Work Trip: Way Upstate New York, Connecticut's Quiet Corner and A Rainy Boston Evening

So it was our 15th Anniversary this year. I tried talking Brooke into coming with me on my longest work trip of the year, but we decided that the whole family would travel to Washington state instead. 

So I was on my own for a week or so starting in Burlington, Vermont. My actual first destination was Potsdam, New York, but it was either a flight into Syracuse or Burlington and my schedule worked better to fly in via Vermont. 

After getting some ramen at Burlington's Ichiban I made my way up north around Lake Champlain to New York state.

My route took me through Rouses Point, New York. I had crossed that invisible line that separates New England from New York.

I'm not sure I'd ever quite seen architecture quite like this. It felt like a yankee take on New Orleans architecture.

After breezing through Chateaugay, Malone and a number of small almost Canadian cities, I made it to Potsdam.

The town was full of Italian joints, so of course I got dinner at Lee's Hawaiian Grill. All I can remember is that it was good. I went back to my good enough motel, spent the night and ate breakfast along some old German fellows who were road tripping from NYC to Montreal.

After a day of shooting 360s at Clarkson University I headed south a bit earlier than anticipated to get down to Pomfret, Connecticut.

You see, my original plan was to spend the weekend in the Adirondacks, but that was stymied by an impending tropical storm heading up the Atlantic coast. I needed to get to Connecticut asap.

When I got to the outskirts of Tupper Lake, New York I had to gander at the declining small town.

There is a much nicer main section of Tupper Lake, but I didn't have time to gander any longer.

The Adirondacks and Reaquette Pond just outside of town were something.

I briefly attempted a hike along NY 30, but decided that I better be getting on my way to Albany.

FYI the Adirondancks are huge, but also 48 percent of the land is privately held. Whole towns like Tupper Lake are within its boundaries. I can't wait to go back.

I did stop one last time at Custard's Last Stand for some not quite-ice cream and a good chat with the purveyor. I told the owner that I was originally from Milwaukee and had quite high standards when it came to frozen custard. He was serving custard in a soft serve machine for now, but would soon get real frozen custard machines and brought up a small frozen cup of his future recipe. Even though the soft serve wasn't half bad.

After staying the night near Albany, I drove quickly out of New York, through Western Massachusetts and down the Quiet Corner of Northeast Connecticut. 

After shooting the outdoor 360s I'd rushed down to Pomfret for, I got dinner at Black Pond Brews in nearby Dayville, which is a subset of the town of Killingly. I'm not sure why some places are boroughs and other places are towns. Or why some towns have census-designated-places like Dayville. It's all very confusing to a Midwesterner.

To add to my confusion I went for a hike at Old Furnace State Park to only end up in Ross Pond State Park and back.

At first I was surprised to see giant white pines this far south.

But then out of thin air Ross Pond and it's giant palisade showed up.

This felt a bit like the Wisconsin Dells. The nature part, not the little Las Vegas.

I guess rushing to Connecticut wasn't going to be so bad after all.

I'd be spending the weekend in Danielson, the main village within Killingly. 

I ended up at Pizza Pizzaz and got a calzone. It ruled.

The next morning I got breakfast in the next town over, Putnam. Which is oddly the main village in the town.

I came to town for breakfast at the Painted Baker, which was more a diner than a bakery.

These towns and boroughs were all so walkable and urbane. I could totally live here, though they'd probably find me to be an odd fellow.

I noted some spots that I'd like to stop at if I ever make it back to the area.

And then meandered through town.

I spent the remainder of the day watching the Packers barely beat a lowly Bengals team back at the Quiet Corner Inn. Another totally suitable motel.  

Sunday into Monday the edges of the tropical storm had hit northeast Connecticut. I may have driven into Rhode Island after the Packers victory just to check it off the list. Sorry, no pics of the lovely boarding school I shot.

After the shoot, I watched the Brewers fall apart in the NLCS for the third or fourth time in the last decade. The next morning I drove up to Boston where I'd fly out to Washington state.

I didn't drive through Providence, but instead stopped by Woonsocket before crossing into Massachusetts. 

The town was full of grand old buildings, but had seen better days. A microcosm of once great American industrial towns.

Until next time Rhode Island.

I drove through the posh suburbs south of Boston and into Dorchester. The forecast kept saying it would stop raining soon, but it just kept raining and raining. I got lunch at the Greenhills Irish Bakery, where nothing on the menu seemed particularly Irish.

I once again stayed at the Revolution Hotel. Probably the most affordable place to stay in central Boston. The rain that was supposed to stop at any time didn't. So, I worked on some projects at the hotel until much later than I'd hoped. Eventually I borrowed one of the hotels umbrellas and headed from the South End to the more famous North End.

In-between I traversed a wet and foggy Downtown Boston.

And passed by Faneuil Hall on the way.

The North End is full of converted tenements. Starting in the 1970s they were converted to larger apartments.

Paul Revere's house has survived the generations of changes since the colonial era.

I had no idea his house was still there. 

The neighborhood is teeming with Italian joints.

I'd move to Boston in a second if it wasn't so damn expensive.

Until next time, Boston.