Roadtrip to PEI Stop 3: Springfield, MA

In the fall of 2016, I took a very quick trip to Prince Edward Island in Canada. And by quick, I mean I got there and back in just over a week. It was a little insane. To start at the very beginning, click here to go to the introduction.

TOLLS, TOLLS, AND MORE TOLLS

I left Baltimore a bit later than I meant. Partly because I enjoyed myself at the free art museum, and I just wanted to wander around Baltimore a little more. I climbed back in my car at 1 pm with a 5-6 hour drive ahead of me.

The theme for this day would be TOLLS. I repaid a toll I had paid coming into Baltimore, $4 then $8, then $4 again. Then I drove the length of the New Jersey Turnpike which basically took all of my money. I even had to stop at an ATM halfway through the state to pull out more cash! And for all the money it costs, it’s not like it’s a particularly nice turnpike–it’s pretty gross. You won’t see the Garden State from here.

Leaving New Jersey cost me about $14, then not 10 minutes later, I had to shell out another $15 to cross the George Washington Bridge into New York City. Arg.

NEW YORK CITY

It was pretty fun to drive into New York City, though. I had only done this once before, I wasn’t the one driving, and we went through the Lincoln Tunnel that time. This time, Google Maps on my phone got confused while I was on the lower level of the George Washington Bridge and I almost missed my exit. But traffic was crawling, so I ended up being able to edge over into the right lane.

Then basically, I took a left at the Bronx. It’s definitely more fun to drive by New York City than it is to drive in New York City. And following 87 north, I found myself pretty quickly on pretty parkways, and that’s when I started to really see the fall color I was looking for.

SPRINGFIELD, MA

Driving through Connecticut was generally uneventful, save for a massive traffic jam in Hartford. Then I crossed the line into Massachusetts and found my way to Springfield.

I didn’t think too much about choosing Springfield for a stop, just that it was an appropriate distance away and in the right direction. I was very pleasantly surprised at the beauty of this town. My Airbnb host would later tell me Springfield was the “City of Homes” due to all the historic houses. It’s like one big historic district.

MY AIRBNB

My excellent Airbnb for this night was located in one of these lovely homes, in a whole street of beautiful houses surrounded my neighborhoods of beautiful houses. I know this because I drove around lost, trying to find which beautiful house was the one I was staying in. It didn’t help that Google thought it was on the other side of the divided street and his street number was hidden behind their lush front garden.

For the first time, my Airbnb hosts were an older couple, in the retired-but-not-old category. They had a huge house with a whole apartment he had made upstairs. There is a gable bedroom, a little den with a TV and a futon, and a smart little bathroom tucked up under the roofline. It felt extravagant, and for only about $50!

For $40 off your first trip with Airbnb, click here. 

DR. SUESS IN SPRINGFIELD

I spent my morning journaling and planning the next two stops on my trip–Maine, and Prince Edward Island. Until the moment I booked a place in Charlottetown, PEI, I wasn’t totally sure I was actually going to go! But I was so close I just had to go all the way.

Then I set out to explore a little of Springfield in the daylight. I found that Springfield, MA, is the birthplace of Theodore Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss! Inthe middle of downtown is a Seuss memorial sculpture garden as part of a larger museum complex. I think you are supposed to pay to view the statues, but I just walked right in. #notsorry

In fact, the Dr. Seuss museum didn’t open until June 2017, 15 years after the creation of the sculpture garden. When I went, there were museums for art, history, and science, but the Seuss museum was still to come.

DR. SEUSS NATIONAL MEMORIAL SCULPTURE GARDEN

The courtyard was definitely fun to walk around on its own. In it, you’ll find a huge walkable centerpiece sculpture featuring Seuss’s characters leaping from the pages of a book. Here is Horton the elephant, Things One and Two, Sam I Am (with his eggs and ham) and Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose.

Nearby is an “Oh, the places you’ll go” photo op with the Grinch and his dog Max. There’s also a full-body rendering of Theodore Geisel at his writing desk with the Cat in the Hat looking over his shoulder.

Closer to where the Seuss Museum is now, you’ll find the Lorax on a tree stump and Yertle and his stack of turtles around the corner. The whole place is designed for interaction and playing on, not just looking at. The main sculpture is even wheelchair accessible.

MULBERRY STREET

It’s not hard to find Mulberry Street nearby (and I even went down that the wrong way) and there is a lovely cemetery at the end of it with some beautiful trees in their glorious fall colors I feel it must have been more of a thoroughfare in Geisel’s childhood days. It seems like a sleepy cul-de-sac now. Maybe he just liked the name?

HEADING NORTH

And that’s about all I did in Springfield! I think by this point I was eager to make it towards Canada and Prince Edward Island. The story continues and I’ll do a post on what more you can find in Springfield, MA. I’m sure I’ll be surprised.

Thank you for riding with me!