Scenic Routes in New England

[Don]

From Popular Mechanics:

ME Maine Coast 158 mi. US 1/ME 3/ME 102/ME 233 A drive up Maine's fretted shore takes in tidy villages and harbors filled with sailboats. Don't miss the antique car and airplane shows at the Transportation Museum in Owl's Head.

NH White Mountain Trail/Kancamagus Scenic Byway 100 mi. US 302/US 3/NH 112 It loops through a checklist of New England sights: the Frankenstein wooden train trestle in Crawford Notch; Bretton Woods; a short detour to earn the "I Climbed Mount Washington" bumper sticker; Flume Gorge; and Clark's Trading Post. One highlight is no more: The Old Man of the Mountains, which finally tumbled into Franconia Notch.

RI/MA New England Sampler 121 mi. RI 77/US 6/RT 25/MA 6A/US 6 It's a slo-mo summer classic: cruising up Rhode Island Sound in a convertible, stopping at roadside stands, wandering through colonial ports, then logging serious Cape Cod beach time.

CT Litchfield Hills 87 mi. US 202/US 7/US 44/CT 63/CT 109/CT 47/CT 45/CT 341/CT 8 Ramble from Litchfield's village green to the Bantam River for canoeing and fishing--then follow rolling countryside to the Connecticut Wine Trail.

NY Lake to Locks 200 mi. US 4/NY 22 This scenic upstate run between Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks is steeped in Revolutionary War history, from the commons at Fort Ticonderoga to Saratoga, site of the 154.5-ft. Saratoga Monument.

Note; The Ct Wine Trail mentions 1 day each for the East and West, a more realistic and leisurely pace is 2 days each section


http://www.ctwine.com/

[wtm442]

The MOST scenic route in all of New England is rumbling out my driveway with a full tank of gas in the Cobra.

I have driven up Rte 1 in Maine, and it is quite a nice ride.

[Bob In Ct]

Are you guys nuts? How can any of those routes beat Route 95 from Greenwich to Bridgeport?

Bob

[Don]

Bob. the explanation for I-95 in CT:

" The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up."

[Scott L]

And the smell of 95 in CT....If you make this ride at low tide you forget all about the scenery.

[wtm442]

Rte 95

Only good if you are in 5th gear at 5500 RPM

[What'saCobra?]

Norwalk CT Northbound via US 7 up to Canada, through CT, MA & VT (liberal strongholds all, but pretty).

Cross N VT easterly via random roads (or entry back roads of Canada), mostly VT 105 (quick) to Newport.

Pick up VT 100 S to MA (slow, pretty), MA 8 (medium speed) S to CT 8, fast nice trip back to Bridgeport.

VT 100 truly nice small town road, either direction. Challenging in winter ice season. Wet leaves in fall. Empty sunday mornings. Vermonters have given up Christianity?

[Don]

What'saCobra:

While your listed as Miami, appears you spent time in VT. I was in the Stratton/Bondville/Jamaica area for over 20 years.

Totally agree, Route 100 north from Route 30 is a great ride. We used to go North west , take the 2 or 3 car ferry over to Fort Ticonderoga, then head back South on the New York side. Many nice conversations and coffe breaks in the General Stores

Two other great rides are in the Northwest ( Lime Rock Race Park ) and NorthEast corners of CT, then head down state.

Also enjoyed the Route 30 ride from Brattleboro and then heading to Manchester, especially before Route 30 was widened

A favorite stop is at the Vanilla Bean Cafe in Pomfret CT

http://www.thevanillabeancafe.com/

[What'saCobra?]

Sure, used to ski VT quite a bit.

Love the drives, love the folks,....

You might correctly guess that...i might be from NH. (You remember NH? It is on the RIGHT on the map.) Left there at age 29 for the last time; though we still have a little shack up in the White Mountains, near Bretton Woods and the Ammonoosuc (Abnaki for "small, narrow fishing place) River, that abutts the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area.

'Be sure to visit Ticonderoga' is the best advice we can give. It is perhaps the MOST important site to understand its importance to the turn-around in our first civil/uncivil war against the British Crown....

...

i will try the Vanilla Bean if i can get myself to drive into Pomfret. i avoid visiting anything french these days and that sounds an awful lot like colloquial lingua francaise Canadienne for frenchy fries. (Pomme de Terre, fried)

i used to strap a ski rack on an original CSX (a '64 in '64) trunk-lid and go up to Killington throught the dark and early am snow storms for a big bit of downhill. (Given the car, roads and weather, i didn't even need to use the plus-longue Head JC Killy downhills ((JC either crashed or won, i either crashed or lost.)) Hey, it was my only car and the 289 keep the interior very toasty and dry; even though the occasional salt slush splashed up along the driver's roll bar right brace, through an oval hole in the passenger floor. Never did cover that hole.

i drove that car so hard for so long that it developed many fatigue cracks in the body where the frame flexed and work-hardened the aly. i did over 60K miles in 4 years, all hard and fast. The most cars i ever passed at once on a country two-lane road was about 20 or so. It was autumn leaf time and they were just farting along the Kankamangus, rubber-necking the colors; so i blew them all off rather easily on a short stretch of uphill straight. The last passed saw me go by in something of a blur, i suppose, still climbing at a wee over 100.

Hill passing was the most fun, where the hp/wt ratio was most obvious. Used to love blowing off the 'Vettes on up hill runs. On a long run, i could get them to cook either their engines or brakes or even occasionally both. That extra 1300 pounds of iron and fiberglass was not easy for them to overcome.

Not much hill driving in FL, though. Miss it a lot. But, i do not miss hand-shoveling 10 inches of mis-forecasted partly-cloudy off the driveway every morning from Dec. 15 to Easter, either.

Just for fun, here is a nic pix of JCKilly for your memory test. He changed skiing forever. Pretty good for a french postman?

{Edited by Moderators}

[ssnake]

Although I now reside in hot Dallas,Tx., I can remember driving Rt 8 from Winsted, Ct up through North Adams, Ma east on Rt 2 along the Mohawk trail, back into Greenfield, Ma and returning to Ct on south-91. That area western area in the fall was just breathtaking with the top down on a brisk fall day.

Don
SSnake
ERA 561

[Fattyd]

Originally Posted by Don

From Popular Mechanics:

ME Maine Coast 158 mi. US 1/ME 3/ME 102/ME 233 A drive up Maine's fretted shore takes in tidy villages and harbors filled with sailboats. Don't miss the antique car and airplane shows at the Transportation Museum in Owl's Head.

NH White Mountain Trail/Kancamagus Scenic Byway 100 mi. US 302/US 3/NH 112 It loops through a checklist of New England sights: the Frankenstein wooden train trestle in Crawford Notch; Bretton Woods; a short detour to earn the "I Climbed Mount Washington" bumper sticker; Flume Gorge; and Clark's Trading Post. One highlight is no more: The Old Man of the Mountains, which finally tumbled into Franconia Notch.

RI/MA New England Sampler 121 mi. RI 77/US 6/RT 25/MA 6A/US 6 It's a slo-mo summer classic: cruising up Rhode Island Sound in a convertible, stopping at roadside stands, wandering through colonial ports, then logging serious Cape Cod beach time.

CT Litchfield Hills 87 mi. US 202/US 7/US 44/CT 63/CT 109/CT 47/CT 45/CT 341/CT 8 Ramble from Litchfield's village green to the Bantam River for canoeing and fishing--then follow rolling countryside to the Connecticut Wine Trail.

NY Lake to Locks 200 mi. US 4/NY 22 This scenic upstate run between Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks is steeped in Revolutionary War history, from the commons at Fort Ticonderoga to Saratoga, site of the 154.5-ft. Saratoga Monument.

Note; The Ct Wine Trail mentions 1 day each for the East and West, a more realistic and leisurely pace is 2 days each section


http://www.ctwine.com/

Don:

Great insight for us New Englanders along with any "passer-throughs" on some great crusin' roads. I recently stepped down from a sales rep job that had me doing 1,000 miles a week through the New England 6. I remember getting lost on central NH routes thinking "wow, these would make great Cobra roads." Did I mention I was lost alot. Recently we did the same CT tour you spoke of with a couple of friends following them on their Harley D's. I even audio/video taped the car going through the one-lane, covered bridge in West Cornwall. Awesome echo from all those ponys.

A real neat spot I found in my travels was a real swanky choclateir called Burdicks in Walpole, NH. http://www.burdickchocolate.com/stor...es-walpole.asp The ride is not very scenic but its a nice straight shot up 91 North to exit 5 in VT (nice straights for high speed bursts after North Hampton). It's only about 5 minutes off the exit across the border into NH and the town of Walpole is something out of a Norman Rockwell novel (pop. <1000). Little country-type town, you won't think it's much until you go in and spend $20.00 on 3 little truffles. Great way to get the wife to take a ride and earn some "major points" when you get there. Trust me, the Mocha-Latte alone is worth the 2.5 hr ride.

[Don]

If anyone is heading North on !-91, might want to stop at the Corvette Museum, ( sorry, no Cobras ) in North Springfield VT, Exit 7

Precision Valley Corvette Museum
363 River St
Springfield VT

802-996-1400

Museum is N/C, a private collection of approx 15 Corvettes. In front is a restored '50s diner, Springfield Royal Diner

http://www.springfieldroyaldiner.com/index.html

For the return trip, head over to Chester , then Manchester and Route 30 East back to Brattleboro or Route 7 South into NorthWest MA, either way , nice rides

[Don]

Fattyd:

Thanks for the info on Burdicks, looks great from their web site. Nice that Walpole NH is close to the Corvette Museum in Springfield VT, can do both with the same trip.

Don

[JWheaton]

Don,

Thanks for the posting that information. Made me think about some rides that I can take this coming week. I'll be heading up to Vt. from NJ. Plan on taking the Taconic to rt. 22 to rt. 7 and then up to Stratton Mt. area.

It will be a good 3.5 hour ride in the Cobra. Then back again the following weekend. Inbetween I will take up a couple of suggestions posted. Might as well go look at some old Corvettes as well.

Wheatie

[Don]

Wheatie:

If your in the Stratton area, might want to head over to Manchester VT. Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln's son Robert had his home ( Hildene ) in Manchester, which was originally built as a summer retreat:

http://www.hildene.org/

Hildene is on Route 7A, south from the center of Manchester. The access road to the estate from 7A is dirt, but is maintained.

Another interesting visit would be to take the Mt Equinox Skyline Drive, toll road, to the top , 3848 ft., access from 7A about 5 miles south of Hildene. With the Cobra, you will enjoy the drive to the top with the elevation change and turns.

http://www.equinoxmountain.com/skylinedrive/

I have not been there for a number+++ of years, on Route 11 in Peru past Bromley Mountain is a good place to eat, at least the last time I was there, Johnny Seesaw's Restaurant, a former road house. Has the Vermont character.

http://www.jseesaw.com/

Enjoy your trip

Don

[JWheaton]

Don,

Thanks for the tips.

For the past few years I have been attending the Hildene car show held in June each year. When the weather is good it is an outstanding show. I have done a lot of snow shoeing around the Hildene estate as well.

Jonny Seesaw's is an outstanding eatery. My wife and I try to go everytime we are up in Vt.

This will be the first time that the weather gods will have created an opportunity for me to drive the Cobra to Vt.

I plan on attending the Hemmings Cruise night. Cruise nights are not usually in my plans, but this is usually a fun time.

[Don]

Wheatie:

Have you driven to the top of Mt Equinox ? The annual hill climb:


http://www.equinoxmountain.com/skylinedrive/race.htm


" Another interesting visit would be to take the Mt Equinox Skyline Drive, toll road, to the top , 3848 ft., access from 7A about 5 miles south of Hildene. With the Cobra, you will enjoy the drive to the top with the elevation change and turns. "

http://www.equinoxmountain.com/skylinedrive/


Thanks for the update on Johnny Seesaws.


Don

[Don]

Another scenic route in NH is from Conway to Lincoln/North Woodstock , Route 112, The Kancamagus Highway

History:
The mountains here perpetuate the names of New Hampshire's most legendary Indians;
Passaconaway (Child of the Bear) was a peace-loving chief who, in 1627, united over 17 Indian tribes of Central New England into the Panacook Confederacy. As the first "Sagamon," he ruled wisely until his death in 1669.
Kancamagus (The Fearless One), grandson of Passaconaway, succeeded his uncle, Wonalancet, around 1684 as third and final Sagamon of the Penacook Confederacy. Kancamagus tried to keep peace between the Indians and the pioneering whites, until aggravated English harassments brought war and bloodshed. The confederacy's tribes scattered after 1691, and Kancamagus and his followers moved north to upper New Hampshire or into Canada.
About 1725, Paugus (The Oak), was Chief of the Pequawket Tribe along the Saco River. Later, around 1760, Chocorua, brave and perhaps a chief of the Ossipee Tribe, lived near today's Conway or Albany. Legends agree that Chocorua died on the summit of the mountain which now bears his name.


http://www.byways.org/browse/byways/2458/overview.html

Link for other scenic routes in New England

http://www.byways.org/browse/regions/4/

[LURK]

Please come to Vermont...we love tourists.

{Edited by Moderators}

[Bob In Ct]

One of the nicer rides in Connecticut starts in Thomaston and ends at Lime Rock. Take 254 to Litchfield, then take 63 to 126 to 7 to Lime Rock. The whole distance has only 4 traffic signals, 2 of which are almost always green.

It's miles and miles of smooth, clean, winding country road. There is little traffic in the morning. Not that I would exceed the posted speeds (mostly 50) but for those who chose to go just a little faster it's a great ride. Keep an eye out for deer and Crown Vics. There is a barracks in Litchfield.

Bob