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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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Valentin Imperial Maya in Mexico and thoughts on decision fatigue

February 2, 2015 by Elizabeth Larkin 1 Comment

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-62

Have you ever fallen down the rabbit hole that is reading Amazon reviews? Let’s say you want a new coffee maker and do a quick search on Amazon.  Nothing fancy, just something above the entry-level model.  Before you know it, it’s 2 a.m. and you’ve read 500+ reviews of of two different types of coffee makers, and then suddenly a reviewer mentions a third coffee maker they like more and you’re off to the races searching for reviews of THAT coffee pot. Then you think, “Why am I so lazy that I am not hand brewing my own coffee every morning? Why am I not doing pour-over coffee? Am I not a 30-something living in an urban area? I should get a Chemex! Where do they sell those? Willaims-Sonoma?  I think I have a gift card!”

And then on and on.

There must be something in my personality that is especially prone to this kind of decision fatigue because it took me two hours last fall to order a neti pot. A neti pot!

That’s kind of how Mike and I ended up at the Valentin Imperial Maya last June.

I spent weeks comparing reviews of resorts in Mexico’s Riviera Maya on Trip Advisor. If you think Amazon reviews of $30 coffeemakers are bad, try $2,000 international week-long vacations. Each time I narrowed it down to a resort, I’d see another one that sounded good, too. Or, I’d think I finally found the one, then I’d read one more review saying the pool sucked or the orange juice was not fresh and I’d change my mind.

Here were our requirements:

  • Beach-front
  • Restaurant on the beach or directly adjacent
  • Swim-up bar

The Valentin in Riviera Maya had everything, but so did about 500 other resorts–you would be amazed how many there are in the Maya Riviera! The tension built up until I finally just booked the Valentin. The reviews are universally positive and even if it didn’t live up to my expectations, it’s an all-inclusive resort in the Riviera Maya, how bad could it be?  The pool was gorgeous, the food was decent, and the grounds of the Valentin were lush and well-maintained. Plus, we loved that the resort was big enough that we could go for very long walks. We never felt “hemmed in” which is something I was worried about.

All in all, I think I made the right call, but getting there was slightly torturous. This year I am changing my tactics and going with an expert to make the decision. Mike and I narrowed it down to the Dominican Republic and put the decision-making in the hands of my awesome friend Heather Cross who recently started a travel agency. Heather is an experienced traveler (we actually traveled to Italy together in 2007) and foodie so I trust her recommendations completely, and she’s also super organized. If you’re thinking about traveling in the future, check out her website. Using an agent is no cost to you and may save you a huge amount of time, and in my case, some sanity!

I narrowed down the location, gave Heather my list of must-haves and budget, and she provided me with three options. So much more manageable than 500 resort reviews.

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2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-49

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2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-48

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-41

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-44

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-26

It rained 5.5 out of the 6 days we were there. Walking on the beach was not pleasant, so most people in the resort waited out the rain in the pool huddling around the swim up bar. Mike stayed as close to the volleyball net as possible in case someone wanted to play.

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-19

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-18

The frizziest of frizzy hair ever. Up against the Mexican jungle, my typical “vacation hair” tricks didn’t work either.

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-46

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-08

We named all of the lizards. Hello, Ralph.

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-07

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-10

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-13

The most popular drink at the swim up bar: The Superman.

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-45

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-50

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-02

This trip was right after I found out I had to cut out dairy, eggs and gluten to figure out where my horrendous allergies were coming from so this was the “last hurrah”. The omelet station at the breakfast buffet, and the sushi restaurant at dinner were by far the best food options.

2014-06 Riviera Maya, Mexico-42

Valentin Imperial Maya
Carretera Federal 307 Chetumal Puerto Juarez Km.
311 +500, Playa del Secreto
Playa del Carmen 77710, Mexico

Read about our latest Caribbean adventure here: A week at Breathless Punta Cana3

Filed Under: Caribbean, Travel Tagged With: all-inclusive, mexico

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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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