Downing Some More Double Downs in the Nutmeg State.

If you have followed me for any period of time, you have come to realize I don’t just go out for a ride. Today is no different and I am knocking off some double letter towns in eastern Connecticut. One nice thing about these little destinations is they take me on roads I would not have thought to go on or approach a familiar area (like the intersection of 169 and 197 in CT) from a different direction. It seems like you are riding in a whole new area if you approach it from a different angle.

The weather is sunny, but not exactly warm. I did wear my one piece suit which is mesh, but wore a long sleeve underneath. Glad I did, while the weather has warmed up, I would not call it warm for May. Still 5 degrees off. I downloaded 2 routes to the GPS’s one with highways and the other on back roads.

First up is South Woodstock Baptist Church. I found this using Google and it was confirmed by MapSource as well. As I have found this may be where the church has a license filed but there was not church or sign, so this stop was a bust. As I write this another Google search finds it located on another street, which is linked to the church’s website.
I was headed for the Woodstock Town Hall, but picked up the Woodstock Fair Grounds instead. The Woodstock Fair has roots back to 1809, however the current fairgrounds was established 1870.



Heading north on 169 I picked up the North Woodstock Congregation Church and unplanned site. I have passed thru this intersection 1000’s of times but never stopped other than at the stop signs. This is called or was called Villages Center and became more populated when the Norwich Worcester Turnpike was completed and intersected with the Old Turnpike. It was a popular mail stop back in those days. The church dates to 1895.



Couple pictures of the neighborhood.

This should look real familiar for those that have crossed RT 169 via 197. Its on the way to the Vanilla Bean

Making a left turn onto RT 197 you are sure to pass Bigelow State Park.




As you pass over I85 you can keep heading on CT 190 or take the right on Webster Rd and head for Staffordville. The Congregational Church there was built in 1859.



Headed up the street to turn around and picked up Staffordville PO for Waymarking purposes and snapped off a pic of the neighborhood.





Headed for the next stop, Stafford and caught this place out of the corner of my eye, which would satisfy the requirements for Stafford.



Picked this Post Office and Grange up for Waymarking, a two-fer



The actual destination for Stafford was this place. Nice big sign, but the sun was getting in the wrong place.



Headed out of Stafford on CT 32 for Storrs.

I had a choice in Storrs, head for the barn or head further south and complete the journey.



Went south. This would be the turn point to head back home. Still a couple of towns to pick up.

Brooklyn was the last target for the day. I was starved at this point and headed straight up CT 169, which is a National Scenic Byway. As I was riding up 169 I was saying to myself it really is not the pretty out. Yeah there is bits of yellow from the Forsythia and purple from the rhodies that are blooming, but the trees are still bare and pretty barren. While it is definitely warmer than it has been, the air still has a bite to it. At the intersection of CT 169 and Ct 101 I came across these.
























What is really neat about these old cars is the spectacular colors. The paint jobs are just so deep and reflective. The music was classic 50's and many songs I did not recognize. This completed the day covering just under 175 miles. Picked up 9 towns and now have a total of 28, enough to qualify for a Double Down T Shirt.