The road

Itineraries

This page is for new attendees, participants, and members of the routes and trips we are running now. This is not a polite scenic loop. It is a three-state haul for people who like the night loud, the food local, and history used as a stage — not a whisper tour.

  • The Clubs at Back Creek
  • The City Clubs at Super Ninety Four
  • The Clubs at Wyoma Square
  • Hosted by William A. Johnson
Open the route map Open checkout for Back Creek to Wyoma Square

Upcoming corridor

Back Creek to Wyoma Square

Back Creek to Wyoma Square starts in Back Creek, outside the Charlotte metropolitan area, near Newell, Harrisburg, Harris-Houston, and Concord, and ends in Wyoma Square, a neighborhood in Lynn, MA, on the North Shore outside Boston. William A. Johnson hosts and curates this run for people already on the road with us and for first-time attendees watching the calendar.

Built for high-energy, unfiltered riders who already love extreme road trips and want rooms small enough to take over, not arenas that swallow the tribe.

The drive

  1. I-485 North
  2. I-77 North to the Virginia border
  3. I-81 North to Syracuse, New York
  4. New York State Thruway I-90 East to the Massachusetts line

From I-81 North we take the ramp onto the New York State Thruway, I-90 East, and stay on I-90 East through the Massachusetts line into the North Shore.

Towns near Back Creek

Look for the house among these nearby towns:

  • Newell
  • Harrisburg
  • Harris-Houston
  • Concord
  • Newell and Harris-Houston, Charlotte: 28213, 28262
  • Harrisburg, NC: 28075
  • Concord, NC: 28025, 28027

Look out for these waypoints

  1. Back Creek
  2. Scranton, PA, near the New York state line
  3. The Berkshires of Massachusetts
  4. The North Shore outside Boston

North Shore towns

The run finishes in these towns outside Boston:

  • Waltham
  • Lynn
  • Lynnfield
  • Saugus
  • Peabody
  • Danvers

Route map

Back Creek to Wyoma Square

I-77 North, I-81 North, I-90 East. Seven stops. Click a pin for the room, the food, and the night.

Back Creek to Wyoma Square corridor from North Carolina to Massachusetts Schematic map of overnight stops from Back Creek near Concord, North Carolina, through Virginia and Pennsylvania, into the Berkshires and Lynn, Massachusetts. NC VA PA NY MA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
  1. 1 Back Creek launch
  2. 2 Wytheville cut
  3. 3 Roanoke market night
  4. 4 Harrisburg river run
  5. 5 Electric City
  6. 6 Berkshires breach
  7. 7 Wyoma Square landing

Seven stops · small rooms · nearby beds

What to take over

Stop 1 · I-485 North onto I-77 North

Back Creek launch

Newell, Harrisburg, Concord, NC

Roll out of the house already loud. Concord’s downtown is walkable, crude-friendly, and close enough that nobody needs a hotel shuttle sermon.

Stay nearby

Sleep in walking range of Union Street downtown Concord, or keep the convoy at Back Creek and raid town after dark. Skip the mall-hotel cluster unless the tribe is wrecked and needs a parking lot.

Small to mid-size rooms
  • Davis Theatre inside the Historic Cabarrus County Courthouse — intimate live room for a takeover, not a stadium.
  • The Basement Arcade Bar — mid-size, retro, loud, and built for a pack that wants games with the pour.
  • Lil’ Robert’s Place on Union Street — hole-in-the-wall taps, karaoke, open mic, and zero polish.
History as a theme set
  • Reed Gold Mine in Midland — America’s first documented gold find, underground tunnels, and a gold-rush costume night that actually has a story.
  • Historic Cabarrus County Courthouse and Union Street district — Greek Revival bones for a courthouse-after-hours theme, not a school field trip.
Food tourism
  • Havana Carolina for Cuban sandwiches and mojitos before the highway.
  • First-N-Flights in the District Exchange with the social-district food-truck pad.
  • Downtown Concord’s social district: walk the taps instead of chaining restaurants.
High-energy, unfiltered
  • Charlotte Motor Speedway is next door when the tribe wants engines, not playlists.
  • Union Street after dark is the honest launch: arcade, karaoke, and a pack that does not whisper.

Stop 2 · I-77 North to I-81 North

Wytheville cut

Wytheville, VA — I-77 meets I-81

The mountains do not make this stop cute. They make it a pressure valve: small rooms, rooftop fire, and a 1776 log house you can occupy like a set.

Stay nearby

Bolling Wilson Hotel — 30 rooms in the 1927 George Wythe Hotel, rooftop Perch, and you own downtown without a bus. Trinkle Mansion B&B (1912) if the crew wants a house, not a lobby.

Small to mid-size rooms
  • George Wythe Ballroom at Bolling Wilson — up to about 120, historic terrazzo, French doors. Small enough to fill.
  • The Vault private dining and The Perch rooftop — fire tables, mountain night, bar setup for a tight crew.
  • Wohlfahrt Haus Matterhorn Lounge — dinner theatre you can hijack into a costume night instead of a polite show.
History as a theme set
  • Edith Bolling Wilson’s hometown hotel — First Lady set dressing for a Gilded-Appalachia theme.
  • Log House 1776 Restaurant — 1782 cabin rooms, fireplaces, and a period party that does not need a rented backdrop.
  • Natural Bridge and nearby caverns off I-81 — limestone, echo, and a night that feels illegal even when it is not.
Food tourism
  • Graze on Main inside Bolling Wilson — new Southern, serious bar, patio.
  • Log House 1776 for Appalachian plates under actual logs.
  • Main Street Wytheville is walkable; do not waste the stop on interstate chains.
High-energy, unfiltered
  • Rooftop Perch after the ballroom — high, loud, mountain air, no velvet rope.
  • Caverns and Natural Bridge if the tribe wants dirt on the boots before Pennsylvania.

Stop 3 · I-81 North through the Roanoke Valley

Roanoke market night

Downtown Roanoke, VA

City Market is the food crawl. The bank-turned-hotel is the crash pad. The night should smell like smoke, brine, and a room that still has marble from 1912.

Stay nearby

The Promissory — 27 suites in the 1912 First National Exchange Bank. Historic Hotel Roanoke (1882 Tudor) if you need more beds and a grand-old-lady lobby to corrupt.

Small to mid-size rooms
  • The Spot on Kirk — small listening room, not a warehouse.
  • Fork in the Market under the historic Market Building canopy — long bar, local taps, live music, outdoor seats.
  • The Exchange music hall downstairs from The Promissory — use it only if the pack is huge; otherwise keep it to the suites and the market.
History as a theme set
  • Historic Roanoke City Market — 1880s stall bones for a market-by-night theme.
  • The Promissory’s bank architecture — vault energy, spiral stairs, candlelight in a former money house.
  • Hotel Roanoke as railroad-era costume territory if you want porters, brass, and a long bar.
Food tourism
  • The Hatch on Market Square — Southern plates with a spine.
  • Fork in the Market brick-oven pub fare and rotating local pours.
  • Downtown food-and-culture walking crawl on Saturday if anyone still has legs.
High-energy, unfiltered
  • Market Square until the stalls close, then Kirk Avenue until they throw you out.
  • Blue Ridge at the edge of town if you want elevation and a scream into the dark.

Stop 4 · I-81 North into the capital

Harrisburg river run

Harrisburg, PA — not Harrisburg, NC

This is the mid-haul reset: capitol dome by day, speakeasy until 2 a.m., farmhouse supper if you still pretend to be civilized.

Stay nearby

Downtown Harrisburg hotels on the river and Capitol Complex — walk to Midtown, skip the interstate cloverleaf. Hershey is the sugar detour if the tribe wants a theme-park sugar high.

Small to mid-size rooms
  • Sturges Speakeasy — two floors, rooftop deck, private-party rooms, open until 2 a.m. every night.
  • JB Lovedraft’s Micro Pub — parlor for a private takeover, arcade and pinball upstairs, beer pong on the deck.
  • XL Live and Capital City Music Hall — mid-size rooms when the night needs a stage, not a stadium.
History as a theme set
  • Pennsylvania State Capitol — National Historic Landmark. Formal dress or full mock-legislature chaos; pick a lane.
  • Fort Hunter Mansion on the Susquehanna — 19th-century rooms for a river-manor theme.
  • National Civil War Museum and the John Harris–Simon Cameron Mansion — heavy history if the costume night is blue-and-gray, done with respect and a spine.
  • Greystone Public House — restored 18th-century farmhouse just off I-81 exit 69.
Food tourism
  • Greystone Public House seasonal Pennsylvania plates.
  • Sturges late kitchen until 11, snacks until 2.
  • Hershey chocolate tourism if you want sugar, kitsch, and a factory-town sugar crash.
High-energy, unfiltered
  • Karaoke and arcade at Lovedraft’s until last call.
  • City Island and the river if the pack needs to howl outdoors before Scranton.

Stop 5 · I-81 North toward the Thruway

Electric City

Scranton, PA, near the New York state line

Coal, neon, and a downtown that still drinks like a mill town. This is where the polite guests get off. You stay.

Stay nearby

Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel — 1908 neo-classical train station on the National Register. Sleep in the depot, party in the concourse, leave on I-81 like you stole the timetable.

Small to mid-size rooms
  • The Bog on Adams Avenue — dive bar, cheap pours, local music, no rosemary cocktails.
  • Bartari — retro arcade bar for a pack that wants to compete, not network.
  • Sergei’s Live on Linden Street — late live room under A’tera 519.
  • PJ’s 1910 Pub inside the Hilton Scranton — bourbon-heavy, private corners, hotel event space if the tribe is oversized.
History as a theme set
  • Lackawanna Station itself — railroad gala, conductor costumes, New Year’s Eve energy on demand.
  • Steamtown National Historic Site — live steam and a rolling party if you want the night on rails.
  • Electric City sign and downtown architecture — industrial costume night without a rented warehouse.
Food tourism
  • Coney Island of Scranton for the honest late plate.
  • Backyard Ale House and Mutant Brewing before The Bog.
  • Electric City Ciderworks on Linden Street.
  • PJ’s 1910 Pub if the table needs steak and a serious pour.
High-energy, unfiltered
  • The Bog until the neon hurts.
  • Bartari if you want noise, games, and no dress code.
  • Steamtown if the dare is “put the party on a train.”

Stop 6 · I-90 East through the Massachusetts line

Berkshires breach

Lee and Pittsfield, MA

Gilded mansions, a 1903 theatre, and bars that still refuse Coors Light. Steal the high-culture set and run it at full volume.

Stay nearby

Chambery Inn in Lee — nine suites in a 19th-century school, closest hotel to October Mountain. Morgan House Inn (1853) on Main Street if you want a low-ceiling tavern attached to the beds.

Small to mid-size rooms
  • Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield — 1903 house, National Historic Treasure, mid-size and resurrected. Theme it like a Follies night, not a fundraiser.
  • The Garage at the Colonial for a tighter room.
  • Bei Tempi in Pittsfield — whiskey, pool, darts, Friday and Saturday bands.
  • Moe’s Tavern in Lee — craft beer and whiskey only. No wine, no cocktails, no food, no Coors Light.
History as a theme set
  • Colonial Theatre and downtown Pittsfield’s Park Square.
  • Morgan House 1853 tavern rooms — coaching-inn costume night.
  • Berkshire cottages and mill towns along I-90 — gilded vs. mill-worker split theme if the pack can handle the joke.
Food tourism
  • Mint on Laurel Lake in Lee — lakeside Indian, Black Swan Inn, Tanglewood-adjacent.
  • Baba Louie’s in Pittsfield for wood-fired pies.
  • Mission Bar + Tapas — Spanish wine, tapas, jazz and bluegrass nights.
  • Morgan House bistro if you are already sleeping upstairs.
High-energy, unfiltered
  • Bei Tempi after the Colonial lets out.
  • Moe’s if the tribe wants a bar that tells tourists no.
  • October Mountain if you need woods, dark, and a reset before Lynn.

Stop 7 · I-90 East into the North Shore

Wyoma Square landing

Lynn, MA — North Shore outside Boston

You made it. Wyoma Square is a neighborhood, not a resort. Eat roast beef, take the square, then drag the survivors to Salem if they still want witches and trouble.

Stay nearby

North Shore stays in Lynn, Peabody, and Salem. Hawthorne Hotel in Salem for a historic base. Keep a block of rooms near Wyoma Square so the landing does not dissolve into downtown Boston.

Small to mid-size rooms
  • Rolly’s Tavern on the Square — 338 Broadway, the actual Wyoma Square room: burgers, live nights, sports-bar volume.
  • Lazy Dog Sports Bar — 328A Broadway, family-run since 2006, steak tips, walls of screens, no velvet.
  • Four Winds Pub and Grill on Sluice Pond — deck, water, pub grub if the pack needs air.
History as a theme set
  • High Rock Tower — Olmsted park, 85-foot stone tower, abolitionist Hutchinson family ground. Radical history you can actually stand on.
  • Grand Army of the Republic Hall on Andrew Street — 1885 Civil War hall, still a hall, not a replica. Costume night with teeth.
  • Salem, one town over — 1690s streets, maritime houses, and a theme-party engine that already knows how to dress the dark.
Food tourism
  • John’s Roast Beef on Western Avenue — North Shore three-way, no apology.
  • Rolly’s and Lazy Dog for the square itself.
  • Lynn’s mill-city blocks: unpretentious rooms, immigrant kitchens, zero tasting-menu theater.
High-energy, unfiltered
  • Wyoma Square until last call, then Salem if anyone still has a pulse.
  • High Rock at night for the view and the yell toward Boston.
  • Nahant and the Atlantic if the dare is cold water and no audience.

Open checkout for Back Creek to Wyoma Square