• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

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

  • About
  • Connecticut
    • CT Wine Trail
    • Farmers Markets
    • Kid-Friendly
    • Going Solo
    • Good for Groups
    • Historic
    • Outdoorsy
    • Pet Friendly
    • Preppy
    • Romantic
  • Caribbean
  • Travel
    • Europe
    • Connecticut
    • Florida
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston
    • New York
    • North Carolina
    • Texas
    • Vermont
    • Washingon, DC

Sunny Days at Buttonwood Farms in Griswold

July 27, 2016 by Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

28497433945_ba4faa4f34_kButtonwood Farm Sunflowers 127880979774_d6da63376b_k28497343455_2f84859962_k28497363785_db111c85d6_k (1) 28392324252_4137018542_k28497412105_bfdd1ff58d_k 27881787283_bd3bb5b7c4_k

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 0633561

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

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework