In the aviation world, they call it the $100.00 dollar hamburger. Flying a few hundred miles to have lunch and then returning home. I’m sure there are plenty of Harley Davidson equivalents, but one of my favorites is the tee shirt run.
One of the cool things about bike rallies like Laconia is getting to see dealer tee shirt designs from all around the country, and when a design catches your attention, a tee shirt run to that Harley dealer just might be in order.
Depending on the location of the Harley Davidson dealer, a tee shirt run can make for an enjoyable day or weekend trip. This tee shirt run to Yankee Harley Davidson in Bristol Connecticut was a day trip that turned out better than I could have imagined!
This particular trip started on Route 16 in Webster MA, at a little A-framed establishment called Nimzee’s. Any restaurant that is open from 5:00 am to 12:00 noon and turns a profit deserves a visit. The deep menu listed tasty, generous portions at value prices. A great way to fill the tank before a 85 mile trek to Bristol CT.
A short ride west on Route 16 and a touch of Route 12 serve as appetizers for the main course, which begins on Route 197. Converted cow paths serpentine southwest through farms and forests – rolling, climbing and dipping with the rustic terrain like an old wooden roller coaster. Proud colonial houses in traditional paint, randomly inserted in the otherwise green surroundings stand like spectators along these quite roads. Seemingly out of nowhere the vision of green yields to small towns with steeple churches.
Towns like Stafford Springs, barely deserving of an ink spot on a map appear and disappear in an instant, swallowed up by their natural surroundings. As is usually the case, large cities sit like ugly warts on the face of a beautiful ride. Hartford Connecticut is no exception and routing our trip around Hartford was worth the extra time.
Arriving at our final destination, we found the design we were after, and promptly added it to our collection.