About this location
A few stories people tell about this place
1. At the Shell station in downtown Portland, a regular shouted one morning: ‘Hey, did you see that guy filling up with gas and then walking away without paying?’ Since then, everyone’s been watching who gets out of their car. Soon enough, an older gentleman walked out of his car, nodded to no one in particular, and calmly sauntered off into the misty morning. Everyone stared for a moment, then burst into laughter—turns out he’d paid weeks ago, and it was just his daily routine. Now, whenever someone fills up without getting out, they wave and say, ‘Morning, Mr. Regular!’
2. At the Shell gas station in rural Ohio, a delivery driver asked one day, 'Why does it smell like bacon every morning here?' The attendant shrugged and said, ‘I don’t know, but I bet our neighbor Mr. Jenkins is cooking breakfast again.’ Sure enough, it turned out that every morning at exactly six o’clock, Mr. Jenkins would drive his truck past the station on his way to work and stop for a quick bite from his famous bacon sandwich. The whole town now knows never to visit Shell first thing in the morning—unless they’re hungry too.
3. At the Shell gas station in a small town, an old sign above the cash register read: 'If you see UFOs here, you're too close.' One evening, a delivery driver pulled up and asked nervously if he’d seen any unusual activity lately. The attendant smiled and replied, ‘Only your usual late-night antics!’ Everyone burst out laughing, including the driver who realized his headlights had been shining right into the sign.
4. At the Shell gas station on Route 66, a tourist from Texas looked up and asked one afternoon: ‘Why does that cow keep staring at me through the window?’ The attendant smiled and replied, 'Sir, that's not a cow—it's our mascot, Bessie the Tanker Cow. She’s just waving hello!' The Texan laughed and said, 'Well, Bessie, I guess you’ve got some nerve, staring down people like that.' And ever since then, tourists from far and wide come to see Bessie, who remains the friendly face of Shell Station.