Traveling Car Free in Greater Hartford
As a young professional three years out of college, I found that I was more car dependent in my day-to-day life than I liked. In college, I walked to class each day and I took some form of public transit frequently. And now, three years out of college, I dearly missed walking and taking public transit. As a result, I recently picked up a hobby of traveling car free to restaurants, bookstores, and coffee shops on certain Fridays when I’m off work.
In this article, I will describe one of my car free travels from my apartment in Berlin, CT to the UConn (University of Connecticut) Hartford campus bookstore and back, with a few different food and coffee stops along the way. Fortunately, traveling car-free in central Connecticut is not that hard as long as you keep track of the transit schedules and are willing to walk.
My first stop on my car free trip was Provision State Coffee in Berlin, an upscale family-owned coffee shop across the street from the Berlin train station. Provision State is my favorite coffee shop and it is about a 50 minute walk from my apartment.
While the walk to Provision State is long, it is pleasant; it runs through residential neighborhoods and the terrain is mostly flat. Still, I usually bring two water bottles to stay hydrated during the long walk and by the time I arrived at Provision State I had finished both water bottles. At Provision State, I ordered a large black coffee and two slices of brown toast with peanut butter, topped with banana slices and granola. About ten minutes before my train was scheduled to arrive, I finished up my toast, took the coffee to-go, and crossed Farmington Avenue to the train station.
At the station, I bought a paper train ticket from the ticketing machine because the CTrail app tends to drain my phone’s battery. Soon after, the train arrived and I boarded. I quickly found an available seat with a table, which I prefer so I can put down my coffee in between sips. The train ride to Hartford was less than 15 minutes and I enjoyed watching the landscape pass by as I sipped my coffee.
After getting off the train in Hartford station, I walked to the station’s front entrance, took a right on the street in front of the staton, walked one block, then took a left onto Asylum Street. I started walking toward the city center, though I could have easily caught an inbound Hartford city bus if I wanted to. My next destination was Pietro’s Pizza on Main Street, but I was still hungry from the 50 minute walk earlier and I wanted the option of getting food on Asylum St if I saw something interesting.
The walk to the city center (corner of Main Street and Asylum Street) was a little more than 10 minutes. I walked past several restaurants but continued on to Pietro’s Pizza. Once I reached Main Street, I took a left, walked about two blocks, crossed the street and arrived at Pietro’s, my favorite pizza place in Hartford. I ordered two large Veggie slices with a soda. I sat in Pietro’s small dining room and an employee brought the food and drink to my table when it was ready. The slices were hot, crispy, and delicious! They satisfied the appetite I’d worked up from all the walking.
After finishing my pizza slices and soda, I walked to Barnes and Noble at UConn Hartford. From the Pietro’s Pizza entrance, I took a left on Main Street and walked about 5 blocks until I reached the Wadsworth Atheneum art museum. At the Wadsworth, I took a left on Atheneum Square, walked a block, then took a right on Prospect Street. I then walked one block and took a left on the street in front of the Hartford Times building. The Hartford Times building was a landmark for me to locate Front Street (where the bookstore is located), because on Prospect Street I could not see any signs for Front Street nor UConn Hartford.
On Front Street, I walked a block downhill and entered the Starbucks attached to Barnes and Noble. I ordered a medium black coffee. A black Starbucks coffee is bitter, without much flavor (most people probably go to Starbucks for Frappuccino’s and lattes, not a simple black coffee). After picking up my coffee, I walked into Barnes and Noble, sat down with a book and read while sipping coffee for the next hour.
After an hour, I checked the train schedule and realized I only had time to grab a quick snack before I had to catch my train back to Berlin. I placed the book back on the shelf and quickly walked across the street to Rush Bowls, a popular açaí bowl & health food restaurant. I ordered the Power Bowl with whole milk, topped with Nutella. A few minutes later, I picked up my bowl to-go, paid, and hurried out the door. I made my way back to Asylum St, then speed-walked straight toward the train station as I ate my açaí bowl.
The walk from Rush Bowls to the train station was a little less than 20 minutes and I arrived about 15 minutes before my train’s departure. I bought a water from a vending machine in preparation for my walk home from Berlin station. Soon, my train arrived, I boarded, and the train quickly sped away toward Berlin. Upon arriving at Berlin station, I finished my water then walked quickly back toward my apartment. Fueled with the protein and sugar from that Rush Bowls Power Bowl, I walked fast and reached home in about 45 minutes. Overall, it was great day of car free travel and I looked forward to my next car free adventure.
