Local loop
Sun Sept 1, 2019
(~237 miles)

Yeah, not the one in D.C. I threw the proverbial dart at the Basecamp map of NER BONE restaurants and came upon the Smithsonian Cafe and Chowder House in Hatfield MA. Char was feeling game for a longer ride on her Bonneville if we planned it out in advance, so a private RTE out to western MA would provide a worthy destination. Once again, we had great riding weather queued up and were able to get enough of our chores done beforehand, allowing us to head out without too much guilt.

MA 146 got us to Chocolog Road in Uxbridge, which got us started on the back roads until near the end of the ride. We passed through Douglas and Oxford, using MA 56 to make our way north, crossing the Pike west of the Auburn and metro-Worcester busy-ness. We picked up MA 122 (BONE road) in Paxton, and enjoyed the familiar scenic highway northwest across central Mass. 122 doesn’t shine too brightly at any particular riding aspect, it’s just a good solid motorcycling road where you can cruise for miles without stopping on a good day, through farms, woods, and a few small towns.

We stopped in at the Shell station in Orange MA for fuel and to use the facilities. There were lots of bikes on the road today, and there were several parked around the lot. We chatted with a woman riding pillion on a Harley back to Ludlow MA from New Hampshire.

After a short break and a snack, MA 2 took us a mile or two west and we picked up Wendell Depot Road (BONE), a woodsy curvy ride south through Wendell to Shutesbury. We turned right onto Shutesbury Road through Leverett and crossed the Connecticut River on MA 116, hooking an immediate left onto River Road. We following this new (to me) street a few miles down into the backwater village of Hatfield, which I had never passed through, aside from zipping by on I-91.

The Smithsonian Cafe was just beyond the interstate, along US 5. It’s a fairly non-descript looking place, but we trusted the reviews and pulled in to the almost empty lot by mid-afternoon. A comfortable cafe atmosphere greeted us inside. Two young ladies were working this shift and answered our questions as we reviewed the menu up on a chalkboard behind the counter.

The stuffed popovers had caught my eye when reading the online menu, so I ordered one stuffed with pulled pork. I’ll have to try the chowder next time around. Char ordered another grilled cheese sandwich (it’s tough finding variety as a vegetarian) with spinach and tomato. The popover came split in two, with the larger half containing the pork and the other melted cheese. After attempting awkwardly to eat a couple bites with fork and knife, I gave up and simply mashed them together to eat with my hands. The outer crust of the flaky pastry held together well and made for a delicious sandwich!

As we began to dine, a young couple walked into the restaurant with a large white and black Great Dane, wearing a service dog vest(!). I’d never have thought that breed would be a sensible choice for that type of work, but he was very well behaved and attentive to his owners. He’s in the lower left of this photo, that also shows the wonderful baked goods selection in the display case.

After finishing up, we decided to take two cupcakes to go (blog research don’t you know) and the girls packed them up in individual little boxes for the journey home.

We crossed back over the river on MA 9 and turned on Bay Road through Hadley, then MA 181 south through Palmer to US 20. We had one more surprise stop to make, at Francesco’s Italian Bakery in Charlton, which we had passed by several times while out riding. It’s an old-school little shop building standing by itself in a residential area just off US 20.

I’d intended to just pick up some cookies or cannoli, as a special treat for this evening, but they had some small spinach and onion pre-made pizzas that looked amazing, so we picked up a couple of those too. We haven’t been indulging much in sweets or pastries as of late, so everything looked very delicious. We will be back to do more research!

We wound our way back through Oxford and Sutton to 146 and rode slab the rest of the way home. Char had completed her first 200 mile day on her own bike and was feeling pretty comfortable, even with the stock seat still installed. We enjoyed our handmade pizza later that evening as well as the sweets, which were all good, though the mini-cannoli tasted a day old or so. Also, note to future self: cupcakes should be packed in with extra napkins to keep them upright! All in all a great late summer riding day.