From Wikitravel

Longmeadow [1] is a tiny bedroom community in Hampden County, Massachusetts, located between Springfield and the Connecticut border.

[edit] Understand

Longmeadow isn't exactly a tourist destination, but it's a nice quiet town that is full of New England charm. First settled in 1646 by residents of nearby Springfield, MA, it measures only about 3x3 miles. There is no heavy industry in town, and restrictive zoning laws contain business enterprise to various small pockets. Owing to high real-estate values, this town is a realtor's dream. Most local residents commute to the Springfield or Hartford areas.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By car

From the north, Longmeadow is at exit 1 of Interstate 91. The exit is labeled "Route 5 South, Longmeadow". The exit ends at US route 5 southbound which is the main north-south road in town.

From the south, take exit 49 of Interstate 91 in Connecticut. The exit ends at US Route 5. Turn right for Route 5 North. Within about 200 yards, when you cross into Massachusetts, you are in Longmeadow.

[edit] By bus

There is limited bus service to Longmeadow from Springfield. The service is a normal commuter bus line known as the PVTA (Pioneer Valley Transit Authority). Some Longmeadow buses continue to the Enfield Mall in Enfield, CT.

[edit] Get around

Longmeadow has one major North/South road (US Route 5, locally named Longmeadow Street). There are several East/West roads which bisect Route 5. From North to south, they are, Converse St, Bliss Road, Williams St, and Maple. There is virtually no public transportation, save the PVTA busses which run somewhat infrequently between Springfield and Longmeadow.

[edit][add listing] See

• The cemetery at First Church Known as the Olde Burying Yard, dates back to the mid-late 1600s? and contains a fascinating variety of really old grave stones. The cemetery is in relatively decent repair, owing to the active congregation at the First Church. (To any would-be vandals out there, don't even THINK of trying anything - aside from being reprehensible behavior, the cemetery is directly across the street from the Longmeadow Police station.)

• Historical homes An interesting feature to note are all the houses along Longmeadow Street (Route 5) with red, blue, or green stars on them. These stars signify that the house is a historical site. The general understanding is that the different color stars represent different ages, starting at 100+ years. Empirical evidence would seem to show that green stars signify the oldest as there seem to be far fewer of them.

The largest concentration of historical homes is around the area of the town green (an area approximately halfway through Longmeadow, directly on Route 5 (Longmeadow Street). This part of town was the first settled, and contains some absoluetely breathtaking homes. One of the finest examples of this is a home known as the Young Estate. Apparently this home was built by the Young family who founded the WF Young Company. You might know of them by their product line, Absorbine Junior. The house is three stories tall and has servants quarters, a carriage house bigger than many other homes in town, a solarium, a series of vaults in the basement, and a large number of bedrooms. It is a privately owned home, but on occasion during "Longmeadow Days", guided tours of this historical home are offered.

[edit][add listing] Do

• Longmeadow Days is an annual arts and crafts show held over a weekend every May with all sorts of local vendors and historical activities.

• Bird watching - Longmeadow has a considerable amount of Audubon Society Preservation Land which contain walking trails and numerous opportunities for bird watchers and nature lovers alike.

[edit][add listing] Buy

The largest pocket of business enterprise is Longmeadow Shoppes in the 600 to 800 block of Bliss Road, which contains quite a few high-end specialty retail establishments as well as a few restaurants.

[edit][add listing] Eat

[edit] Take-away

• Li's Brother's Inn - Chinese food and Sushi delivered very quickly

• DeNardo's Pizza - actually located in East Longmeadow, they deliver excellent Italian style pizza to Longmeadow addresses

• Quickie's - ribs and chicken and other movie night type foods. Orders will often take 45 minutes to an hour for delivery, but they're worth it.

[edit] Eat in / take out

You'll have to go there to eat in or take out yourself, but there are some decent restaurants in town

• Hu Ke Lau, 827 Williams Street, Phone: +1 413 567-1212, [2]. Daily 11:30AM-2AM. Established sometime before the creation of dirt, the Longmeadow Hu Ke Lau is a Polynesian/Chinese restaurant. They don't exactly provide the healthiest menu choices, and anyone with an aversion to MSG may wish to look elsewhere for dinner, but this place is a local tradition. Famous for their PuPu Platters and purveyors of some of the best beef teryaki this author has ever had, the Hu Ke Lau scores over all other Longmeadow eating establishments in one serious department: they're open until 2AM!.

• Starbucks Coffee, 708 Bliss Road, Phone: +1 413 565-5283. That's right, Longmeadow has a Starbucks. Not much needed to be said - you want strong coffee, you don't have to leave town any more.

• McDonald's - normally so ubiquitous as to be almost not worth mentioning, but what makes McDonald's interesting with regard to Longmeadow is the fact that it is possibly the only town of over 10,000 people in the known universe that does NOT have one. The closest McDonald's (or Burger King, or Arby's or Denny's or any other fast food place) is in Enfield, CT

• Bertucci's Brick Oven Ristaurante, 674 Bliss Road (at Longmeadow Shoppes). The nationally known chain.

• Friendly's Ice Cream, 732 Bliss Road, Phone: +1 413 567-8779. Anyone from New England knows what a Friendly's Restaurant is, but for visitors from elsewhere, it's a fairly colloquial east-coast chain based in Wilbraham. They are known for good family fare, excellent ice cream, and somewhat slow service. Located in the Longmeadow Shoppes in the low 700's range of Bliss Road.

[edit][add listing] Drink

[edit] Bars

See Hu Ke Lau in the Eat section

[edit] Package Stores

We New Englanders like to call them Package Stores, but most everyone else calls them Liquor Stores. Longmeadow has two.

• Longmeadow Package Store, 400 Longmeadow Street (Route 5), (413) 567-3201. This is a small liquor store, but they have a good variety of liquors beers and wines. They are also one of the only locations in town that sells lottery tickets.

• Four Seasons Wine and Liquors, 793 Williams Street, (413) 567-3662. Is well known for carrying an excellent variety of wines and sparkling wines. Their staff has extensive knowledge and can cater full range of customer needs.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

There are no hotels or bed & breakfast establishments in town. The closest choice is the Crowne Plaza in Enfield, Connecticut.

[edit] Get out

This is a usable article. It has information for getting in as well as some complete entries for restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow!