As I previously mentioned, I’ve made it a point since moving to Connecticut to take a road trip every month. Last month I went to Old Saybrook, and this month I went to Essex. Having my iPhone come along for the journey was helpful and allowed me to enhance my experience on the trip in ways not possible without it.
First, my iPhone was helpful in finding a place to eat. In Old Saybrook, for restaurant advice called a coworker of mine who has been to the town, but he was unavailable at the time. Since I needed to eat, I had to find a restaurant on my own. In Essex, I didn’t know anyone who had been there, so I just needed to find some place. For both situations, I used the app Yelp (iTunes link) to see what restaurants were in my immediate vicinity and to read reviews of the restaurants. From there, then, I was able to pick good places both times.
Second, my iPhone proved useful in navigating both towns since, beside my phone, I don’t have a GPS device for my car. In Old Saybrook, I wanted to find the shore, so via Maps and the built-in GPS support, I navigated my way to the coast. In Essex, I used my phone to find a back-roads route home instead of taking the highway. If I didn’t have an iPhone, I would have had to plan this route before I left my apartment, but with my iPhone in hand, I could travel along unknown roads with confidence knowing I wouldn’t get lost. The scenic route gave me an opportunity to do more exploration and find different sites I wouldn’t have found via the highway.
Knowing where I was in Essex:
Knowing where I was while taking the scenic route home:
A find on the scenic route: the schoolhouse Nathan Hale taught at in East Haddam, CT:
