Jaunts & Road Trips
I was driving through the village of Glendale, Rhode Island, on a cold afternoon in early December 2022. I remember there was a coating of snow on the ground from a storm the week before, leaving the typical layer of winter grime on everyone’s vehicles.
As I came around the corner, I spotted a car for sale on the side of the road. It was clean and shiny — the owner obviously knew how to market the vehicle on a drab winter day. I told myself if it was still there the next day, I would check it out.
As you may have guessed, it was still there. Three days later, and I had test-driven and purchased the 1985 Mercedes Benz 300D. Was it an impulse purchase? Absolutely, but it wasn’t a total whim.
Two months prior to finding the Mercedes, I drove in a competitive road rally in a New Hampshire. The majority of the drivers at the rally had antique vehicles — some dating back to the 1930s — and I wanted to have something to drive at the next event.
With my retirement, there’s now the opportunity for my Mercedes to get a little more road time. My original thought is to jaunt around Rhode Island during the summer of 2026 or maybe even take a couple of road trips with the car. By definition, a jaunt is “a short excursion or journey for pleasure,” but when does a jaunt become a road trip? I asked Google, and here is the answer from the internet:
A jaunt transitions to a road trip when the drive shifts from a short, casual, or single-purpose excursion into a multi-day or multi-stop journey designed for exploration.
This will be my guiding philosophy for each excursion. My jaunts will be day trips to the hidden gems throughout Rhode Island, while my road trips will take me to places in other parts of New England that I’ve always wanted to explore — not to mention trying to find the best inns or bed and breakfast venues to spend a night at!
My Latest Posts
- ‘The Road Scott Traveled’
This winter, my wandering mind came up with a fun idea for my retirement: to bring back the concept of road tripping without using an interstate highway. And to truly bring it back in time: No map apps or even mobile phones will be used for the trip. Paper maps only.
Scott Rabideau 