Sunset Over Uxbridge

Please click the photo's to enlarge 

In the Heart of Hartford

 Out again pulling down USA Towns. The tour ends 9/15 which is what, only 14 days away. I can't believe summer is over, but it is. MeAsWe is wussin out again and taking her granddaughter shopping. Shopping versus Riding, come on now, give me a break.

On my way to the first stop, just outside of Stafford is a CCC camp. I passed right by it, but saw the sign. Turned around to pay it a visit. I figure it is on the NRHP (National Register of Historical Places).

First USA town is Somers, CT. Real thrilling pic of a pharmacy. At least it is not a CVS or Walgreens.

Next town was Suffield. This place had sign out front, Suffield Masonic Hall, which I am sure is alot more picturesque than the police station, plus it just might be on the NRHP.

Leap of Faith Stairway



Needing the last two Tour of Honor sites in CT was really what prompted todays ride, even thou this tour doesn't end until November. The second picture just might be a CT Tag photo. Just enough info to figure out where it is. Location is N41 56.764 W72 41.221 or the Connecticut Fire Fighters Memorial on the road the circles around Bradley Airport

Another tag potential at the New England Air Museum.

Lockheed P-80 as a Guess

From there I was off to Nat Hayden's Barbecue joint. I was looking forward to having some BBQ. I got there about 11:20 and they were not serving. I hear the BBQ is good here too.

Grabbed some more USA towns like South Windsor. Ran to Mark's BBQ real quick in anticipation of getting to Rein's Deli, one of my all time favorite places to eat.

For Jewish Deli food, nothing beats Rein's. Simply NO ONE>

The line to sit at the table was huge, which didn't surprise me, it was noon after all. I bee bopped right past the line and sat down at the counter next to some older women. I told them I came to keep them company. I should be careful when I say old, because I do fall into that category for most people.

The folks waiting on a table

A view from the counter. At the end is where they make the sandwiches

The infamous garlic pickles. They are really really good.

While I wait for my Triple Decker Jersey Deluxe. One of the few places that I know of that sells Cel-Ray , celery soda.

My new acquaintance desert, Lemon Meringue Pie. The real one looked much better than the picture. I was a little too fast on the trigger. This person worked for Pratt and Whitney as a representative, Her main job was to fly around the country and take clients and management out to dinner and entertain them. Not a bad job and my guess she was paid very well to do so.



My sandwich arrives. Almost forgot to take a picture. Next time I want to get a Reuben or maybe a Rachael.

With a full stomach headed into the heart of Hartford. Now I ended up East Hartford in neighborhood where a pasty white guy on a motorcycle taking pictures of buildings just doesn't really fit in. Matter of fact I was watched as I pulled up on the sidewalk, took my camera out and snapped a picture. The person in the doorway did come out and ask me what I was doing. I told her I was part of a bunch of crazy motorcycle riders, riding all over the country tracking down BBQ joints. If the sign has BBQ or Smoke in it, it is a target. She went from a concerned stern look to a big smile.

Down into downtown Hartford for another joint. This one might be iffy because BBQ is not part of the name, but I was in the area so I grabbed it.

This is the last Tour of Honor site for Connecticut that I need. We visited this once before and I did a RR HERE on it.

Another BBQ joint and that about wraps up central Connecticut for BBQ places.



There is a category in Waymarking.com for people that garbage up or go over the top for decorating their yards.. This yard had a beach flamingo / pelican theme.

Now I have been neglecting the USA towns. I have been grabbing them, just not posting here. The pictures are much blaher than these. One of my last stops was Salmon Brook. I had the historical society as a target and it actually was quite interesting. I took the needed picture and then parked and walked around a bit.

Last stop is really ugly and right next to the town I live in. If I didn't pick it up today, I would not ever pick up. A hit is a hit.

So all in all, grabbed 2 Tour of Honor places, 6 BBQ Joints and 7 USA towns in 260 miles traveled.

Spritzin the S's

Today is all about getting some last USA towns. Pretty boring stuff, but so far this season I have written something about all of my travels. MeAsWe has elected to stay home and do some stuff around the house and visit some friends.

Before I left I headed over to Giffs, to see if we could eliminate the head shake on the FJR. This seems to have occurred with the new Shinkos we installed about 2 weeks ago. I had this with the Connie no matter what type of tire I used. This was a known issue with the C10. I have used Shinkos on all my FJR's and I must be on my 4th or 5th set of them. The shake comes right around 39 to 43mph, is very pronounced on deceleration, but does exist ever so slightly under acceleration and constant throttle. It only happens when you take your hands off the handle bar, so the cure is pretty easy. Leave your hands on the handle bar. Giff rebalanced the tire and added .5 oz's of weight. Wheel appeared to be not out of round and did not have a wobble either. After he got in remounted, Giff's guess is the problem will still exist. It does. While he had the bike up on the table and calipers off, he replaced the front brake pads. He thought they might have another 7k in them, but I said change em out now.  By the time I got out of Giff's it was 12 or so.


First hit of the day is Slaterville. Not too far from where I live.

Since I was heading for the NER RI tag and needed a place to send folks I stopped at Bryant University for the entrance.

Hit A&W Rootbeer stand in Smithfield RI to capture the tag. Who could resist getting some grub while I was stopped. Hamburger didn't sound all the good, but hot dogs, did. They called em wieners, which just doesn't sound right. Choice of fries or onion rings. I opted for the rings.

A&W stands/drive-ins  roots are in California with the first stand opening in Sacremento in 1920 or so. This place was built in 1960 and joined about 2000 other similar locations in the country. Since then A&W joints have declined to around 400, many them connected to KFC or Long John Silver's. What I did not realize that they make the root beer on site on a daily basis. Some neat reading HERE. When I was a kid, it was Stewart's Root Beer stands, which were opened in the 20's as well.

 

 

Scituate RI is next on deck and then crossing the border to Sterling CT

 

 

 

On the way to then next USA town I passed this place. When I capture the CT Tag I will probably use this at the next GO TO place. Town Pounds were places to keep roaming livestock so the owners could come and claim them. You had to pay a fee to the pounder if you wanted your animal back. We have alot of these around New England. This is located at N41 42.182 W71 48.652 or the intersection of CT 14 and Providence Rd in Sterling.

Grabbed some Post Offices for Waymarking.com.

 

Next town is Sprague, CT. According to Wikipedia, Sprague is an up and coming ecotourism place to go. You look up ecotourism if you want to know. I was headed to the library, but this place came along and it works.

Time to make the turn north towards home. Grabbed Scotland on the way,

While I was heading up 395 I saw Attawaugan on one of the next exit signs. Sure enough the GPS indicated their was an Attawaugan Fire Station under the Community category. Off 395 and onto CT 12. I got to the fire station but not friggin signs on the building, what's with that. I drove around the building looking for something, a small sign by a door. Nothing. I turned around and headed for 395 and out of the corner of my eye, I STOPPED. I got a knack for picking this stuff up when treasure hunting. The photo has been enhanced to show the little sign.

We have a First letter Last Letter tag going on. You find  a place that begins with Last Letter of the last tag. OSJ put a picture of a Yolk but spelled it Yoke. I found the "E", who am I to argue how he wants to spell it. So go find a "T"

 

 

Blasted the rest of the way to Bonnie and Scotts place where MeAsWe was visiting and called it a day.

 

One thing I did different today, was ride in jeans versus my riding pants. During the summer months I use mesh riding gear which lets air in and around your legs and stuff. I was uncomfortable in jeans. They seemed to soak up the moisture in the air, which made the jeans stick to your body. YUCK. I will stick with my non stick riding gear. I have the same issue with riding with cotton T Shirts. 

 

 

Four hours or so covering right around 120 miles.