Sunday, May 25, 2014

Day 3 Sharon Springs, NY

Day 3 featured a presentation at the Garden Party in Sharon Springs.  A weather pattern set up that a slightly narrow band of rain and thunderstorms set up over the region where I was, so the day remained cloudy and damp.






The presentation was not scheduled until 2 PM, therefore our journey along Route 20 was delayed. Yet, we enjoyed the day in town, checking out all of the vendors, small shops and meeting the people.




Sharon Springs has seen a renaissance, once a large spa/spring resort town, it almost fell into abandonment in the 1980s.  Soon, stores were refurbished, the fabulous American Hotel was remodeled to its glorious heyday and the town is a wonderful, relaxing tourist destination.

Our gracious host was Doug Plummer, the Mayor of Sharon Springs -  As well as Garth Roberts (who I could not find for a photo) SORRY!!   Thank you so much!

Do not let the small hamlet on the Route 20 portion of the road fool you - you need to turn north on NY Route 10 and travel about 1/2 mile to see the gem of the town. As we talked to Bruce Button, president of the Chamber of Commerce, having a Historic US 20 marker at the intersection of 10 & 20 along with a sign pointing to the center of town would be a great idea.

The presentation was different for us, as it was a talk instead of using a slideshow or visuals, with the exception of our signs.

By the time it was time to depart, it was nearly 3 PM and the trek west on 20 was plagued by rain and storms. 


 A side, but planned detour to see my family in Pennsylvania was bumped up a few hours and I departed Route 20.  However, due to the nature of the days on Friday and Saturday, and bright sunshine forecast for Monday with no planned meeting scheduled.

A return to the Cherry Valley at Duanesburg westward to Buffalo is planned. All for scenic purposes.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Day 2 - Lee, MA to Sharon Springs, NY

Weather 55-65  Cloudy, spot shower a few breaks of sun

The morning began in Lee, which I had visited the day prior and due to fog and the early time, this morning visit went by.  I do plan to return to visit on the return trip. (My hotel was off the Pike)


Route 20 then turns north for some distance and meets with US 7 in Lenox, MA.  In the 1950s, a bypass was built around the center of town, however I took the original route.  There is a beautiful stone marker at the old intersection of US 20 and 7 to determine direction.  Today seems out of place on a town road, this is how you know there was something important here,



The towns downtown is filled with small shops, a very nice library in the old court house. 



From Lenox, I entered Pittsfield.  This is a commercial section of highway, but at times still holds a nice quaint New England charm. 

And from having our base in Massachusetts, bypassing some of these towns on this tour are acceptable as either we have visited extensively in the past, or we have future meetings or plans with them after the return trip.  So if you are reading from a town in Western MA or Eastern NY. Don’t worry if you think you missed us.

From Pittsfield, you enter Hancock and pass by the Shaker Village which is now a museum.




Then comes the New York border! 

And you enter the town of New Lebanon, another old Shaker town.  Don’t miss the small section known as Old Route 20!  

It is amazing how when you plan for intervals between meetings that you then find yourself running out of time.

The first meeting of the day was postponed, due to illness, but luckily was rescheduled for later this summer.

In Nassau, be sure to check out the old highway and bridge ends crossing Kinderhook Creek, there is a parking area,   It appears that this section of Route 20 was moved many years ago due to flood. 


The arrival in East Greenbush was the first official meeting of the trip. I was meeting with Janet Witbeck, the town historian.  Thankfully New York State law requires each town to have a historian.  Janet was wonderful and full of knowledge.  I was joined by the Deputy town supervisor and Kathy Sheehan, Rensselaer County Historian.  I presented our organization to them and discussed the placement of Historic Signs  They were very attentive and receptive to this meeting and expressed interest in placing historic route signs in their town. (Which is being overshadowed by a casino building project).  Kathy was a wealth of information and full of contacts at the State level.  I am so happy to have met them and I will be sure to
return.



East Greenbush runs into Rensselaer, with a great view of the capital city of New York, Albany.  Crossing the Dunn Bridge, you can see how the bridge was to connect to another highway that was never built.   The trek through Albany on 20 is a nice trip (Mid day).  Be sure to stop just by the overpass and park next to the New York State Museum. Then climb the stairs to view the Capitol building, and other structures in the plaza, including the Corning building, which is the highest skyscraper in New York, outside, NYC.


The neighborhood along 20 as you leave Albany is tree-lined and charming.

Leaving the metropolis of Albany slowly gets you back into the rural farmland of Upstate NY.  Old diners dot the landscape with wide open parcels of land.


As you reach Duanesburg, you enter the Route 20 Scenic Byway, an organization I have had some good contact with.  I think our sign will look good here.

Duanesburg crosses NY Route 7 – along the way, I viewed where a tornado ripped through the day prior and sadly destroyed a home.  Such sadness to see.

I then entered Esperance to meet with Ken Jones, the town historian for our 2 PM appointment.  The historical museum is in a former one room schoolhouse.  Whether you travel Interstate 88 or Routes 20 or 7, you can find signs for this museum.   For such a small town, I found a huge, large history existed here and Mr. Jones was more than gracious to share his information with me.   He had out a newspaper showing the opening of the new Route 20 bridge that replaced the towns iconic covered bridge.

Esperance was the half way point between Cherry Valley and Albany and became one of the regions great stage stops on the Great Western Turnpike. I was informed that many of the homes served as rooming houses and the museum held an extensive collection of old town photographs depicting its rich history. 

The museum is open after Memorial Day on weekends 1-4.  I highly recommend visiting. Again for such a small museum, the history is alive, rich and amazing in this small town.

A tour of the farming museum then commenced and a view inside the historic church as well made the visit even better.

Mr. Jones informed me that he was taking me to dinner with his wife, which was not expected by greatly appreciated. A small place in Duanesburg offered a killer sub – The Fiesta. You won’t leave hungry.  Johnnys was the place on 20.


As the evening continued, I did not feel I missed out on much as the air was heavy with haze and fog and the drive along 20 would not have produced amazing pictures.  Upon leaving Esperance, I headed to my destination town of Sharon Springs,NY. Where I was to meet my hosts for the night at the American Hotel, Doug and Garth – just north of 20 on NY 10. Doug is the Mayor of this charming village.  Little did I know that I planned this trip on their busiest day of the year and the Garden Party. Where I will be giving a presentation on Saturday morning!    I met some great people in the hotel, and as it was booked was offered a room at Doug and Garths home.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Day 1 - Boston, MA to Lee, MA

Weather:  50s & 60s   Mix of Sun and heavy rain.

Note;  The narrative in the blog posts will be personal, but at times reflect the mission of the Historic US Route 20 Association.

Today began a journey four years in the making, as I completed my last voyage on US Route 20 back in 2010.  I never thought I would do this road again at the time, but as many of you will know, this road has become my life, passion and ultimately, what makes me quite happy!


Today began just as it began in 2010, just with a different car.  This time I am driving a 2013 Chevy Spark instead of my missed but had to be junked 2001 Nissan Xterra.  The gas mileage is great – approximately 37mpg with a 9 gallon tank.  The only thing I had to add this year was a roof rack and cargo box.



I left my home at around 8 AM and got gas for $3.539 at Cumberland Farms,  I will miss the 10 cent/gal discount, unless I find another place that offers such deals.

First stop, the Atlantic Ocean at Revere Beach.  Just as I did in 2010, my goal is to reach the Pacific Ocean on June 19, so I had to see the Atlantic before I left.  Today though was very foggy to start.  However, I am happy that the doom and gloom forecast of downpours did not happen until much later and blue sky could be seen.'



I managed to hit rush hour traffic in Boston ( of course ) but when I got off the Storrow Drive exit for Kenmore Square. I found blue sky and sunshine to begin my journey on Historic US Route 20.



I am happy the City of Boston erected many new signs last summer as originally the first Route 20 sign could not be found until almost ½ mile down from the start line and now the one featured looks so much better.



Newport Oregon is 3,365 miles west from here. There should be a sign!

Another great sign is the older 1960s  or early 70s sign just a few miles down. 










I had a mission to follow ALL the original course of Historic Route 20 – but as I even reached Watertown, I thought. “Massachusetts is home and I have driven these parts more times than I can think. Yes I will try to get some highlights, but a greater exploration is awaiting further west”

So in Watertown, I got a picture of near Watertown Square.  Such a nice location

I then got into Waltham, which on a good day, can be tough to drive through, and I figured, what is great shot but a 1940s diner!   Wilson’s Diner made for some great pics before and now, I would put my prop sign in front of it and take a picture.   Luckily one of the owners saw me, asked what I was doing and saw the sign and bought one on the spot!  So go in and see a Historic Route 20 sign and some great food!

The next spot is unique on all of US 20. It is the Waltham mixed sign for 20 WEST. You won’t see anything like it anywhere else on 20!

Then, going through MetroWest- Weston, Wayland, Sudbury.  Towns I have a made a great presence in previously. So again, exploring what is there in depth is not a waste of time, but more of,been there seen so much already, lets see what we haven’t seen!

I did take the first bypass every built in 1930 for US 20 in Weston.
 
I did stop at the Bearly Read Books in Sudbury and talked with BettyAnn, who is the proprietor – she was kind enough to purchase my books and sell them along with displaying a Route 20 sign in their window.  I love places like this

In Sudbury, I did the obligatory stop at the Wayside Inn, which was on old US 20 until Henry Ford  moved it for fear vibrations from passing trucks would destroy the foundation.

One thing I did do a lot of was twitter out our locations in hope of some publicity!

Of course, another stop was Wegmans!  I am so happy they have come to Mass!  And now I can get my supplies and Weg-O’s here!    They are the official snack of the trip!
Just to note, there are 8 Wegmans on US 20 between Northborough MA and Erie, PA!

Then the rain came..  and I must tell you, traffic was HORRIBLE, so many slow trucks and heavy rain, that it made it nearly not worth doing anything between Charlton and Springfield.   Yes – so much to see, but the rain and fog did not allow for great pics.

I then headed west over Jacobs Ladder, a small organization that promotes one of the early Auto Routes over the Berkshires.  

I stopped in again in Chester to say hi to Bill, the Postmaster I met last weekend at Chester on Track.  Always nice to meet new friendly people!  While there, Dave, who runs Chester on Track came in and again, just nice to say hi to people who support you.  I then noticed the Route 20 sign in the Post Office window!   I remember selling it back in the winter, but until Bill reminded me that one was bought for that purpose, I did not put 2 and 2 together.  

My favorite spot in town is the diner and old gas station, which is featured in the book. I still recall seeing it for the first time!

I stopped at the top of Jacobs Ladder at the Cairn, which marks the completion of the auto road in 1910 and it is the highest point on Route 20 in Mass and east of Randolph, Nebraska
 
The trip for the day was winding down as the rain really played with the dreariness factor, a stop at the Appalachian trail was peaceful.


Finally for the day came Lee, a beautiful Berkshire town with its church centerpiece. I will be revisiting tomorrow morning.