Shortest route from Boston to Mike's
You want to go west on route 2, from 128 (or as the newbies call it
I-95 :-) that's exit 29, Route 2 west. From this point it's between
two and two and a half hours (more or less, depending on how you drive
and how badly I wrote the directions).
- Go a long way west on Route 2 until the split for I-91.
- Take I-91 South, which is also Route 2.
- Take the first exit, and continue on Route 2 west.
- After entering Shelburne start watching for yellow diamond signs
with "left curve" symbols (although the road curves back and
forth, they seem to only caution about left curves :-), the
first one has no intersecting road, the next shows a road
crossing the curve and the third shows a road going only to
the outside of the curve (to the right), that's the
Colrain-Shelburne Road and you want to take that. This is the
hardest turn to find in my opinion, just before the road is an
"attractions" sign with three segments, and there is a street
sign, but at the prevailing speed you'll never read it before
it's too late. I always count the three "curve ahead" signs...
Note: If you miss this turn, you'll reach the
intersection of Route 2 and Route 112 in Shelburne, take 112
north and you'll rejoin the directions below.
- At some point (probably the town line between Shelburne and
Colrain) the road changes its name to Greenfield Road.
- At the far end of this road it descends steeply
into "Old Colerain" (yes, it's spelled differently) where it
meets Route 112.
- Follow 112 north into Vermont.
- Route 112 ends in Jacksonville where you want to turn onto Route
100 south (this is a nearly 180 degree turn to the left).
There is a sign.
- Continue to follow Vermont route 100 up the hill and keep an eye
out for Wilmington Cross
Road on the right and Goodnow road on the left.
Goodnow is the second left after the school, at the
highest point on Route 100 between Jacksonville and
Whitingham. There is a sign for the intersection that
looks a little like a stick figure with one arm raised
(stiffly), the raised arm is Goodnow Road.
- Turn left onto Goodnow road.
Note: from the point where you get on
Goodnow road to my house is only 2 miles. This is the section
where most people who get off the directions do so. If you go
2 miles from here and you're not at my house yet, you missed a
turn. The rest of the directions mention every intersection,
don't go through one without noting what the directions say to
do.
- Goodnow road is about half a mile long, go to the far end.
- Goodnow Road merges into Town Hill Road. Turn right and pass the Brigham
Young Memorial (Whitingham is the birthplace of Brigham Young,
founder of the Mormon Church) and the ball fields on the left,
and the town "common" (playground and military memorials) on
the right.
- Shortly after the memorial (you've traveled about a quarter mile
on Town Hill Road) the main road turns left and becomes
Poverty Row (Town Hill Road continues straight down the hill,
don't follow that). The sign for Poverty row is visible.
- Poverty Row is about half a mile long, go to the far end. There
are a couple of dirt roads off Poverty Row, do not turn onto
these. Poverty Row ends at an
intersection with other paved roads.
- At the end of Poverty Row, continue straight onto Burrington
Hill Road, the street signs here are not as visible. Do
not turn with the main road onto Kentfield Road.
- Almost immediately (maybe 100 feet), Burrington Hill Road curves
to the left, but you should continue straight (or slightly
right) onto the dirt road, this is Streeter Hill Road. The
street sign for Streeter Hill Road is not visible as you
approach it, as it will be edge on to you. But you can see it
on your left as you enter the road, or behind you if you go
past it (the latter is how I found it the first time :-).
- My house is number 517, it's the first driveway on the left,
about half a mile from the start of the road. There is a
mailbox with the number 517 on it on the right just before my
driveway, when you see that my house is on the left and you
are about to pass my driveway, which isn't very visible before
you reach it. There is a sign on a tree on the far side of
the driveway with the number (517) and name (Patton) on it.
If you get off the described route and need to stop for directions,
your ultimate destination is:
517 Streeter Hill Rd
Whitingham, VT
which is near the intersection of Poverty Row, Kentfield Road, and
Burrington Hill Road (all of which end at that intersection). That
should be enough for any local to get you headed in the right
direction, or you can call the house at (802) 368-7121.