nile13

Well, let's start from the beginning. I had to miss a race this weekend to attend a friend's wedding in Rochester, NY. I've spent 12 years there, but since moving to Boston seven years ago, I rarely, if ever, visit anymore.

So, I gassed up the 993, put the roof down and made a boring 400 miles track westward on Rt. 90. Yes, it was nice and sunny and my face got burned, which, in retrospect, blended me well with the locals :-) Needless to say, I was not in a happy mood. I would rather be racing than spending my time in this nostalgia land. But I had to make do with what fate dealt me for the weekend, so i decided to look around.

As I mentioned, I spent 12 years leaving there. Rochester is a nice fairly white collar town, several good colleges, about a million people. Seemed perfectly normal at the time. If I didn't love Boston that much I probably would have stayed there. As I drove around town, I marveled again at how green it is. The lilac bushes are everywhere, the smell feels the air inside the topless car and the life seems bearable, if a bit boring. Strangely enough, despite all the snow and salt they get every winter, and they get more than any other city in US, the roads are in very good condition compared to Boston and its 'burbs. The roads are wide, well marked. There are very few cars and absolutely no people to be seen around on a Saturday mid-morning. I picked up another set of race wheels and tires, stuffed all 4 of them into the 993 and drove around some familiar streets.

What struck me is how friendly the few people driving around me were. Polite, slow, giving thumbs up and mouthing "nice car" from inside their Buicks, they even used their turn signals to show the direction of the upcoming turn instead of for the pure purpose of faking you out, like they do here in Boston. The obligatory chicken wings at Jeremiah's were as good as I remember them to be, possibly even better. Everything is serene, pleasant, nice and inexpensive. Heaven on Earth, in other words.

Some friends ask me for a ride in the car on Saturday night as we were dancing the night away and drinking gin and tonics after the wedding in a futile attempt to entertain ourselves. That's where the trouble began. No, no, not at all what you think. We are all responsible adults, or at least we hide our wises well. The trouble began Sunday morning. When I handed over the car keys and sent them on a donut run to nearby Krispy Kreme that I spied a day earlier.

I must confess. I've never had Krispy Kreme donuts before. You see, Boston is Dunkin Donuts country. So much so, that they are literally on every other corner. I came up with a theory about Boston area. If you are ever given directions here, they must contain at least one Dunkin Donuts shop. Even if it says "if you see Dunkin Donuts, you've passed your turn". If this requirement are not met, the directions are fake and you'll never find your destination. So, we just had our first Krispy Kreme opened here a couple of months ago and it's about 40 miles away - you get the picture.

But I digress. My friends came back with a box full of assorted Krispy Kremes and as they were grinning and heaping praises on the aging 993, I was drinking my tea, chewing on a wonderfully gooey, just sweet enough and overall delicious new concoction. And thinking. Could I live here? Can you step into the same river twice? Why is the sky blue? Don't I have better things to do?

Now, fast forward a couple of days. After another 600 miles of topless driving I'm finally home. This morning I dropped off my kid at school in Wayland, one of the nice Boston suburbs, and stopped at, you guessed it, Dunkin Donuts. Coming back out to the parking lot I saw my car sitting next to a bright red Ferrari Challenge Stradale. As the owner came out we struck a friendly conversation. He used to own a C2 coupe before. In about two minutes another gentleman stopped by. He just parked his own '95 C2 coupe nearby. A beautiful Iris blue with only 16K miles on it. So we talked cars for a while. Nice to meet enthusiasts like this on almost daily basis. This, after working on '95 Cabrio just yesterday, that belongs to Rennlister who leaves all of half a mile away from me.

I'm still chewing on my Dunkin egg and cheese croissant as I'm writing this. And thinking again. Boston or Rochester? I think my car would feel way too lonely in Upstate New York.

volpenyc

Well Mike - you have to ask yourself one question:

Which donuts do you prefer? Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts?

My answer is unabashedly Krispy Kreme. But then again, I live in NYC where we have both brands; I don't have to drive to Rochester to sample my favorite donuts. (But our roads are probably up there with the worst in the country...)

H. Miller

Lamars Donuts beats them both, but most don't get the privilege of trying Lamars (chain out of KC)

FastMaz

Hey Mike,

Of course there are alot of Duncan Donuts in the Boston area; they started in Quincy!

Derrick B.

Nice story Mike. I hate the rat race, so I'd say Rochester hands down. (Unless you'd need to keep commuting to Boston!)

vuugti

I'd open a Dunkin in Rochester myself. You are closer to Watkins Glen and not to far from Beaver Run. Rochester has a great BMW club, very nice and super active, ahhh, almost forgot close to Mosport as well.

Coming back from the paint shop today I passed a 360 Modena going the opposite direction, of course in a construction zone, we glanced nodded and kept going. I really wanted to turn around and catch up to him for some open road that lie ahead.

For all of you who are not from central PA, seeing a 360 is like winning the lotto. Should I see another I'll be sure to ask which donuts they prefer.

Cheers,
Andy

Rob993

Ok guys, Tim Horton Donuts in Canada pretty well rules the roost! Outside of Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver, the rest of Canada is very laid back and would make Rochester seem like NYC.

Except the P-Car season would be reduced by another 3 months for you. We had some snow this morning (sic!)

nile13

Well, there are 2 or 3 Dunkin Donuts in Rochester and they've been there as long as I remember. the main one is a nighttime hangout for local taxi drivers for some reason.

And Canada... I've been to Toronto probably 20 times. As well as Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa and Windsor. For some reason Toronto is a tough breakfast place. You can get donuts on every corner, but not much else.
Also I remember a nightly procession of highly modified old Beetles down Younge street. Very loud, circling around the 4-5 block area. Every time, every night, it seemed.

Still, I must say that Krispy Kreme is my favorite at this point. But even that will not outshine my love for Boston. With or without neat cars.

Jay Gratton

Mike,
I also live in New England and I to have just been exposed to Krispy Kremes. Besides, the KK's are so much more worse for you. I would still stay in Boston. We have the ocean at our door step and I know I could never be far away from the ocean. Besides, if you go to New York you might have to start cheering for the NEW YORK YANKEES. No one wants to cheer for the Yankees! Best wishes - Jay Gratton

OldGuy

I cant stand the big city, I got stuck in LA yesterday and
had to stay at some seed y hotel because of some
electronics convention. When I get up to the desert
I feel so decompressed! I love our people who get
soooo excited when a Home Depot opened up here. the whole
town spent the weekend at HD!! Of course I see
a few 911's and Ferraris on there way to Mammoth
or magazine trips through the desert. so we are not deprivd
that way. And we will run 80 miles for a Krispy kreme!!
Little towns rock!!

Rolo

Krispy Kreme !!! Is there really any debate???

gslaberge

I agree that the Krispy Kreme is best donut but nothing beats Tim Hortons for overall experience. I live in Denver, we have Dunkin's, KK, Lamars etc. but when I get home to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario- Tim's rule. My wife is American (well so am I now) and now swears by Tim Hortons. We even tried to open a franchise here in Denver, but they only are expanding around the great lakes at this time.
Gregg

jjguitarranch

Oddly enough my best friends family has a business that takes care of the majority of Dunkin Donuts alarm sytems/monitoring in the boston area.

I prefer Krispy Kreme....