Autumn in the North Cemetery.

Sixty miles west of Boston, Massachusetts there is the small New England town of Sturbridge. Located at the junction of I-90 (The Mass Pike), and I-84 it has become known as the "Crossroads of New England". The town was first settled over 300 years ago, and like other small New England towns it has grown just enough over the years to be in a difficult place today. How do we embrace the future without forgetting how we got to our present? How do we attract the right kind of growth, and maintain who we are? And, what about our culture out here in Central Massachusetts?



These pages will cause one to think about how to protect what we have, our future direction, and how to move on in the very best way.


Those thoughts, and other ramblings, will hopefully inspire more thought, conversation, action, and occasionally a smile...

...seems to be working so far

Friday, August 10, 2012

Take The Road Less Traveled To The Airport

There was a time I flew out of Logan Airport in Boston all the time.  In the late 1980's I discovered Greene Airport in Providence, and shifted my allegiance to them due to their lower fares, and less frightening traffic patterns. 

Since I've been in Sturbridge, I've encouraged relatives to fly into Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and have flown out of there myself for the very reason I enjoyed Greene Airport: it's intimate setting, and fares are often very competitive with the other regional airports.

Price, and a non-frightening drive in and around the pick-up and drop-off areas were all excellent reasons to use Bradley, and this past week I found one more, probably the best reason of all.
There are three main ways to get to Bradley Airport from Sturbridge.  One can drive west on I-84 for 51.6 miles, and spend 57 minutes on the highway at 75 MPH with a few thousand other people, or drive I-84 to Route 5 for 48.6 miles and spend one hour and 5 minutes with a different thousand, or so, people at 65-75 MPH.

Highway driving is something I do all the time, and I don't mind it, but if I can get to the same place an interstate will take me and spend only a few more minutes doing it by avoiding the highway, then I'm all over it.  This is when I discovered what would happen if I took Route 19 south from Brimfield into Connecticut, and hopped on CT-190 to the airport.  Just 45.6 miles for one hour and five minutes, only 8 minutes longer than if I took I-84, and the drive was the most relaxing drive to an airport I have ever had.

Two lane country roads winding through small towns in Massachusetts and Connecticut.  Miles of cornfields, church steeples, forests, country stores, ponds, and lakes.  Much better scenery than what one finds on I-84 west. 

Traffic?  None.  Maybe a car, or two ahead of me for a bit, or one or two behind me for awhile, but most of the time I was on my own at 8:00 in the morning in the middle of the week.

Next time you need to run to the airport to pickup your mother, or take the family to Vegas, take the less traveled route, and I will guarantee that you will arrive on time, and in a better frame of mind than if you had fought traffic on the interstate at 8:00 in the morning.

The odds of your flight being delayed for a few hours are good, and this back road airport commute could be the best part of your trip.


View Larger Map
Scribbled by on

No comments:

Post a Comment



Anonymous comments not accepted, and will be rejected. Please use your full name. Choose "Name / URL" and enter your name, and your name ONLY. Leave "URL" blank.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)