Deerfield, MA Trip & Review

Last weekend, my parents were in town so on Saturday we went into Western Mass. Mom loves candles and the first stop I planned was the Yankee Candle Flagship Store in South Deerfield. We spent about an hour and a half there. The place is enourmous. Thre's a Christmas World or at least four different styles of Christmas World, a large toy store for kids, a general store, a cafe and coffee shop, and of course a bunch of candles.

Guys, if you live in New England or traveling through on vacation and want to take your girlfriend or wife or parents on a nice day trip. This is actually a great destination. It's right off of I-91 at Exit 24. Head North on US 5 for about a mile and it is on your left. Mom very much enjoyed it.

Next, we headed to Deerfield to find a place for lunch. Little did we know that Historic Deerfield is a New England version of Williamsburg with a lot of small town charm. Deerfield is a traditional New England town it's the home of the prestigeous Deerfield Academy, a top end boarding prep school. We ate lunch at the Terrace Cafe, which is on the grounds of the historic Deerfield Inn. The Terrace Cafe offers a cafeteria style lunch with giant sandwiches for only $4.95.

The town of Deerfield is full of many historic homes along a one mile street that is over 330 years old and to tour them it costs $14/person and the pass is good for two days. The pass alows you to tour many of the old homes, some are guided others are self guided. At various places with in town, you can see woodworking or cooking demonstrations or take a stop at the Carriage Barn. There a wonderful 91 year old man, who doesn't look a day of it, tells stories about carriages and farm equipment from the 17th to the early 20th century.

Most of the guided tours are on the hour by members of Historic Deerfield. Parking is easy, for the most part it is on either side of the sleepy town road. We spent about four hours there and saw nearly half of everything. Touring the town is certainly an all day visit.

We headed next to Saratoga Raceway by way of Vermont. Just west of Brattleboro on Route 9, we stopped for ice cream at the Chelsea Royal Diner. Try the Creamsicle Ice Cream Float...

The color on VT 9 through the Green Mountains appeared to be near peak. There was also a festival going on in Wilmington. We lucked out as it would begin raining just west of Wilmington straight to the racino.

Comments

Old US Route 60/70 through Hell (Chuckwall Valley Road and Ragsdale Road)

Back in 2016 I explored some of the derelict roadways of the Sonoran Desert of Riverside County which were part of US Route 60/70; Chuckwalla Valley Road and Ragsdale Road. US 60 and US 70 were not part of the original run of US Routes in California. According to USends.com US 60 was extended into California by 1932. US 60 doesn't appear on the California State Highway Map until the 1934 edition. USends.com on US 60 endpoints 1934 State Highway Map Conversely US 70 was extended into California by 1934, it first appears on the 1936 State Highway Map. USends.com on US 70 endpoints 1936 State Highway Map When US 60 and US 70 were extended into California they both utilized what was Legislative Route Number 64 from the Arizona State Line west to Coachella Valley. LRN 64 was part of the 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act routes. The original definition of LRN 64 routed between Mecca in Blythe and wasn't extended to the Arizona State Line until 1931 acc...

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign. These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare. This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade. We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others? Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers. The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California. Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...

Paper Highways; Interstate H-4 through downtown Honolulu

The Hawaiian Island of O'ahu is home to four Interstate Highways; H-1, H-2, H-3 and H-201. Had history gone slightly differently during the 1960s a fifth Interstate corridor on O'ahu could have been constructed through downtown Honolulu and the neighborhood of Waikiki. The proposed corridor of Interstate H-4 can be seen above as it was presented by the Hawaii Department of Transportation during October 1968 . This page is part of the Gribblenation O'ahu Highways page. All Gribblenation and Roadwaywiz media related to the highway system of O'ahu can be found at the link below: https://www.gribblenation.org/p/gribblenation-oahu-highways-page.html The history of proposed Interstate H-4 The corridor of Interstate H-4 was conceived as largely following what is now Hawaii Route 92 on Nimitz Highway and Ala Moana Boulevard. Prior to the Statehood the first signed highways within Hawaii Territory came into existence during World War II. Dur...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog