The First New England Cider Run

Hurah Gordon and Kathy

Terrific. Pencil me in!!! If I can handle north west Connecticut I should be able to scoot across and do the north east. Keep me informed. 

"Cider Run"?...catchy and appropriate  

Gordon, October 8th this year is on a Monday.

John brings up a good point.

You know, you can't beat dose Rho-Dilanders for knowing their holiday dates.  I'm sure Don Bosquet could do something with that........(John will know what that means....."Columbus....Wasn't he Portuguese or sumthin??")

Just shows what looking at the wrong month will do to me.

Anyway, yes, the Saturday I want is really October 6'th, not the other date shown above.  So that would be Saturday 10/06, with rain dates of either Sunday 10/07 or Monday 10/08.  

I'll be scouting a bit more of the route today or tomorrow and have it finalized this week.  I haven't been down the west side of the valley in decades so I need to get over there to see where we can go and what the stops might be.  All roads thus far are smooth, very rural and should be relatively traffic-free.  Once the route is posted folks can decide where they might like to join up with us.  We may be joined by a few members of the TYP356NE club, and maybe my son, Chris, and a few of his friends and in-laws on motorcycles (just shows how cool this area is).

Stay tuned!

Columbus?  Vinny Columbus?  The quahog guy?

GORDON  SOUNDS GREAT!!  AND MY WIFE SAID SHE IS IN   DAN

Gordon:

That's a long haul for me, but I am going to look into it.

Bob

Sorry we can't make it, Gordon. We'll be in Maine that weekend , celebrating my mother-in-law's 90th birthday, which be great fun. (just shoot me)

Gordon, Don Moretti and I will come in the "Bill Re" car.  If my car is finished and in RI, I'll bring that as well.

Al, that's a bummer.

I intended to coax Heidi into riding as shotgun through part of the cruise... to monitor the cylinder head temperature gauge.

Did I just leave myself wide open for a Cuz'n Vinny remark???

I dunno.....is it one of those "pop up" gauges, like on a Perdue chicken?

Glad to see we've got some interest.  We're in the beginning stages of HC Issac as it passes through New England.  Since I can't do much outside work anyway, maybe we'll pack up the pups in the truck and head out that way for a long range recon mission to get the route settled.

I'm thinking we might meet everyone on the campus of Nichols College in Dudley, Ma.  ( http://www.nichols.edu/Contact_Directions/ ) to get us going, but, of course, if it's more convenient for some to meet up with us along the way, that's fine, too.  I'll have a list of routes and expected stops along the way by the weekend so people can plan how they want to join us.

Stay tuned!

Gordon

The Speedstah Tour Guy from Grafton

Kathy, the two pups and I toured the far west side of the Natchoag valley and decided against including it because it is BORING!  The road (rt 198) is wide and quite smooth, but there are lots of campgrounds, lots of RV's and lots of people in slow cars.  Yuck.

While we were scouting around, though, we traveled through the town of "Scotland", CT on RT 14 and they are having their 25'th annual Scottish Highland Games on Sunday, October 7'th.  That might not be a good fit for this run as it's quite crowded and mostly in the afternoon, so we'll avoid that day and continue with the Saturday, Oct. 6'th plan (although we'll probably go back there on Sunday for the gathering of the clans...)

The trip will be a loop of the following roads:  Start in Webster, MA, just off of I-395, then take RT 197 West into Connecticut, to RT 169 South in Woodstock, stopping at the Christmas Barn

http://www.thechristmasbarnonline.com/

and Woodstock Orchards

http://www.woodstockorchardsllc.com/

With a side trip to the Taylor Brooke Winery in Woodstock,

http://www.taylorbrookewinery.com/

That should get us to the Vanilla Bean Cafe in Pomfret just in time for lunch:

http://www.thevanillabeancafe.com/menus.html

After lunch, we'll take RT 97 South through winding farmland and historic houses until we reach RT 14 East over to Canterbury, CT, where we'll pick up RT 169 North along the Greenway all the way back up to Woodstock and back over to Webster, possibly stopping at my college, Nichols College on the hill in Dudley, MA for coffee before heading out for home.

This was really a lovely trip yesterday, and it should be spectacular when the foliage has turned although there might be some leaf-peepers on RT 169 doing the same as us.

Looking forward to seeing you all there, and I'll send out some emails with recommended ways to get to the morning meeting spot at the Blockbuster parking lot in Webster, MA. for those coming, so maybe you can avoid the interstates for some of the way.

As a prospective Connecticut Speedster owner, it would be great if my wife and I could join you for lunch and ogle a few cars (as well as pick your brains).  Might this be a possibility?

Sure!

Find your way to the Vanilla Bean Cafe at the junction of rts 169 and 97 in Pomfret, CT about 12:30 to 1pm and we should be showing up for lunch.  

Be aware that this is a VERY popular time on this route so the line for lunch at the cafe should be quite long.  I'm thinking of getting orders from the group and pre-ordering our samwiches for a specific time.  More on that later.

Excellent! See you then.

Michael

Well fellow Cider-makers, I took advantage of an absolutely beautiful early-autumn day to scope out the proposed route one more time.  What an absolute ball I had.  I used the Vanilla Bean Cafe as my base of operations and tried a couple of different route combinations that would give us a good ride before lunch (it was gruelling work, but somebody has to do it), plotted some interesting places where we could stop with wide areas for secure parking, and then where we might all exit after lunch to get everyone back on their way home without a lot of fuss.

Using the Vanilla Bean as a base got me back there three times during the day, and each time I met a different bunch of similar "tourists", most of them on motorcycles (it's like a mini Deal's Gap on the tail of the Dragon this time of year - there must have been 40 bikes there each time I stopped).  Each time, a bunch would wander on over to see the car and we all ended up talking about the area with "Did'ya take this road yet?" or "Did'ya see this yet?" coming up a lot, each time causing me to drive off on another quest to find "that" road and check it out.  Because of those visitors I found a GREAT winery to stop at, not far off the main route (and worth the drive up there to a lookout where you can see three states) and also extended my loop ten miles farther south via some really pretty roads.  If we leave Webster around 10am or so, this new route should get us to the Vanilla Bean for lunch right around 1pm, including two stops.  While their daily specials are fantastic (I had the heirloom tomato and blue cheese salad, today), it will be prudent to call in an order either earlier that day or the day before so, if you are joining us please check out their menu, make a choice and email me with that choice and I'll pre-order them so we won't have to wait in the order line for 45 minutes.  Their menu is here:

http://www.thevanillabeancafe.com/menus.html

Just remember that whatever you order is what you'll get - no mind-changes once you get there.

I gotta tell ya, it's only just faintly beginning Autumn and the trees down there were already starting to turn the most lovely golden hues.  I can't wait to see what it looks like in three weeks!  With lunch starting around 1pm I should have everyone on the road back home by 2:30pm to end your long but thoroughly enjoyable trip through some truly historic and scenic Connecticut countryside.

If you haven't signed up yet, please either email me at speedstahguy at gmail.com or let us know on here.  Thus far, this is the list:

Carl Berry

Dan O'Connell and his wife

Bob (?)

John Eastman (maybe with his new car) and

Don Morretti

Club de Mer (?) for lunch only (aw, c'mon......join us with whatever you're driving!)

Kathy and me

GORDON   THANKS FOR THE UPDATE.  BARB AND I ARE PLANNING TO MEET UP AT THE JUNCTION OF 169 & 197 OR 131 & 197 . WHAT TIME DO YOU  THINK YOU WILL BE THERE?? WE WILL ORDER LUNCH IN ADVANCE.  THANKS FOR YOUR HARD WORK.   DAN

As with many things in life.....it depends.

IF we depart the Blockbuster store in Webster at 10am, we should be at the jct. Of 197 and 131 at 10:15, and at 197 and 169 at 10:25am.  Where will you be coming in from??  There is more space to wait at rt 131, just around the corner and west about 75 yards on 197.  

I'll have to find my notes to see when we would be at rt 131.  Can't remember seeing that one.   

Ok on ordering your own lunch.  Check their specials early that saturday.  They have some dynamite quiches and quesadillas, too!

Please send an email to speedstahguy at gmail.com with your cell phone number and I'll return it with mine, as well as make up a list of cell phones for our group so we can keep in touch.  I will also bring along my GRS walkie talkies, too, for the first and last car to keep the group together.

gn

Holy cow!

In the last two days there has been a LOT of foliage color popping out all over the place, here in central Massachusetts.  

Pomfret, CT is a bit farther south than us, so in another week-plus it should be outstanding down there!

Ok, one week to go and we've now been joined by Doug Allen who's coming all the way from Maine to join us.  The current list is:

Doug Allen

Carl Berry

Dan O'Connell and his wife

Bob (?)

John Eastman (maybe with his new car) and

Don Morretti

Club de Mer (?) for lunch only (aw, c'mon......join us with whatever you're driving!)

Kathy and me

anuone else from New England want to come along??  356/550 or not, come on and join us!

gn

It has been raining here for three days, now, is supposed to clear, somewhat, tomorrow, maybe, and........well, those wonderful Saturday weather reports of earlier have now become mostly cloudy with rain coming in mid-to-late afternoon.  That would mean that, maybe we could all get there in cool, dry conditions, but by the time we all head home it "might" start to rain.

So rather than risk having anyone's car melt in the downpour that might happen I regretfully have to cancel the first ever Cider run.  

Nuts.

Don't know what the rest of the month will look like for weather, but I am right up against a due date for our third grandson (it was iffy even going this weekend) so I won't be available, either.

Sorry, folks.  I'll try to do something cool in the Spring.

Gordon

The Speedstah Guy from Grafton

Thanks for your effort to get this off the ground.  Please count me in on future plans...

Michael

That's a bummer Gordon. I was looking forward to that grilled pastrami sandwhich... chased down with that smoooth cider you mentioned!

Good safe call though. I don't think I have enough Xanax to dice with tractor trailers in the rain on I-84

...aaah, looking forward to the "Second First Ever Cider Run"

Woulda been fun but probably wet for the speedstahs.

Well crap, Connie and I were very seriously looking at just showing up unannounced in our F-150 Harley Edition. If anyone has a strong desire and a bit of insanity for a long drive to Chambersburg PA. the Pumpkin Run is 10/13. ~Alan

Who's Connie

Yea, what Vince said. You know that on here nothings real without pics.

You talking to me?

Hey! I saw her live a millennium ago...Ca Sera Sera.

SO I get up yesterday and look out and, just like for the rest of you.....It looked beautiful.  I figured it wouldn't last so I went out and started doing yard work - the usual never-ending fall cleanup.  Around 11am I realize that it's still beautiful and I'm thinking; "wait a minute.....where're the clouds?"  Everything I saw was mostly sunny.  But then the clouds came in after Lunch and along about 2:30-3pm it got REALLY cloudy....those big, black rain-dropping kind of clouds - shortly after 3pm we started getting sporadic downpours, usually lasting for only ten minutes or so, but heavy.

So I guess the Weather prognosticators had it right.  We would have gotten there, had a great run and then all gotten soaked on the way home.

Oh, well........I'll save the route and try something in the spring!

Maybe that can be "The CHOWDAH Run"!

Gordon:

Sorry you had to cancel, but let us/me know of next year's run.

Bob

Will do.

And Bill:  If'n it's a "Chowdah Run" we'll have to move it a bit closer to the coast.  Maybe a tour of RI/CT along the shore, stopping for lunch in Mystic (home of "Mystic Pizza") or up along the North Shore above Boss-town so we could get both Chowdah and fried clams in Ipswich, MA.  Or maybe push a little farther No'th along RT 1 for a lobster stew in Portsmouth, NH or Kittery, ME.

The possibilities up he'ah are endless, ay' yuh!

I'm re-thinking this whole "run" thing.  It makes sense to make it more informal or "off-the-cuff", but there just aren't enough speedsters nearby to do that.  There are a bunch of bikes, though, so maybe I'll just recruit some of my biker neighbors, instead, so I can get out there more often and do some miles.  A few Speedstah events scattered around the calendar (along with Carlisle) and then a bunch more Speedstah/Bikah runs, just to take the edge off.  Sounds like a plan......

I vote for Abbotts!

http://www.abbotts-lobster.com/

Yeah, there are a bunch of them down along the Mystic coast.  I like the Cove, too, and my son's biker-in-laws like a few others, too (they live in Mystic).  This sounds like a plan.  I just have to get a bunch of New Englander Speedstah Folks monitoring the same frequency so we can announce something on Wednesday and have people show up on the weekend.  

I'll work on it, but you know I'll be out there driving as much as I can this winter!

Happy to hear you can drive your speedster in the New England winter! Low as beginning to think it an impossibility.

Hmm...spellcheck breakdown.  WAS beginning to think it an impossibility.

bummah, Speedstah guy.  If anyone can organize an "event" it would be you.  NE in the fall can be spectacular -- or dismal.  Looks like this year it is the latter.  Weather dudes say our dampness down PA way will clear and there will be mild temps and dry roads for the Pumpkin Run.  Sure hope our weather dudes are better'n yours.

Chee-ahs,

Kelly

-- like, as in "Cheers?? . . . oh well . . .