Places to stop when driving to and from New York (updated)

THE LAST TIME I HEARD, the busiest McDonald's in the nation was the one on the southbound lane of I-95 in Darien, Connecticut. You can't get to it from the streets of Darien, but parents on the last stretch back into New York pacify their children with sugar there. Here are some better places:

Rosie's, New Canaan, Connecticut. First of all, unless you have to be on I-95, you want to be on the Merritt Parkway instead. To get to it you can take the Wilbur Cross from I-91 or I-95, or even Route 8 south from I-84.

New Canaan is a pretty, very wealthy small town north of Darien and just off the Merritt. When I was a kid it was full of executives who commuted to New York City. Now it has lots of Euros who come here for a year or two while they work at the banks and and Fortune 500 companies that have relocated to Stamford, Connecticut.

Take Exit 37 on the Merritt and head north on Route 124. When you come to the first T-intersection, where you have to turn left, park the car and walk. Rosie's is to the right, on the other side of the street. It has self--serve tables, a lot of take-out salads, meatloaf and the like, as well as a lot of fattening carbs. The carrot cake is reportedly the best in Connecticut.

Walk once around the block and you'll see an interesting New England green and some nice buildings. Before you get back on the Merritt, there are also two gas stations and two supermarkets in town. (BTW, I didn't link to www.rosienewcanaan.com, because Google says the site has been hacked by people who want to put malware on your computer.)

Express Stop on the Merritt: If a mile off the parkway is too far for you (even though the traffic to Rosie's is light and fast), take Exit 35 in Stamford and go south on High Ridge Road. Five-hundred feet from the Merritt is a small shopping center with an A&P, a large drugstore, a gas station and a Cosi. All of them open early and stay open late.

The Original Frank Pepe's Napoletana Pizza has been famous for decades (established 1925). It's on Wooster Street, right at the intersection of I-91 and I-95, in what could be called New Haven's Little Italy. The street is short, but it's lined with pizzerias and trattorias, some of which compete fiercely with Pepe's. If you want Pepe's you may find an hour-long line, but you can circumvent the line by ordering take-out, either in the restaurant or by phoning ahead. Nearby Wooster Park provides a great place for a picnic on a nice day. If you want to sit down, Pepe's biggest rival is the nearby Sally's Apizza, preferred by some.

When it's time to leave, if you're parked in front of Pepe's and want to head north on I-95, continue down Wooster until it goes under I-91 and becomes the I-95 onramp. To head south on 95, after Pepe's take the first right, then the first right and then the first left, which curves around and becomes the I-95 service road.

After the jump, 3 places in Bedford, New York, and a coffee shop in Princeton, New Jersey.

Rosie's, 27 Elm Street, New Canaan, CT (203) 966-8998
Table, 11 Babbit Road, Bedford Hills, NY (914) 241-0269
Near & Natural, 1 Court Road, Bedford, NY (914) 205-3545
Wm Nicholas & Company, 19 Edgemont Road, Katonah, NY (914) 232-1949
Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ (609) 924-4377
The Original Frank Pepe's Napoletana Pizza, 157 Wooster Street, New Haven, CT (203) 865-5762

Table, Bedford Hills, New York. If you're driving all the way up or down I-684, there's a better way that also gives a good stop at a new local produce market in Bedford Hills, about 40 miles from New York City. From New York, take the Cross County Parkway to the Bronx River Parkway north, to the Sprain Brook Parkway to the Saw Mill Parkway north. The route is shorter than continuing on the Cross County to the Hutchinson Parkway and then 684, and more pleasant too. The Saw Mill ends at Katonah (another Bedford hamlet), where a new connector takes you directly to 684.

Bedford Hills is the hamlet before Katonah, and it's convenient to the Saw Mill (follow the signs to the village or use Google or your GPS to find 11 Babbit Road). A new market there specializes in local produce and sustainable agriculturel. The kitchen will fix you local eggs from John Boy's Farm, or make you a local salad in season. Of course there is also organic produce all year round, and things you would expect in a store like this, such as artisanal cheeses and healthy crackers. A communal table is available for sitting down.

If you stay on 684, Exit 4 will put you a mile or two from a similar store in Bedford Village called Near & Natural (go southeast on 172, turn left on 22 and follow 22 when it curves around the Green -- Near & Natural is on the corner of 22 and Court Road, the first right after the Green). Near & Natural is not quite as near to the highway as the other places I've mentioned, but Bedford Village is the most attractive of the three Bedford hamlets, and well worth a trip. The village and its surrounding area are about as close as you can be to New York with any illusion of being in the country. Near & Natural is not as ambitious as Table, which is partially supported by local subscriptions of $1,200 per year. (New York Times review here.)

The third hamlet, Katonah, has a good prepared-foods store called Wm Nicholas & Co that while not far from the Saw Mill has travel directions that are a bit complicated for those who don't know the area. The alternative is a short route that's simple but that strays into the land of the traffic engineer, whose dead hand is much in evidence. Going north, go to the the end of the connector between the Saw Mill and 684 and take the offramp for Route 35. Turn left on 35 and left again at the first street beyond 684. Go half a mile or so, take the first left again and Wm Nicholas will be on the left in the middle of the short block. (map here)

Once you get to the village, Katonah is a pleasant town that's worth a short stop. In the late 19th century, it was moved to make way for the New York City reservoir system: more than 50 buildings were lifted up and pulled along timber tracks by teams of horses. The site plan for the new town was designed by the Olmsted Brothers. Trivia: The John Jay National Historic Site and Martha Stewart's house are nearby.

Small World Coffee: The New Jersey Turnpike is one of the most boring and heavily trafficked roads in America. When we're driving north from Washington and we have the time, we avoid most of the Turnpike, and its tolls, by taking 95 to Philadelphia and then to Princeton.

Before there was a Whole Foods in New York we would sometimes stop at the Philadelphia Whole Foods near the Vine Street Expressway before continuing on to New Jersey. The last stretch into the center of Princeton is along a country road from Lawrenceville. You come into the pretty town of Princeton, with Princeton University on one side of the main downtown street. Perpendicular to it is Witherspoon Street, and on it is a good local coffee house named Small World Coffee. It's always a nice stop. Further down the main street (Nassau Street), is Hoagie Heaven, the last place with good hoagies on the way to New York. When there's time, walking around the campus is always a nice break. If you go, take a look at Princeton's newest Gothic residence, Whitman College.

The fastest route back to New York is Route 1, which is ugly but shorter than going back to the Turnpike. If you drive the whole route (Delaware to New York on 95 and US 1) without stopping it doesn't take much longer than the Turnpike, and it's less likely to have stop and go traffic.

More recommendations to come