Coast to Coast!
Day 22: 512 Miles
Total: 8,121 Miles
Well, the next leg of our journey came to an end, anti-climactic as it was. We finished traveling The Longest Road - the 3,665 mile journey along Route 20 from Newport, Oregon to Boston, Massachusetts. Now it's time to begin our journey home.
Yesterday began with breakfast at the Hunter Dinerant in Auburn,NY. We checked out of our modest but very clean and pleasant motel, Sleepy Hollow, and began our drive across the hills and valleys of New York as we headed east. We had a long way to go so we didn't spend much time taking pictures, but couldn't resist this diner.
After a very nice and scenic drive we got to Massachusetts, where the traffic increased dramatically for the rest of the trip, making our progress slow and plodding. We did find a couple of highlights though. There are a couple of Shaker villages along our route, one of which sits right on Route 20 so we snapped a few photos.
We found another real gem by accident. We had skipped lunch during the long drive and were starting to get pretty hungry. We were driving through Shrewsbury, MA and spotted a somewhat "sketchy" looking diner. Very rough looking on the outside; no cars in the parking lot, but the neon sign saying "open" invited us in. So we went, having second thoughts right up until we got inside. The rough exterior belied the rather nicely updated interior. We ordered our food and had a nice conversation with the owner. The place sat vacant for four years before he and his brother bought it and they have been fixing it up as they go. Their menu is nothing fancy, burgers, hot dogs and fries mostly, but they make their own chili, relishes and other condiments. They also bottle and sell their own root beer. It has become so popular that they have had to farm out the bottling component to another company because it was becoming too much to do. Anyway, the place is called The Edge and I would highly recommend it. No tie or reservations required.
After dinner we drove on, going through non-stop traffic that got worse around Worcester and awful by the time we reach Boston. To make matters worse, a handful of Route 20 signs were missing at key intersections so we had to backtrack a couple of times, and using GPS we found our route again. As I noted above, the end was anti-climactic. No sign signifying the end of the trail, no nothing. In fact we didn't even know we had reached the end. Route 20 just seemed to disappear and we were on Highway 2. We finally confirmed that Route 20 officially ends at Kenmore Square, which is at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue, Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue.
Here is the anticlimactic picture.
We drove around Boston for a bit, including a drive by the Old North Church in the historic section. You know...Paul Revere, one if by land, two if by sea...oh just go ask Sarah Palin. Anyway, we then drove another hour or so to get out of Boston to find a place to stay for the night. We wound up at a Hampton Inn in Norwood, MA.
Today we will start the long trip home. We'll probably take I-95 until we get past New York City, then drive some more two-lane road through New Jersey. The plan will be to take the ferry across from New Jersey to Delaware, then the Delmarva peninsula. We'll figure out where we are going to stay tonight once we get there. Wherever "there" is.
Ciao!
Total: 8,121 Miles
Well, the next leg of our journey came to an end, anti-climactic as it was. We finished traveling The Longest Road - the 3,665 mile journey along Route 20 from Newport, Oregon to Boston, Massachusetts. Now it's time to begin our journey home.
Yesterday began with breakfast at the Hunter Dinerant in Auburn,NY. We checked out of our modest but very clean and pleasant motel, Sleepy Hollow, and began our drive across the hills and valleys of New York as we headed east. We had a long way to go so we didn't spend much time taking pictures, but couldn't resist this diner.
After a very nice and scenic drive we got to Massachusetts, where the traffic increased dramatically for the rest of the trip, making our progress slow and plodding. We did find a couple of highlights though. There are a couple of Shaker villages along our route, one of which sits right on Route 20 so we snapped a few photos.
We found another real gem by accident. We had skipped lunch during the long drive and were starting to get pretty hungry. We were driving through Shrewsbury, MA and spotted a somewhat "sketchy" looking diner. Very rough looking on the outside; no cars in the parking lot, but the neon sign saying "open" invited us in. So we went, having second thoughts right up until we got inside. The rough exterior belied the rather nicely updated interior. We ordered our food and had a nice conversation with the owner. The place sat vacant for four years before he and his brother bought it and they have been fixing it up as they go. Their menu is nothing fancy, burgers, hot dogs and fries mostly, but they make their own chili, relishes and other condiments. They also bottle and sell their own root beer. It has become so popular that they have had to farm out the bottling component to another company because it was becoming too much to do. Anyway, the place is called The Edge and I would highly recommend it. No tie or reservations required.
After dinner we drove on, going through non-stop traffic that got worse around Worcester and awful by the time we reach Boston. To make matters worse, a handful of Route 20 signs were missing at key intersections so we had to backtrack a couple of times, and using GPS we found our route again. As I noted above, the end was anti-climactic. No sign signifying the end of the trail, no nothing. In fact we didn't even know we had reached the end. Route 20 just seemed to disappear and we were on Highway 2. We finally confirmed that Route 20 officially ends at Kenmore Square, which is at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue, Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue.
Here is the anticlimactic picture.
We drove around Boston for a bit, including a drive by the Old North Church in the historic section. You know...Paul Revere, one if by land, two if by sea...oh just go ask Sarah Palin. Anyway, we then drove another hour or so to get out of Boston to find a place to stay for the night. We wound up at a Hampton Inn in Norwood, MA.
Today we will start the long trip home. We'll probably take I-95 until we get past New York City, then drive some more two-lane road through New Jersey. The plan will be to take the ferry across from New Jersey to Delaware, then the Delmarva peninsula. We'll figure out where we are going to stay tonight once we get there. Wherever "there" is.
Ciao!
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