First thing to do was look at my National Historic Garmin file with 18000+ waypoints and see if these was some low hanging fruit I could pick up. While I did add some waypoints I did not place them in the route.
Second file I looked at was the New Hampshire Historical Markers. I added 3 waypoints to the file and placed these in the route.
Third file was BBQ and there was a place in Claremont where 2 of the New Hampshire markers were so this got added to the route.
What started out as a 280 mile run was no pushing 325. By the time I got done executing the run it turned out to be more than 380 miles.
First stop was Winchendon Springs Post Office. I almost passed this place because it was not obvious this was a post office. From here I was headed to Keane, NH with nothing I had to grab, but ended up picking up 2 or 3 National Register of Historic Places.
Winchendon Springs PO
Wymans Tavern - First meeting of the Trustees for Dartmouth College
Next stop Bellows Falls. Picked up an Affair with how this chasin stuff all began.
From Bellows Falls it was a long haul (at least for this route) to White River Junction. This segment was broken up with a stop at Sweet Fire BBQ in Claremont, NH. This would give me the 3 required BBQ places needed for Smoke Chasing 2011. I had brisket with some cheese and mac for lunch. It was actually pretty darn good, but I am not the BBQ expert by any means. The cheese and mac, was quite cheesy, each fork leaving strings of cheese, like a spider web, to the dish. I was their first customer and they were reluctant to serve me the Cn’M because it had not been smoked. I am glad I still got it. I think this is the first time I got brisket versus pulled pork and I just may have brisket from now on.
In Claremont I picked up 2 New Hampshire markers. I think I have about 75% of the 200+ markers now.
This place is the oldest standing Episcopal Church in New Hampshire. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places.
Somehow when I arrived in WRJ, I must have taken a wrong turn and I found myself heading out of town on Route 4. The Nuvi is very quick to calculate a new route; you don’t even see a recalculating screen most of the time. A quick confirm with the GPS and found the next spot was Bridgewater Corners. Reroute to the Post Office is in order.
Now back on track, I am on RT 4 heading south and west. This is where the not so nice roads of Vermont and tedium started. You can read about my state of mind in an earlier post.
In Putney I stopped for gas and Curtis All American BBQ was right next store. There are not a lot of BBQ joints in Vermont with BBQ in their name. I grabbed Curtis in case I elect the 15 joints, 1 in each state.
A hop on I91 (I had had it with the choppy and dirt roads for the day) I am cruzin at 80+ on the way to Lake Pleasure, MA for the last stop. Now all I had to worry about was getting a performance certificate, versus deer, ruts, potholes, etc, etc.
Lake Pleasure is a really really really small town (if it is one, but it does have a post office). As I follow the road to the PO, it keeps getting narrower and narrower. I half expected it to turn to dirt. I finally came to a spot that looked like a parking lot and shrugged, where was the post office. The road was narrow enough that I had just passed it. Drats no sign on the Post Office. Right across the street, maybe 10 feet is the Lake Pleasure Community House. On the wall they have a small glassed in information board with a notification that has Lake Pleasure in the title. I take a picture of this, hoping this is allowed for the Affair.
From Lake Pleasure it was a straight shot across RT2 to I190 and home. Starting around Saxtons River I decided I would stop a Kapi’s, a local pub for some clam chowder. I had some about 2 weeks ago and was shocked at how good their home made chowder was. It is creamy, thick and has quite abit of clams in it. I arrived here about 7pm to find out they stopped serving at 3pm. Another rut in the road. I had a couple PBR’s that are only 1.50. Kapi’s is only a stone throw from where I live.
Today's title is my attempt to allegorarize with the GLMC An Affair with Water treasure hunt. Maybe I should have stuck with Another Affair complete in Vermont.
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