Tranquility at Middletown Interstate 91 Northbound Rest Area in Middletown, Connecticut

Sometimes tranquility can be found in the least likely of places. Nestled between a busy roadway and a mountain is a beautifully landscaped rest stop with an architecturally friendly building. This rest stop, the Interstate 91 Northbound Rest Area in Middletown, Connecticut, is used by tourists, campers, daily commuters, and truckers alike as they take a break from traveling north on Interstate 91 and seeing the rising Higby Mountain in the distance.

As motorists make their way from Connecticut's shore line to inland sections, there are few places to stop to stretch ones legs, go to the bathroom, and get a quick snack.

Nestled in a wooded area at mile marker 22 between the exit 19, Preston Avenue, and exit 20, Country Club Road interchanges is the 26.5-acre rest area which I recently visited.

The main purpose of the visit was simple: to use the restroom facilities before reaching my destination of Six Flags Amusement Park in Agawam, Mass.

I, my girlfriend, and her best friend were impressed by the beauty that was found in this spot which was not expected by the blue highway signs with white lettering simply stating "Rest Area" and counting down the distance.

This is the only rest area on Interstate 91 northbound in Connecticut while the much busier Interstate 95 has six rest stops in each direction and Route 15, the Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkways has five rest stops each way.

Upon entering the Middletown Interstate 91 Northbound Rest Area rest stop; cars and campers are instructed by a brown sign with white lettering to go one way while buses and trucks are instructed to go another.

Landscaped islands separate the paved driveways and are located in front of all of the property's 59 car parking spaces.

Picnic tables with galvanized steel tubing set in concrete slabs with red wooden tops and benches, barbecue grills, and brown trash cans with a stone façade are located near the parking area.

With 21 picnic tables and seven barbecue grills, there are plenty of opportunities for many to enjoy the great outdoors far enough away from the stinky car fumes of the highway.

On a nice August day, several families were enjoying the warmth at a place few would think of when considering a place to go to enjoy the weather.

Some of these picnic tables are also located near the camper and truck parking areas and several large trees provide adequate shade for those looking for some place cooler.

Stone walls, brown wooden log fences, and native floral and fauna species provide New England landscape features to the property.

Several brown pitched roof wooden structures are located on the property, some housing a payphone while others showcase a map of Connecticut.

Midway between the car, camper, and truck parking and at the foot of a large hill is the small 1,846-square-foot single-story slab-on-grade main rest area building.

Paved walkways on the east and west sides provide access to this structure which resembles a New England farm building.

The east and west sides have a stone exterior while the north and south side have wood siding.

On the front stone façade of the building, there are black distinctive letters spelling out: "State of Connecticut Middletown Rest Area" and the state's seal.

The building has a pitched shingle roof, a prominent chimney, a large covered patio entrance, and features glass windows and doors with aluminum frames.

Small hanging planters with beautiful flowers can be found at both entrances of the building.

Each of the windows has floral window boxes and decorative colonial shutters.

These windows provide plenty of natural light into the men's and women's restrooms on the south side and into the lobby on the north side.

Yellow and pink ceramic wall tiles are found in the restrooms and to save on waste, restrooms have air dryers instead of paper towels.

I and the two girls agreed that both sets of restrooms were clean and in pretty good condition.

Outside the restrooms, the central walkway, lobby, display area, and office consist of ceramic tile floors and walls with plasterboard or painted wood planking.

The lobby consists of two Coke machines, two snack machines, a Snapple machine, a coffee machine, an ice cream machine, and a change machine.

When we visited, there were several other people also looking to get a quick snack and beverage.

Stickers on each vending machine states that profits go to the Connecticut Board of Education's Services for the Blind and costs for items seem to be similar as that of the typical vending machine.

When I went, the change machine gave out five $1 coins and as I made by selection, I was quite surprised by the variety of types of snacks available.

Also located in the lobby is an unmanned information desk with a laminated map of Connecticut and a wall of informational pamphlets with tourist periodicals, information about nearby attractions, along with maps and directions.

The number of pamphlets is not quite as extensive as the ones found at the Interstate 95 Westbrook Rest Area/Information Center located northbound between exits 65 and 66.

Near the building's exit doors, I noticed a water fountain and a wall map of Connecticut.

Three red park benches are located outside the building near two newspaper boxes.

While the building is usually open 24 hours, four port johns outside are located near the campers parking area.

Upon exiting the rest area to return back to the highway, I noticed three other buildings with similar New England architectural elements including two small storage outbuildings featuring wood-framed roofs with asphalt shingles and a truck scale operator's building with a brick façade and an asphalt shingle roof.

Other features of the rest area include an RV sanitary dump facility and a pet walking area.

According to Earth Tech, while about 48,290 vehicles travel daily along this stretch of Interstate 91 in the northbound direction, only an average of 2,270 vehicles enter the rest area on the weekdays and about 1,900 enter the rest area on the weekends.

This means that about 3.2 percent of travelers from the highway use the rest area on weekdays.

19.9 percent of the vehicles getting off the highway during the week to use the rest area are trucks while on the weekends, truck traffic drops to 5.5 percent.

The peak hour of usage of the rest area is 8 a.m. on weekdays where about 212 vehicles, 24.1 percent of those are trucks; exit the highway to use the facility.

On weekends, the peak hour of usage is at 12 p.m. where about 138 vehicles, 4.3 percent of those are trucks; were counted exiting the highway to use the facility.

During peak demand times, about 23 cars during the week use the 59-space car parking lot while 11 cars on the weekends use the same lot.

In contrast, about 44 buses and trucks drive into the facility during the weekday peak demand time using a truck and bus lot designed for only 37 vehicles.

During the weekend, about 4 trucks and busses visit the facility during peak demand time.

The rest area first opened to the public in the early 1970's, only about 10 years after this section of Interstate 91 opened to the public.

Future plans for the site call for a larger rest area building, slightly larger parking area, the introduction of ATM's and Wi-Fi to the site, and the elimination of the weigh station component.