It's not often a part-time waitress in Boothbay Harbor will cause customers to do a double take, but it's been happening at McSeagulls Restaurant on Pier 1. The waitress in question? None other than Maine's First Lady Ann LePage who this summer joins thousands of other seasonal workers in Maine looking to make a few extra bucks. Despite having no prior experience, LePage said she'd always wanted to waitress but didn't have the spare time.

“After my mother passed away I told my daughter maybe this is the year I'll try this,” said LePage. “She said, ‘Mom I think you should go for it,’ although my son thought I was having a midlife crisis.”

Her husband — Gov. Paul LePage — was initially shocked over the decision.

“He looked at me like I had four heads,” she said. “I suggested maybe I could be a bartender instead but Paul said I'm too judgmental.”

Though a huge surprise to some, Gov. LePage did predict this very scenario at one of his recent town meetings.

"My daughter last year, she's in law school, she made $28 an hour working in Boothbay as a waitress, server. She did so well, my wife, the first lady, to supplement the governor's salary is waitressing this summer. I'm kidding — not kidding really," he said at the meeting.

After contacting McSeagulls owner Jeff Stoddard via Facebook, Ann LePage began a normal application process and insisted on no preferential treatment.

“I said I completely understand if you don't want to go down that road if it could hurt your business,” she said. “Eventually I got a call from the manager who said ‘We'd love to have you on board.’”

Despite her inexperience, Ann LePage has been a success so far and recently worked her first double shift. She plans to stay until the very end of the busy tourism season in October.

““I'm having a ball,” said LePage. “You've got to be a people person. It's hard work.”

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed even if her high profile sometimes has. With a standard issue black McSeagulls t-shirt and apron, LePage is almost hidden in plain sight among the customers and fellow staff. Indeed, many of her McSeagulls co-workers were unaware of who she was and upon finding out still weren't sure what to make of it.

“She's been a great employee,” said Jackie Barnicoat, McSeagulls manager. “She does what is expected and more. Ann has also been a great role model for the younger staff.”

While cynical observers may suggest — as Billy Joel sang — that the waitress is practicing politics, it isn't so, said LePage.

“It's about the money,” she said. “I want to buy a car this year.”

With her husband among the most polarizing public figures in the country, she anticipates hearing a few opinions from time to time.

“My motto is kill them with kindness,” said LePage. “I'm just a regular person who happens to be married to the governor.”

If some may question why the first lady may be working for tips on the side, Paul LePage is currently the lowest paid governor in the country with a salary of $70,000. Combined, the LePages are well under the average yearly income for a married couple in the state.

Two years ago, the LePages bought a house in Boothbay where they will reside full-time after the governor terms out in 2018. For now, Ann LePage has a head start on what it's like to live in a seasonal economy, a fact of life for so many in the area.

“It also gives me a chance to meet people and understand the community better,” she said. “To me the coast of Maine is paradise.”