After a pitstop in Ithaca, I started northeast on my three-state run to close out New England. First up was Vermont. I had been to Vermont a handful of times before, but only for work retreats. I worked for six and a half years for a Boston-based software company. Once a year we would get the company together in Vermont for a week-long retreat. I'd fly into Burlington, grab dinner with the team, then we'd drive about an hour into the country. We’d stay at a place with a summ

As I loaded Pierogi and headed east, I was happy to see Branson MISSOURI receding in my rearview. It was about 900 miles to my next destination, Roanoke, Virginia, so I split the driving across two days and the halfway point was Nashville. I hadn’t really enjoyed Nashville when I stopped there for a night on my way to Memphis during my TENNESSEE week. Maybe I hit it on a bad night the first time, or maybe I hadn’t been in the right mood. Nashville is such a popular spot, I f