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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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25 Things to Do in Connecticut this Fall

October 15, 2013 by Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

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Here are 25 things to do in Connecticut this fall:

1. Take your mom antiquing in Woodbury.

2. Visit the Hill-Stead museum’s farmers market.

3. Then hike their trails.

4. Enjoy happy hour on a rooftop in Hartford before it gets too chilly!

5. Visit Stonington Borough for a beautiful walk amid foliage and old homes with the smell of salt in the air.

6. Hike the Heublein Tower and Penwood State Park.

7. Take a walk on the beach in Fairfield sporting your LL Bean boots.

8. Go leaf peeping at Sharpe Hill Vineyard and take in the gorgeous foliage that spans three states: Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

9. Check out some oldy-old cemeteries: one in Stonington, and one in Pomfret.

10. Bring the kids to Lost Acres Orchard in North Granby for apple picking and cider drinking.

11. Take a day rip to the CT Shoreline, Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, have some seafood in Westbrook, and drink wine in Clinton.

12. Try a warm apple cider doughnut at Dondero Orchard in South Glastonbury. Then pick some pumpkins.

13. Walk among the Historic Districts of Simsbury or Mansfield Hollow.

14. Hike the Eagleville Preserve Trail or Mansfield Hollow State Park near UConn.

15. Spend an Afternoon in New Preston and then go to Haight-Brown Vineyard.

16. Do a day trip to Pomfret and taste wine (my favorite is the cab franc) at Sharpe Hill Vineyard, or eat near Sharpe Hill Vineyard.

17. Shop and eat at the Coventry Farmer’s Market.

18. Check out the hike at Natchaug State Forest in Eastford.

19. Eat at Pho 51 in East Hartford.  A lot of pho.

20. Walk around Yale and the New Haven Green.

21. Spend an autumn afternoon at Sunset Meadows in Goshen and then get bread and cheese in Bantam. Or reverse and bring you bread and cheese to the winery.

22. Go apple and pumpkin picking at Lapsley Orchard in Pomfret and drink their cider.

23. Visit the gorgeous farm stand at South Farms in Morris.

24. Take a day trip to Coventry.

25. Bundle up and sit in an Adirondack chair at Saltwater Farm Vineyard in Stonington.

 

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Rain or shine, fall is the absolute best time to be outdoors in Connecticut.  If you absolutely refuse to go outside, then at least eat lots of apple cider doughnuts and pizza.  Hey, it’s Connecticut so pizza is always appropriate.2

Filed Under: Connecticut Tagged With: lists, 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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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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