A week-and-a-half ago, Mary and I traveled to the New England area to see my little brother Chris assume command of the USS Springfield in a formal ceremony at the U.S. Submarine Base in Groton/New London, Connecticut.
My brother, Commander Chris Williams, and I in Connecticut
(Photo By Mary Williams)
(Photo By Amy Rossetti)
Given our time constraints, Mary and I decided to fly Delta from Atlanta to Boston and then rent a car to drive down to Groton, approximately 100 miles (160 km) south of Boston just off I-95 near the Rhode Island state line.
Roadgeek-wise, I got to drive through part of Boston’s famous “Big Dig”, the Ted Williams Tunnel (I-90/Massachusetts Turnpike), which was a $3.50 toll for drivers heading into Boston from Logan International Airport.
Speaking of the toll, the vehicle in front of us was stopped at the plaza for at least 5 minutes, causing traffic to queue up. After he finally pulled off and it was my turn to pay the toll, the “Mass Pike” collector explained to me that the guy was German and apparently did not realize that this was a toll road, so she waved him through. I remarked that though I was from Georgia, I knew there was a toll. We didn’t exactly have a long chat, since I didn’t want to hold up traffic any longer, but I thought it was kinda funny. Hopefully, the poor guy got off the “Mass Pike” before he got to another plaza, which may not have been quite as charitable to him as the nice lady at the Ted Williams plaza.
On our way to Groton, I got to drive the southernmost 16 miles (26 km) of I-93 and the southernmost 12 miles (19 km) of I-95 in Massachusetts, and “clinch” all 43.5 miles (70 km) of I-95 in Rhode Island.
I also “clinched” 3 Massachusetts counties (Bristol, Norfolk, and Suffolk), 3 Rhode Island counties (Kent, Providence, and Washington), and one (1) Connecticut county (New London).
During our 3-day stay in Connecticut, I drove a total of 24 miles (38 km) of I-95, plus drive the southernmost 9.5 miles (15 km) of I-395.
In Connecticut, I noticed a lot of “button-copy” signage and
how several of the signs showed “outlined” route markers. Connecticut
also likes to put the exit tabs in the center, as opposed to on the
right (or left for left-hand exits) as per MUTCD standards. Here’s a
photo I took of one of the overhead gantries on I-95 southbound near
Groton…
Like Georgia did until 2000, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island number their exits sequentially instead of by milepost.
For those of you who are fans of state names within Interstate shields, Connecticut is your place, since most of their signpost-mounted Interstate shields are of that “old-school” type (similar to how Georgia does it). Here’s one of them (with “yours truly”) near the Old Mistick Village…
On I-395 southbound, just south of the Mohegan Sun Casino, I noticed a rest area with a Mobil gas station. Since non-tolled Interstates do not normally allow commercial businesses in rest areas, it is apparently a holdout from when I-395 was part of the pre-1985 Connecticut Turnpike toll road (now known as the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike).
Last Saturday, I drove back to Boston from Groton… in 100 miles of snowy highways.
Before we could leave, I had to dig the car out of snow before leaving our hotel in Mystic…
Here’s how I-95 northbound looked in Connecticut…
I-95 in Rhode Island wasn’t much different as shown below…
As we approached I-93 in Massachusetts, the plows were in force and the roads were a lot clearer as shown in the final “winter road” photo below…
In Massachusetts, we noticed that several of the plows working along the roads were private contractors. Perhaps GDOT could take note next time we get another “snowmageddon”.
By the time we arrived at our hotel in Boston after being on the road for at least 4 hours, I was not exactly smiling as I was in the photo where I was digging out the car. In fact, it was one of those rare moments where I was just freakin’ sick and tired of driving. This was the longest I have ever driven in crappy winter weather. BTW, I think I’ve changed my mind on pursuing a career in ice road trucking. 
The next morning, it was bright, sunny, and I-93 and I-90 were nice and clear of snow and ice on our way to Logan Airport to drop off the rental car and catch our flight back to Atlanta… and milder weather.
Overall, we had a nice experience in New England, got to see my brother (and even tour his boat), see some sights, drive more Interstates, and “clinch” more counties. Next time, I’d like to visit the area in the warmer months and drive the rest of Boston’s “Big Dig”.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading, enjoy the rest of your weekend, and please come back often.