Beefcake on the Route of the Interrupted Journey

The first documented alien abduction case in the U.S. happened on September 19, 1961, when Betty and Barney Hill were returning to their home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire from a vacation to Niagara Falls.  I thought it would be fun to check out the beefcake sites on the way.

1. The first part of their trip was uneventful, except that they got lost in Montreal.  Then they took Highway 10 from Montreal  to Magog, a suburb of Sherbrooke.

That's rather scary, named after the two kings that will herald Armageddon in the Book of Revelations.  Turns out that it's actually named after Lake Memphremagog, which derives from the Algonquin word Memrahabegek.  It's where John Stark was released after being captured by the Algonquins and forced to "run the gauntlet."









2. Then south on the 141 to Canaan, New Hampshire, just across the U.S. border.

Another Biblical name?  Canaan has a population of about 4,000, but like many New England towns, it is actually composed of scattered villages.  The main village is tiny, a cluster of houses, a hardware store, the Dishn It Out restaurant.  It's the site of the Cardigan Mountain School, an all-boys boarding school for grades 6-9. Actor Rob Morrow is an alumnus.

For high school, they have to go to Mascoma Regional, where a wrestler (now graduated) has the great pop culture name Sheldon Farnsworth.




3. Barney and Betty head south on State Highway 3.  They stop for dinner in Colebrook.  It's been 2 1/2 hours since they left Montreal, and already dark.

Colebrook, population 2,000, contains several villages, with names like Kidderville and Factory Village.   A local hangout is the Moose Muck Coffee House.

The Colebrook Academy sounds like a private school, but it's actually a public high school.  The team name is the Mohawks.









4. A little over an hour later, Barney and Betty reach Franconia, and enter the White Mountains National Forest.

Franconia has another famous Farnsworth, Arthur (1908-1943), a ski instructor who met and married film star Bette Davis in 1940, and died in an accident in Los Angeles in 1943.

It was home to Franconia College, a small hippy college that opened in 1963 and closed in 1978.





5. They drive through the woods for about 15 miles. Just past Indian Head, they notice that a bright light is behind them.  It seems to be following them.They stop in the middle of the road and look through binoculars.  They can see windows in the circular craft, and small men in glossy black uniforms staring at them.  One smiles evilly at Barney.












6. They rush back to their car and zoom off.  At some point near the town of Thornton, they get off the Highway 3 and get on 175.  Then, at a picnic area near Millbrook Road, near what is now the Benton Sugar Shack, they encounter a roadblock.

The nearby Waterville Valley Academy is a snow sports school, teaching alpine racing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding for grades 6-12.  You also take academic subjects through "faculty driven independent study."  Huh?  Most graduates go on to become professional athletes, but some go to college.



7.  Barney and Betty have a "missing time" event, losing about two hours.. The next thing they remember, they driving through Concord, the state capital, about 60  miles south.

Concord has many interesting sights, including the Capitol Building, the Eagle Hotel (where a number of U.S. presidents have stayed), and the Pierce Manse, home of President Franklin Pierce. 

There are several high schools and colleges, including Granite State College, which offers wrestling and swimming.








8. They drive on through Manchester, then take the 101 to Portsmouth, another hour.  The abduction experience comes out later, first in a series of terrifying dreams, and then in hynotherapy sessions.

This is the captain of the swim team at Winnacunnet High School, near Portsmouth.  Very cool name, but it's no Farnsworth.

See also: The Interrupted Journey of Betty and Barney Hill