This year we wanted to test out an earlier departure time, so we left home around 3:15pm. Surprisingly this worked out well for the first half of the trip, which took us to Vernon Center in Connecticut. We arrived there just before 7:30pm, so we were early enough to take our pick of places to get a bite to eat, rather than being relegated to Burger King, which is the only place we could find that’s open past 10:00pm (and we arrived well after that time last year).

Although Mexican Fiesta and the various Asian places in the area sounded great, we were in the mood for something a little quicker and where Rich could get some decent coffee, so we decided to try the Vernon Diner. It worked out well! The diner was very busy, but wasn’t overly loud, and we didn’t feel cramped in any way. The food came out relatively quickly, and just a note for next time—the portions were huge!

Rich got the veggie quesadillas, a huge tomato tortilla filled with cheddar and Jack cheese, zucchini and yellow squash, eggplant, onions, spinach, and mushrooms. It was served with sour cream and a delicious freshly made salsa (with fresh cilantro) on the side. I got the Florentine Eggs Benedict, served with spinach and feta cheese. I thought the feta was an unusual choice for the dish, but I really ended up liking it. The eggs were cooked perfectly, too, unlike the Benedict fiasco from last year. And they were served with delicious home fries. Rich and I shared both meals and eventually ate almost everything. Rich and I had the standard coffee and tea, respectively.

You might expect that the traffic would lighten up as the night went on … unfortunately, it didn’t really get all that much better. The main issue was the abundance of night roadwork on I-90, I-290, and I-495 (my most hated road, I have to say every year). The delays weren’t very long, but there were a few areas where three or four lanes had to merge into one with very little warning, and it’s heart-stopping to have all wacko New England drivers flying by and around you with inches to spare at 75mph. Needless to say we were pretty fried by the time we reached the Kittery rest area just after 11:00pm. We cleaned up a bit, put on our eye shades, and had a moderately restful doze until morning.