We arrived in Foxborough, Massuchestts at the Normandy Farms Family camping Resort where we had reservations for 5 nights. We were looking forward to this destination, with its excellent reviews and being recognized as one of the premier camping resorts in the world. Upon arrival, it was very clear that it was a luxury camping resort. There were amenities galore!
We had four days to see and do all things in and around Boston. Easier said than done! Since Ken did all of the driving, this is Ken’s perspective on the Boston area driving experience.
“Normandy Farms RV Resort is about 35 miles outside Boston via I-95 and I-93. No big deal getting close to downtown if you frequently drive multi lane freeways in the aggressive East Coast style. One car length between you and the car in front at the maximum speed of whatever traffic allows. Speed limits are viewed merely as a suggestion. Be ready to move into that one maximum car length of any car to the left or right and be ready for someone to move with no warning into that one maximum car length you allowed in front of you. Skills previously developed in several years of aggressive commuting in Chicago and Pittsburgh came back rather quickly. We made three trips into Boston in four days with no incidents and few angry honks. I’m sure the Arizona plates on the Jeep (another out of town darn tourist) helped in reducing the single finger salutes.
However, the surface streets in downtown Boston were another story. Lots of merging left or right with barely a notice, all in multi lane bumper to bumper traffic. Dealing with aggressive passenger car drivers, commercial vehicles, delivery trucks, construction detours, and a spouse taking “important” photos every few seconds taxed my rusty demolition derby big city driving skills.
After the first day I told Becky I was not interested in driving around in downtown Boston again. I was pretty much frazzled. I said we had to do some type of tour, which was really our plan anyway. So we secured a $20.00 prepaid spot in a parking garage for 4.5 hours. We had the address, so no problem. After driving around the block several times (which was no small feat) and realizing the actual parking garage was not at the indicated address, but really underneath the Boston Common park, we managed to get parked and head out on our walking tour.
On the third and final day in downtown Boston I felt almost comfortable switching lanes without letting the other guy have a chance to close up that special one car length. My rusty skills had been refreshed and I was back in the big city zone. I had also become a tiny bit familiar with the city layout and could guess at approximately where I was and where I needed to be. I was successfully cutting off less aggressive drivers and swerving around and avoiding double parked vehicles, scooters, bicyclists, and pedestrians while making suggestions to Becky of possible good photo opportunities.” – Ken
Boston was an extraordinary destination. Streets lined with elegant brick townhouses, acres of public greens and gardens, more colleges than in most any state and a church on just about every corner. The city was rich with history and culture at every turn. It was a mixture of bold, new, and old. We saw reflecting skyscarapers mixed with colonial steeples. And of course, I can’t forget the expressways that zipped around buildings. The city had areas compact enough to walk, but, the streets pushed the drivers to the edge.
Boston – a city of Old and New
(click on photo for Slideshow
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