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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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a good walk

Halloween in Essex

October 26, 2016 by Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

Halloween in Essex, Connecticut

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Just checking out Halloween in the most quaint town ever.

Filed Under: Connecticut, Travel Tagged With: a good walk, CT Shoreline, Eastern Connecticut, Essex, Middlesex County, quainty quaintness, streetscapes

Fall Hike Through Penwood State Park — with Dogs!

September 20, 2016 by Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

When I thought about adopting a dog, I always put “going on hikes together” in the pro column of my pro-con list. I hike most weekend mornings and bringing Dottie with me has elevated the experience. Dogs just love being out in nature and it’s fun to watch her sniff and wag her tail along the trail.

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Penwood State Park in Bloomfield has to be one of the best places to take your dog hiking because practically everyone on the trails the day Dottie and I went (with our friend Moriah and her dog Fritz) had a furry friend with them. Below is an itinerary.

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Itinerary: Fall Hike at Penwood State Park with Dogs

This is a beautiful hour-plus long stroll around Penwood State Park and you could extend it by bringing a picnic (breakfast, brunch, lunch) there’s a  picnic area about halfway through the hike.

Penwood State Park
560 Simsbury Rd
Bloomfield, CT 06002

There’s plenty of parking and the hike is a loop do you can head off in either direction from the parking lot. I always start to the left.

Heublein Tower Trail
Talcot Mountain State Park
Summit Ridge Dr.
Simsbury, CT 06070

If you want to extend your time outdoors (and who doesn’t in beautiful fall weather?) the Heublein Tower Trail is right across the street.

Wade’s Vegetables
498 Simsbury Rd
Bloomfield, CT 06002

A good place to stop for local grassfed beef, veggies, pumpkins, mums and cider.

Filed Under: Connecticut, Travel Tagged With: a good walk, Bloomfield, Farmington Valley, going solo, good for groups, Hartford County, hiking, kid-friendly, outdoorsy, pet-friendly

A Day Trip to Chester, Connecticut aka Where to Go When You Come Down with a Case of the Connecticuts

August 3, 2016 by Elizabeth Larkin 2 Comments

A day trip to Chester, CT

Every single damn day when I log onto Facebook, I see a string of comments about how people are fed up with Connecticut’s high taxes.  [Read more…] about A Day Trip to Chester, Connecticut aka Where to Go When You Come Down with a Case of the Connecticuts

Filed Under: Connecticut Tagged With: a good walk, Chester, CT Shoreline, Eastern Connecticut, girls day out, good for groups, Middlesex County, romantic

Sunny Days at Buttonwood Farms in Griswold

July 27, 2016 by Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

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Walking among the sunflowers at Buttonwood Farm’s annual charity event Sunflowers for Wishes was something that I have wanted to do for a few years now. But as with every summer, things get busy. The last few years I’ve been out of town, or made other plans, or it rained and I didn’t feel like trudging out to Griswold. I’m so glad I made it this year and dragged my friends Suzi and Moriah with me. It was scorching hot and the lines for hayrides and ice cream were long, so we skipped those and just walked around on the footpaths in among the sunflowers and along the rode taking it all in. Buttonwood plants 14 acres of sunflowers to admire (in addition to serving ice cream and selling Christmas Trees).

The best views we found were not on the designated sunflower walking path, but diagonally across the street were we stood on top of an old stone wall and took in the views of acres upon acres of sunflowers.

If You Go to Sunflowers for Wishes at Buttonwood Farm

  • As with any event like this, visit on a weekday is advisable. Saturday was packed and it was hard to navigate through the parking lot.
  • Speaking of parking, I highly recommend you do not park at the ice cream stand and park across the street in a lot of Route 201. It’s actually close to the sunflowers and way less congested.

Buttonwood Farm Ice Cream
473 Shetucket Turnpike
Griswold, CT 06351

Nearby:

Big Dawgs
1111 Voluntown Rd
Griswold, CT 06351

Holmberg Orchards
12 Orchard Ln
Gales Ferry, CT 06335

Filed Under: Connecticut Tagged With: a good walk, Eastern Connecticut, good for groups, Griswold, ice cream, kid-friendly, New London County, pick your own

Winter in Hartford, Connecticut

January 15, 2016 by Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

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Filed Under: Connecticut, Life Tagged With: a good walk, Greater Hartford, Hartford

Day Trip to Essex, Connecticut: Where Autumn Still Lives

November 3, 2015 by Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

November in Essex Connecticut

Public Service Announcement: The Spirit of Fall is Alive in Essex, Connecticut

Oh, Essex. You’re such a special snowflake unicorn. As I was driving from Hartford to Essex the day after Halloween and I noticed that all of the leaves had already fallen off the trees along the Route 9 corridor. Just gone. Then I rolled into Essex and noted that all of the trees still have their leaves, and of course they were spectacular. November in Essex, Connecticut looks like mid-October in the rest of the state. Johnna tells me that Southwestern Connecticut holds onto its leaves longer than the rest of the state. Of course it does.

I noted the exact date that I started seeing Christmas stuff this year. It was October 16. But Essex is holding strong and keeping fall alive. I feel you, Essex. And if you’re still feeling fall (and you should be, it’s the best time of the year), I’ve put together a fall day trip for you to do this weekend. See the itinerary below.

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Itinerary: Essex, Connecticut

Here’s the thing with Essex: You could really just go there, walk around and get a drink at the Gris and it’s a great day. Johnna has a post about the doors of Essex and just looking at their doors may be enough to entertain you. Below I’ve put together a list of some places you can check out in case you need some added-inspiration.

Start at the Town Green and head towards the water. Here are some can’t-miss spots:

Places to walk/see in Essex

Town Green
12 Main St.
Essex, 06426

The Connecticut River Museum
67 Main Street
Essex, CT 06426
(860) 767-8269

Places to shop in Essex

The French Hen
16 Main Street
Essex, CT

See my visit to the French Hen from 2011.

Goods & Curiosities At the Griswold Inn
47 Main Street
Essex, CT 06426
(860) 767-0210 ‎

Places to Eat in Essex

Abby’s Place (this is in the dock area closer to the water)
37 Pratt Street
Essex, CT 06426

Griswold Inn
36 Main Street
Essex, CT
(860) 767-1776

See my visit to the Griswold Inn from 2011.

Black Seal Seafood Grille
15 Main Street #C
Essex, CT
(860) 767-0233 ‎

Filed Under: Connecticut, Travel Tagged With: a good walk, CT Shoreline, Eastern Connecticut, Essex, going solo, good for groups, kid-friendly, Middlesex County, pet-friendly, romantic

Mistakes were made in Branford, Connecticut

June 4, 2015 by Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

Historic green in Branford Connecticut

I attempted to take a day off from work and go to the beach. Mistakes were made on my way to the beach in Branford, Connecticut. Here’s a recap:

I refused to actually leave my apartment

I was supposed to leave at 7 a.m. and head to Misquamicut, Rhode Island for the day, but then I decided I needed to participate in a work conference call at 8:45 a.m. Since I was already in “work mode” I decided that I couldn’t train my completely trustworthy and capable colleague on how to do my job so I stuck around until 11 a.m. to finish something else he definitely could have handled for me. I like to call this the Martyr Complex (“I don’t want to burden anyone else with having to do my job”)” but what it really is is being a paranoid egomaniac (“No one else can do this the way I can do this”).

I know I either read in the New Yorker, or heard on NPR last year that Americans take less vacation time than Europeans because Americans either refuse or are discouraged to cross train with their coworkers on what they actually do all day long. Europeans are all up in their coworkers business, so they can take substantially more time off with no need to check into the office.

So I guess my refusal to leave at 7 a.m. to go the beach makes me a real patriotic American. After that, I figured since I was home already I should do laundry and clean my kitchen. So I didn’t leave my house until 3 p.m. and could no longer make it to Rhode Island.

I went to the Connecticut Shoreline in the summer and did not eat seafood.

Instead of getting a lobster roll like any sane person would have done. I went to G-Zen where they got my takeout order wrong. I was the only customer in the joint but they still go it wrong and I didn’t check until I was at the beach. Why would anyone order vegan food instead of seafood at the shoreline in the summer? This one is on me.

I forgot that Branford’s motorists are crazy.

I’ve been to Branford twice before. Once with Johnna and once with Mike.  Both of those times I was almost hit by cars crossing the street with the light. Now I know it’s crazy to think that when the light says “walk” you should just go ahead and walk, but I did both times and those Brandfordites let me know how wrong I was.

This time it wasn’t a crosswalk but the sidewalk. I was standing on a curb waiting to cross when  a BMW (of course) going 60 around a corner almost clipped me.

By the time I left my house, drove the 45 minutes to Branford from Hartford, was sold the wrong order at G-Zen, and almost lost my life standing on a street corner, it was about 5p.m. when I finally rolled into the beach.

Branford, CT

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Branford, CT

If You Go To Branford

You don’t have to go to Branford before you go to the beach, I just thought it would be a good place to pick up a quick to-go meal to bring to the beach with me. I was wrong. But it’s still an awesome little town with lots to do. I hope to feature more Branford things soon. But yes, the drivers are loco.

Set your GPS to:

Common Grounds
1096 Main Street
Branford, CT 06405

Park anywhere around the town green, just remember: crazy drivers.

Filed Under: Connecticut, Travel Tagged With: a good walk, Branford, CT Shoreline, mistakes were made, New Haven County

Historic District of Hampton, Connecticut

March 15, 2015 by Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

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If you’re ever heading out to the Hampton, Connecticut area, can I recommend a walk through the town’s center? Much like Mansfield Historic District, it’s a grouping of old homes and storefronts — none of which ever seem to be open when I drive through. There are lots of things to do around the Hampton area, just nothing to do right here, except walk around and look at these pretty old houses.

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Our Lady of Lourdes Church

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Where to go in Hampton, Connecticut

For this walk. set your GPS to the Hampton Congregational Church and park there. From there you can walk up and down Main Street.

Windham Historical Society-Jillson House
627 Pomfret Rd
Hampton, CT 06247

Theodore Dwight Weld House
77 Parsonage Road
Hampton, CT 06247

Burnham-Hibbard House
A Bit Hampered in Hampton
Hampton, CT

Filed Under: Connecticut, Travel Tagged With: a good walk, day trip, Eastern Connecticut, Hampton, historic districts, Quiet Corner, romantic, Windham County

Springtime in Chester, Connecticut

June 5, 2014 by Elizabeth Larkin 1 Comment

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Filed Under: Connecticut, Life, Travel Tagged With: a good walk, Chester, CT Shoreline, Eastern Connecticut, flowers, Middlesex County, quainty quaintness

City Tire Building in Hartford

May 30, 2014 by Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

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Is it just me or do these pictures look a lot like the ones I took in Fort Worth Texas? Is this the first time in history someone said something in Hartford has reminded them of Fort Worth? They actually have a lot in common as Fort Worth was a big economic hub back in the days of cattle drives, and Hartford remains an economic hub for the finance industry. Ok, really I can’t compare these two cities.. but I think this building on Park Street in Hartford is very photogenic and I snapped these on our way to the first Connecticut Museum Quest Dinner Club meeting which was A YEAR AGO. I need to get better about posting pictures in a timely fashion.

Anyway, does anyone know the history of this building?  I could not find much.

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: a good walk, Greater Hartford, Hartford

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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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