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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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Out of Town | Road Trip to Killington, Vermont

December 28, 2014 by Elizabeth Larkin Leave a Comment

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While driving back from Vermont on Sunday, Mike and I discussed whether or not you can do a day trip to Killington, Vermont from Hartford, Connecticut. The answer is yes, but you will be exhausted. Most people who do this are part of a school, church, or civic group. The typical drill is that you meet the bus at 6 a.m. or some other un-Goldy early hour on a Saturday, depart for Killington, arrive at 9:00 a.m. or so and then, as a herd, rent your skis, get your lift tickets, and have at the mountain until you meet the bus again at 4 p.m. for the ride back. We guessed around noon you’d be feeling pretty exhausted, both from getting up early and from the actual act of skiing. 

Mike actually did this trip a few times as a high-schooler departing from way, way Eastern Connecticut and “hated everyone around me at 6 a.m.” because, as a teenager, he hadn’t yet discovered the magical powers of coffee. But even with coffee, it’s a long day.

A better alternative is to go in with a group of friends and rent a house for the weekend.  The best alternative is to have a friend who owns a ski house. Which, lucky for me, I do. As I have mentioned a few times here previously, my friends from college have been renting houses in Killington pretty much since we graduated from college, and about six years ago, I got in on the rentals. We would rent a house for the entire season and split the cost of the rent, wood delivery, utilities and we’d share some food and alcohol. This was a great way for us to all spend time together after college. Some friends drove up from Boston and the rest of us did the 5-6 hour drive from New York City. This past year the house we had been renting was sold, and no one felt like doing the necessary work to find a new location, so we kind of scattered. One friend bought a condo and Mike and I stayed there with her for New Years, and one friend happened to find a boyfriend with a killer house.

This is why I am calling this post, A Day Trip in Killington, Vermont. You could do it in a day, but you’ll enjoy a weekend more.

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A few tips for traveling to Killington, Vermont

|| Don’t go up to Killington on a three-day weekend unless you are willing to practice some patience because the bars and restaurants are not set up to handle the extra crush of people.

|| In general, be prepared for slow service. Remember that this is a resort town set up for service four months a year and they do not hire large staffs. No matter how much you wave your credit card around, you will just not be seated as quickly as you’d like, served as quickly as you’d like, or given the check as quickly as you’d like. It’s a good place to practice some mindfullness.

|| No one wants to hear how much better the conditions are out west. If you want to ski out west, go out west. Yes, it’s icy and cold in Vermont. Because it’s Vermont. Deal with it.

|| Rent a house. Like any resort town, the hotels are over-priced. Rent a house so you can cook your own food and make as much noise as you want.  We have rented houses through FlipKey and have had great experiences.

|| Packing for a ski trip is stressful so here is a packing list and some of my best tips.0

Filed Under: Travel, Vermont

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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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