A photo of a freeway sign in the US has gone viral because of its rather unsavoury connection: cannibalism.
Police posted a picture on Facebook of the Donner Lake exit on Interstate 80 in California on Wednesday.
But the lake is named after a group of Midwestern pioneers who were forced to spend the winter of 1846–47 in the Sierra Nevada mountain range: the Donner Party.
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The story goes that the survivors only made it through by eating the others in their party – although a recent study by archeologists suggested that there was no physical evidence of cannibalism.
The road sign, meanwhile, has a knife and fork beneath it to signify dining options like restaurants and cafes – but some people interpreted it differently.
One person on Facebook said: “I heard there is a party going on up there.” Placerville California Highway Patrol’s social media page replied: “Slowly dwindling, but yes.”
Another person said: “For a fine dining experience, visit beautiful Donner Lake,” to which a commenter replied, “bring the family.”
One person joked that the food around the lake “was finger-licking good,” while another said that “the ribs and shoulder are amazing [there] but I wasn’t a fan of the liver and onions.”
California Department of Transportation public information officer Steve Nelson said that there are 38 restaurants past the exit, “so the sign is appropriate to notify motorists, but [we] also understand the irony and that it may be considered insensitive.”
That’s a lot to chew on.
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