Boston Is One Of The Best Cities For Book Lovers

What makes a great environment for reading? Regardless of your answer, Boston is a great place for book enthusiasts. Recently, Lawn Lovers detailed the best cities for book lovers, and we ranked in the top 15.

Comparing 500 of the biggest cities in America, Lawn Lovers "looked at access to bookstores, libraries, and book clubs, among 16 total metrics." From there, a score was assigned that enabled an official ranking to be compiled.

The four categories studied to qualify a city as good or bad for book lovers were, books for sale, book rental, special access and community.

In Boston and the surrounding areas like Cambridge, we are lucky, given many of the parks and common areas are inviting for a quiet place to sit down and get lost in a book. You also have to consider that the city welcomes a lot of commuters from suburban areas. Reading a good book on the train ride into or out of the city is a popular way to pass the time.

Of course, these days, people have a wide range of ways to access a book. Though the argument can be made that nothing tops the tradition of having the novel in your hands and first cracking it open, reading via a tablet or smartphone allows for more opportunities for convenient reading.

According to the Lawn Lovers report, Boston ranked 14th overall among the best cities for book lovers. However, a big reason why the city is towards the top is due to being the 5th best city in the country for in the special access category.

Rental access also resulted in a high ranking, whereas the city was the 42nd best in terms of books for sale. Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington DC joined Boston as the four cities in the northeast region to receive such a recognition.

Other Massachusetts cities to be named throughout this feature included Cambridge - 51st, Worcester - 96th, Somerville - 139th, and Springfield - 219th.

Boston Magazine once detailed famous authors who once lived in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood. To this day this is an area of the city that just looks like a great environment to write and read with its architecture and historic look.

Henry David Thoreau and Robert Frost were among the greats that Boston Magazine highlighted. Although Stephen King is from Maine, he was often spotted around Boston cheering on his beloved Red Sox. In fact, in 2005, he co-authored Faithful where he was chronicled the historic 2004 season from his fan experience.

There are roughly 220 miles and four and half hours between Boston and New York. On the drive south (or return trip North), it's likely you'll need to make a pit stop. Whether it's to accommodate a bathroom request, grab a bite to eat or get a breath of air, we've compiled a list of the best stops along I-95 on the Boston to New York drive.

We'll assume here that we are driving south. Therefore, your journey begins in Massachusetts. You'll pull past Providence and a few exit signs for T.F. Green Airport before enduring the meat of the trip. That would be a good two-plus hours through Connecticut, where you will surely slow down at some point. Finally, after trekking through the Constitution State, you start to see the exit sign numbers get down to single digits. The empire state awaits.

This journey can seem like a grueling effort up and down I-95. In a bigger picture, a four-hour route between two major markets is not really that much. Just ask the Midwest. If you want to drive from Chicago to Minneapolis, you are looking at close to a seven-hour drive, with only one state in the way. Nonetheless, the 1-95 Boston to New York route can be grueling. Therefore, we put together a collection of different stops to help make it more enjoyable.

Of course, this exercise does not include kids screaming in the backseat that need an immediate stop. Perhaps that's another list. Here, we will pinpoint some pleasing attractions you would have the time to stop for. However, we won't stray too far off the exits. And while taking 12 hours to play blackjack at Foxwoods would be a blast, we will narrow in on relatively short stops only.

So, let's hop in the car and find the best stops from Boston to New York along I-95.

*Note - we are not going in order of stops from north to south. We are listing in an overall ranking format.

We'll start with the best thing to stop for. Pizza. Frank Pepe's is a legendary establishment in the New Haven pizza scene. The good news here is that you have choices. If the original New Haven spot is too far off the path (or has a long wait), there's also a location in Fairfield, CT at Exit 24.

If you need a moment of fresh air or to loosen up the legs, this scenic lookout point offers a nice view of the Mystic River. There's comfortable parking space, and its an easy pull off or on to the interstate. It's not uncommon to find people taking photographs here as well.

Sure there are dozens of Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts right along the path, but pulling into Cafe Tempo Coffee House in Warwick, Rhode Island is well worth the wait. A homemade banana hazelnut iced coffee makes any slow-moving traffic situation more manageable.

After all that pizza and coffee somebody is going to need a bathroom. At mile-marker 41, via southbound access, you will find a rest stop in Milford CT that is a direct pull-off I-95. You can fill up on gas, or more food if you still feel like snacking. There are plenty of fast food and candy options at this stop.

This is applicable on your way out or into Massachusetts. Bay State Vintage Guitars is a family owned shop has some of the nicest custom and vintage guitars available. Each instrument on the wall tells a story and his a history that goes back well beyond what's considered classic rock. They are located on Washington St. in Norwood.

Hot oil pizza is a thing in Connecticut and it's delicious. Colony Grill in Stamford is bound to have whatever game that is live playing on their TV's. Their menu consists of pizza and drinks, so you know they take their pie seriously. Like Pepe's, you have a few choices in addition to Stamford. Their Fairfield location is also a stone's throw off I-95.