Connecticut is a fairly boring state. I should know, I've lived there all my life. It has a limited seashore, and the weather is not usually warm enough to enjoy it. It is cold and snowy in the winter, yet the state is to flat to support any ski resorts. As far as entertainment is concerned, we don't have any major sports teams, or amusement parks. It is even worse if your under twenty one. Your basic avenues for enjoyment during a Friday or Saturday night would consist of either going to a movie theater, or perhaps one of the malls that are rather inconveniently located at least forty five minutes apart. Yet there is one thing that Connecticut has which is unique and, at least in my opinion, enjoyable. It is a strip of road, called the Berlin Turnpike, that is located in the central part of the state. But this is not just any ordinary road. Every Friday and Saturday night during the summer months, it comes alive with activity. This may not be for everyone, but the Berlin Turnpike offers a way to occupy our time. It is a recently developed area, with every kind of restaurant and store imaginable all located on its short ten mile length. The allure of this stretch of road though, is not the fact that it is a commercial center. Sure, one could go there and watch a movie at the theater, or eat at any restaurant chain your heart desires. But, after dark, the strip turns into one immense, continuously moving, car show. The turnpike is completely taken over by older classic cars, and newer sports cars packed bumper to bumper with people everywhere. All of the classic cars, cars built in the early seventies and before, intermingle with later 90's mustangs, camaros, corvettes, and vipers. It is as if there are no ordinary cars allowed in this area after dark on Friday and Saturday nights. Yet, beneath all the chaos of cars, there is a reason as to why they are there.

It goes back to the late 1960's, when this turnpike was originally constructed. It wasn't nearly as commercial then as it is now. When it was built though, they put stop lights every couple thousand feet. As if these traffic lights were somehow magnetized, it drew people from around the state to them. The beauty of this road was that it wasn't next to any major cities. It was isolated, and thus relatively free from police presence. People immediately saw this as the perfect place to race. Being the time period it was, and the popularity of fast cars, people from around the state would go up to this place and drag race each other in between the traffic lights. There was really no other place in the state where people could do this, and have a good chance of not getting caught. As time went on, and the turnpike become increasingly busy with shopping traffic, the ability to race in between lights was reduced. More and more traffic clogged the single road, and with it, of course, came more police. This also made it more difficult to race and not get caught. Yet the tradition persisted, and now Friday and Saturday nights belong to this rare breed of fast cars.

Currently, the turnpike is congested with police, especially late at night because they know that's when the racing would take place. The night sky is consistently lit up with flashing red and blue lights as cars are pulled over one right after the other. Suddenly, the air will be broken by the sound of tires spinning on pavement, and the roar of engines tacking higher and higher as two cars take off side by side from a light. This is an infrequent occurrence though. Most of the cars just cruise from one restaurant to another, making their way up and down the turnpike. The cars will stop for a while at either Roy Rogers, or McDonald's, and stay there until the parking lot is too full. At that time the police will come and kick everyone out. The mass of cars will then move down to the next restaurant to await for the police to faithfully come down there and clear that parking lot. This process will go on all night, until two or three in the morning, when everyone has had pretty much enough and goes home. In order to better illustrate this, lets take a look at a typical night on the strip.

We usually leave for the forty five minute trip to the turnpike around eight thirty Saturday night. We come onto the south end of the turnpike from I - 91. The traffic is light at first, with just your normal everyday cars. Yet, as we drive a few more miles, the traffic gets heavier, and the more unique cars start to appear. The smell of raw exhaust from these vintage American cars is overwhelming. The rumble from their massive engines shakes the pavement as they sit at the traffic lights. Then in an instant, the light will turn green, and they'll take off in a flash and ungodly roar. The first parking lot full of cars appears on the right at Dunkin Doughnuts. This is the home of all the old - timers though, and so it must be stopped at before ten. After that, all the old men pack it up and go home. This is the parking lot that holds the most unique cars. It is packed with hot rods from the 1930's and 1940's. The next stop is also on the right hand side of the road, and is two or three miles further down the strip.

Roy Rogers sits in a depression, and the multitude of brilliantly painted cars and polished chrome is almost blinding as you come over hill. Occasionally, depending on what time it is, the police may already have the entrances to the restaurant blocked off. The best time to get there is before ten because it is usually still open and free from flashing red and blue lights. This is where the most amount of cars can be seen. Once in the circular parking lot, the sheer amount of cars is just overwhelming. Most of the time every parking spot is taken, and it takes a while to even get into the traffic that is circling the restaurant. Every car parked there, and the cars circling the restaurant will be newer mustangs or camaros, or older cars such as chevelles or firebirds, among others. Once parked, we grab something to eat, and watch the various cars circle around the crowds of people standing around the restaurant and in front of their parked cars. The crowd is usually large, with the inside and outside restaurant seating filled. It is just amazing to sit there and watch '99 corvettes, vipers, saleen mustangs, and SS camaros of every color roll through the parking lot. Mixed in with the new breed of muscle cars are the vintage '67 - '72 chevelles, GTOs, chargers, and camaros that started it all. Of course, there are also the occasional 80's grand nationals and mustang 5.0's that come through.

As the mass of people grows, and cars are backed further and further up on the turnpike, the police undoubtedly will show up and block the entrances. The cops will then tell everyone they have ten minutes to eat and leave, before they are fined. I don't really know why they do this, except to control the crowd and amount of vehicles, but they clear Roy's out in a matter of minutes. This doesn't stop the fun though, it just temporarily diverts the cars and people to another location. Once, basically every car there leaves, they head to McDonald's or Hooters. They are both further up the turnpike, with McDonald's closest, and Hooters about a mile beyond that. Once in traffic on the way to the next destination, the occasional drag race off of one of the traffic lights can be seen. The way to tell if one of these very illegal races will occur is that the cars will flash their reverse lights. If a car is seen to flash its back up lights, and another car pulls up alongside it at the light, chances are they are about to race.

The next place that everyone goes to after being kicked out of Roy's is usually McDonald's. This is on the left hand side of the road, and has a horseshoe parking lot. Thus, if no parking is found, one must go back out onto the turnpike and park at a neighboring business. This is where you will find the most action. The police are usually too preoccupied at Roy's and pulling people over on the road. So, the crowd gathers at McDonald's, and the cars that roll through will continuously burn out until the cops show up there. This could go on for up to an hour, and leave the restaurant in complete smoke. I don't know why everyone waits until here to do that, but I guess it's just because the police aren't usually around. Finally, once the cops break McDonald's up, the mass of cars will either move to Hooters or back to Roy's, which once again has been left by the police. This continues throughout the night, with everyone driving in between these two places for the most part. There are also various businesses and restaurants along the way which end up having a large grouping of people and cars there at different times of the night. The turnpike is a big cat and mouse game between the people and the police. As soon as they kick people out of one place, then everyone just goes to a different location to sit back and enjoy the car show. Of course, if you don't like cars, then this would not be fun thing to do. But for the car lovers in Connecticut that are tired of the normal shopping and theaters, this is really a unique and fun experience.

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