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Connecticut Day Trips

Traveling the globe from my home base in beatuful Connecticut

Saturday Farmers Market in Washington Depot CT

Washington, Connecticut: The Town That Inspired Gilmore Girls [Itinerary]

December 31, 2019 By Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

Some days, you just gotta get in your car and drive to a new town and see the sights. Washington, Connecticut is a really good town to drive to. It’s got a rustic-chic vibe with its mix of locals and weekenders from New York City. There are rolling hills, sprawling farms, and very nice restaurants to eat and drink in.

Washington Connecticut Day Trip

Bryan Memorial Town Hall in Washington CT

You can park your car at the Hickory Stick bookshop and spend an hour or two wandering it’s little “downtown” area. There’s the bookshop, Marty’s Cafe for coffee, some clothing stores and on Saturdays in the spring, summer and fall, a small farmers market.

Washington is famously the setting for the TV show show “Gilmore Girls” and while it doesn’t exactly resemble Stars Hollow, it does have all the trappings of small town life: lots of community activities, a folksy vibe, and tons to do (see my list below). As I say in my Gilmore Girls Guide to Connecticut (coming soon!), Washington is way more rural and outdoorsy than Stars Hollow.

Saturday Farmers Market in Washington Depot CT

The point of traveling to a town like Washington is to just be there, to soak up the small-town atmosphere.

Park at the Byran Memorial Town Hall. There’s a farmers market on Saturday mornings in the spring, summer and fall where you can stock up on local produce. Then hit Marty’s Cafe for a coffee before browsing the Hickory Stick Bookshop. There are other small retailers to dip into as well.

The day I visited I spent about an hour checking out the scene in town before wandering down route 47 towards the intersections of Kirby Road, Whykeham Road, and Parsanoge Lane.

There’ll you’ll find another little town center but this one looks like time forgot it. The buildings are still well kept and blindingly white, but there’s one lonely store and what looks to be an old town square.

I parked my car on a side street ear the intersection, grabbed my camera and roamed the area. There you’ll find the The First Congregational Church, the Gunn Memorial Library and the Gunn Historical Museum.  I didn’t see many people, but there was a fairly regular flow of vintage cars out for a weekend drive.

From there I continued North on Route 47 (enter Hopkins Vineyard into your GPS or Google Maps app) and enjoyed some of the most beautiful scenery Connecticut has to offer: rolling hills, gentleman’s farms and finally, a view of Lake Waramaug on the approach to Warren and the winery.

This would be a beautiful day trip year-round.

PLACES TO VISIT IN WASHINGTON, CONNECTICUT:

Averill Hill Farm
250 Calhoun St.
Washington, CT 06794

For apple picking, pumpkin picking, pizza, apple cider and apple cider doughnuts.

Hollister House Garden
300 Nettleton Hollow Rd
Washington, CT 06793

The Institute For American Indian Studies
Curtis Rd
Washington, CT 06793

Mayflower Spa
118 Woodbury Rd (Route 47)
Washington, CT 06793

I am DYING to try this place. I plan to organize a day trip there with my girlfriends this winter

Gunn Historical Museum
5 Wykeham Rd
Washington, CT 06793

Hidden Valley Preserve
198 Bee Brook Rd
Washington Depot, CT 06794

PLACES TO EAT IN WASHINGTON, CONNECTICUT

The White Horse Country Pub
258 New Milford Turnpike
New Preston, CT 06777

British Pub Food in the Litchfield Hills.

GW Tavern
20 Bee Brook Rd
Washington Depot, CT 06794

The Pantry
5 Titus Rd
Washington Depot, CT 06794

Norimaki
4 Green Hill Rd
Washington, CT 06793

A local Favorite.

Marty’s Cafe
4 Green Hill Rd #1
Washington Depot, CT 06793

The Washington Pizza House
13 River Rd
Washington Depot, CT 06794

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How to Wear Your Hair on Vacation

May 7, 2012 by Elizabeth Larkin 3 Comments

Vintage Art Vacation Hair

Today I’m departing from day tripping to give you a travel tip: How to wear your hair on vacation. I think I’m in a good position to dole out this advice because I have what can only be described as seriously frizzy hair. I’m not quite sure how this happened to me, so I’d like issue a blanket “thank you” to my long-ago ancestors who came together to gift me this frizzy mess.  It’s just so nice when the French, English and Irish can all work together and agree on something. Thanks, ancient ancestors!

At home, I use a trio of heavy-duty blow-drying, Moroccan Oil, and prayer to tame my locks, with an occasional assist from a curling iron. On the road, I have to resort to more extreme measures. Here are a few of my own tips, coupled with some advice form stylist Kaitlin Thibodeau at Sculptures Salon in Newington, CT. 

1. Get a good blow out before you travel. I always advise scheduling a hair appointment  as soon as you book a vacation.  (You can read more of my travel tips here: Organizing Tips for Travelers.)If you have an appointment set right before your departure, you’re less likely to skip out on getting your hair done because you’re “just too busy.” Why is this so important? You’re probably more often photographed on one day of vacation than you are for the entire rest of the year.

2. Invest in a curling iron and dry shampoo. I really don’t like hair straighteners because pin-straight is such a severe look on most women. I came to this realization when Tim Rogers, who styled my hair when I lived in New York, told me, “That’s a terrible look for you, don’t do it.” Subtle.

Straighteners are great for creating a polished, frizz-free look, but curling irons use the same technology and are so much more versatile. The look I go for is the “Kate Middleton,” a term I coined because everyone in the world knows what her hair looks like.

Dry shampoo not only cleans your hair, it also adds volume so you can stretch a good blow out over a few days rather than just one.

3. Find a wash-and-go style you can live with. I’ve taken to braiding my hair into two fairly lose braids, leaving it like that overnight, and then just embracing my curls the next morning. This is something that was fashionable when I was in the fourth grade at Duffy Elementary school in West Hartford, and it still works.  The great thing about braiding it is that the braids weigh down the top, making it less pouffy—no one wants pouffy. This is not a “Dallas” re-run.

4. When all else fails, use a bobby pin. It’s true that no matter how crazy your hair looks, fastening a clip or bobby pin on one side by your ear can make it look like you meant to wear your hair like this. Trust me, it really works–sometimes I have even fooled myself.

Here are some of my favorite products.

 

1. Conair Tourmaline Ceramic Curling Iron: I like this one because the barrel is 1 1/2 inches so you can still straighten/smooth your hair without tightly curling it.

2. T3 Voluminous Hot Rollers Set: Yep. These are expensive, by they are cheaper than three professional blow outs, and they’re the only set of curlers I’ve found that truly travel well.

3. Spasilk 100% Pure Silk Pillowcase: The great advantage to these is that they stay cooler than regular pillowcases, if you’re one of those people who likes to flip your pillow over to use the cooler side.

4. Conair Anti Static Thermal Round Brush, Large: While I don’t think the shampoo or conditioner use use matters much (at least it doesn’t for my hair), the brush you use while blow drying is very important. I’ve never been able to give in and fork over the cash for a Mason Pearson, but Conair works just fine.

5.  Moroccan Oil Hair Treatment: I’m not as in love with this styling product as everyone else seems to be, but I will buy any beauty treatment that smells good and comes in a brown bottle.

6. Marianna Jumbo Section Clips 3-pack: One of those purchases that seems so silly (“Can’t I just use elastic bands to hold my hair up?”) but they are so much easier to use to hold large chunks of hair into place while blow drying than anything else. Worth it!

7.Ceramic Ionic Hair Dryer: I don’t know what the ions do for your hair, but apparently it’s potent enough for every hair dryer manufacturer to include it in the name of their products.

8. L’Oreal Paris Studio Line Clean Gel, Strong Hold, 6.8 Fluid Ounce: I like to use a combination of a bit of gel with Moroccan Oil. To counter-act the higher price of the oil, I tend to buy whatever gel I can find on sale. Just use a tiny bit.

If you think this is too much attention being paid to hair, I’ll let you know I once read an article in Vogue about a woman who flew to China to adopt a baby after years of trying. Right before she was to pick up her child, she hunted all over the city to find a beauty salon in order to get a blow out.  She did not want to experience one of  the most important moments of her life with frizzy hair. I totally get this woman.

(Photo / “Cowboy Asleep in Beauty Salon,” May 6, 1961)

PS: I swore I wouldn’t do it, but I have indeed created a Connecticut Day Trips Facebook page. Like the page to get these posts via Facebook.0

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: travel tips

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Connecticut Day Trips is a blog about travel and life in Connecticut, written and photographed by a native who moved away, moved back, and learned to love it: About/Contact

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Saturday Farmers Market in Washington Depot CT

Washington, Connecticut: The Town That Inspired Gilmore Girls [Itinerary]

Some days, you just gotta get in your car and drive to a new town and see the sights. Washington, Connecticut is a really good town to drive to. It’s got a rustic-chic vibe with its mix of locals and weekenders from New York City. There are rolling hills, sprawling farms, and very nice restaurants […]

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