About New England

It has come to my attention recently that several of my friends are not from New England, and do not have any sense of how it works. Possibly, this is true of some of the thousands of people who read this blog and do not know me, as well. Those who are generally interested in learning something about geography should read this whole post. Those who are only interested in geography as it may pertain to their relationships with me are permitted to read only the parts in bold and italics.

New England is not like "the Southeast" or "the Midwest," where people discuss whether certain states or metropolitan areas really count. New England is six specific states, period: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. (That's alphabetical. If you want help figuring out what's what on the map, Maine is the big one all the way to the east. New Hampshire is due west, and Vermont is west of New Hampshire. Massachusetts is the one with Cape Cod jutting out, just south of New Hampshire and Vermont. Rhode Island is south of Massachusetts, on the coast, and it is teeny. Connecticut is south of Massachusetts and west of Rhode Island. The ocean is on the right.)

Look at the map above and notice how tiny all of New England is. Look at wherever you're from and notice how much bigger it probably is.

Unfortunately, in Northern New England (that's Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont), the roads aren't always straight, and they aren't always good, which means sometimes it takes longer to get from where you are to where you're going than the map suggests. Even still, I do not think there is anywhere in New England that is more than a two-hour drive from at least two other states or Canadian provinces.

I live sort of in the middle. I am less than a two-hour drive from all of the New England states if I speed, from five out of six if I obey local laws.

According to Google maps:

• I am about two hours from Boston.
• I am about two and a half hours from Burlington, Vermont.
• I am about two and a half hours from Providence, Rhode Island.
• I am about two hours from Hartford, Connecticut.
• I am about an hour and a quarter from Manchester, New Hampshire.
• I am about three hours from Portland, Maine (darned Northern New England roads!).
• I am about three hours from the Canadian border (which, as my coworker says, is a good thing to know).

If you are going to any of the New England states, you should let me know, because the chances that I would just meet you somewhere for coffee or dinner or drinks or lunch are very high. Last night, I went to Boston after work, just for the evening. I wouldn't do that every weeknight, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. I will go to Brattleboro, Vermont, or Northampton, Massachusetts, almost any time, possibly even for lunch on a work day.