Carmel is a small town in Penobscot County that serves as a bedroom community of the neighboring city of Bangor. With approximately 3,000 people calling it home, it has all the beauty and flavor rural Maine is known for.  

  In the past, the Auto Rest Stop was one of the biggest attractions in this area of Maine. Cabins, a restaurant, a gas station, a ballroom where nationally known acts performed, rides, and even the state’s only licensed zoo at the time drew crowds for miles around. In fact, the Auto Rest Stop became extremely well-known when it was chosen as the overnight stop for the infamous Brady gang the night before their fatal shootout with the F.B.I. in Bangor on October 12, 1937...the year that the Pine Tree Trail was named by the Maine legislature!