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Road to Boston, Massachusetts

Heading north with the intention of driving all night, the hope was to reach the Cambridge/Boston area by about 8:00 a.m. Following the coast as closely as the Interstate would allow, the scenery was nothing but picturesque. The trip was relatively smooth with surprisingly little road construction. The temperature began to fall as the hours clicked by, but nearing the Washington D.C. vicinity, the heart rate and anxiety began to rise.

Having never been to the area, let alone drive a vehicle in it, the nerves were certainly present. It was right around 6:30 p.m. and heavy traffic was expected. It was amazing, however, to find that traffic was not all that bad and the interstate skirts the city nicely without having to get into the heart of it.  Deer were actually feeding along the interstate, acting as though they were in the middle of the woods.  A scene reminiscent of rural Minnesota.  Washington D.C. came and went. Next up, New York and the Bronx.

What an experience it was driving through the Bronx, New York, at midnight. One would think they were in rush hour traffic as four lanes of traffic attempted to merge into a single lane to cross a bridge under construction. Whether there actually were four lanes of traffic is unknown as drivers pushed their cars up along side others on the shoulder. Police cut off civilians, civilians were cutting off the police. It was chaos. The key was to wake up at this late hour after driving all day and act like there is nothing unusual, which is difficult for a small town Midwesterner at times. If decisions are made too late, or one’s driving is not aggressive enough, they might find themselves stuck for eternity between a concrete pillar and a local driver as they smoothly direct their car onto the bridge.

Finally through the Bronx and eventually out of New York, Connecticut followed. A much deeper exploration of Connecticut is needed at another time, which will make for an interesting article. Connecticut history is certainly rich and the historic architecture is stunning, to say the least. Unfortunately, because of the wee hours of the night and the fact that the Interstate was the path taken, much of this was missed.

Just as quickly as North Carolina and the relatively warm temperatures were left, the boarder of southcentral Massachusetts was being entered. Anticipation grew, but knowing that Boston was only a couple of hours away, and reservations at the bed and breakfast required an arrival of no earlier than 8:00 a.m., a bit of a rest was needed.

Just about an hour outside of Cambridge, a rest stop was found. A surprising element of the Massachusetts Interstate system is the seemingly much shorter exit ramps than what one is typically used to in places like Minnesota. One is required to slow their vehicle from 70 miles per hour to 30 in what seems like feet. Maybe it was the lack of sleep and tired eyes, but more than once a jump off the pavement and into the woods was avoided by nearly locking up the Chevy Cobalt’s tires just in time.

The rest stop was simply that. A place to rest. Upon arriving, the conclusion was reached, after a short walk around the premises in the frigid night air that there were no bathroom facilities available. A short discussion ensued and it was determined that a restroom was essential. Back on the highway to find a gas-station. A quick break and a full tank of gas later, we returned to the rest stop where the seats were reclined, the pillows and blankets were brought out and a “good” night’s rest was the goal.

Nearly every twenty minutes for about three hours the car was started simply to keep warm. The temperatures dropped below freezing making it difficult to sleep. The engine ran for just a few minutes until the cabin reached a comfortable temperature and was turned off again. The joys of life on the road. The alarm, though it was certainly not needed that morning, went off at about 7:30 a.m. The sun was coming up sparkling off of the wet and frosted grass and was nearly blinding through the foggy windshield. It was a good day. The Boston adventure was about to begin.

The above is an account of a leg of a road trip that happened last Spring from Minnesota to North Carolina to Massachussetts.  Click the link to read about the first half of the trip.

For other Road trip stories click this link.

Check back tomorrow night for an exploration into Boston, Massachusetts, and all of the things that make it great in general, and great for tourists.