. Usually it's a bottle neck, hairpin turn where everyone is already moving slowly. And just when you think you're clear to go, another white-tank-top tourists marches in front of your car, all but daring you to hit them.

4. Forget eating out

Seriously. Just forget it. Even if you're craving pizza, you know better than to go to the pizza place. Not to mention, your friend is working and you don't want to do that to them.

5. People coming in five minutes before you close

And staying to eat, meaning you can't sweep so you have to stay even later to close. And even when you drop *subtle* hints that you've been closed for a half hour now and everything else is done, they'll sit, food gone, and chat for a while.

6. Not being able to go hiking/camping because everyone is in your spot

Even if they're just near by, your sanctuary is no longer remote enough. There's beer cans and shouting and people parked on the damn road meaning you can't even get to your spot.

7. The store

There's no parking, which is the first sign you're in for a hell of a time. Inside, there's three check stands open, with five groups in each. All the chicken strips are gone and you're tempted to just take the cat litter you came there for and make a break for it and come back next week to pay.

8. Some of them are nice

Mostly because they're drunk and on that summer-time buzz and they haven't had to work in a week

9. The lines

At the store, at the restaurants, at the public bathroom.... Your town was not built to handle this many people, and now somehow it's struggling to contain them all. And if you're working, they each believe their food should be ready in five minutes or less, even though they just spent fifteen minutes in line and you're obviously backed up beyond all belief.

10. The hot guys

Most tourists are okay. But every once and a while, you'll get the nice, attractive, right-aged guy that you're almost tempted to slip your number to.

11. The relief when they're all gone

One day, usually the fifth or sixth of July, you wake up and town is calmer. There's still more people than there will be in the dead of winter, but far less than there were two days ago. Everyone relaxes a little. We survived the storm. We clean up their left over trash and smile and wave as they leave until next year.