"Small Town" Connecticut Vacation in June
Mar 23rd, 2006, 08:43 AM
#21
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Eastern Connecticut has many wonderful little towns including Mystic, a quaint community with Mystic Seaport, a maritime museum definitely worth seeing. Also in Mystic is the Mystic Aquarium, the kids love getting up close to the beluga whales. In Groton is the world's first nuclear powered submarine the USS Nautilus. In Brooklyn, you can visit Creamery Brook Bison and take a wagonride out to the herd of bison and they have great ice-cream! to get a feel for eastern Connectict, visit www.mysticcountry.com to see all the fun things to see and do. I love my little corner of the state and welcome you to visit.
Apr 1st, 2006, 06:16 AM
#22
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I agree with alot of posters Mystic with it's aquarium and seaport is a great place to visit with kids. I could watch the whales for hours. Try the famous Mystic pizza. For that small town America feel go to Essex, lovely and quaint. The casinos are close to these places as well, even though it doesn't match your quaint village search you could hit them for a little excitement. I hear Mohegan sun has a great kids playplace. Ct welcomes you, have a great time
Apr 5th, 2006, 12:21 PM
#23
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I would say that Mystic is definitely not small, quaint and a typical New England village any more. Although it has a lot to offer visitors, and I enjoy going there myself, it doesn't quite fit the desription of what you are looking for.
Here are some of my favorite small towns in SE Connecticut:
Essex: Voted best small town in America a few years back. Right on CT River. some highlights are CT River Museum, Essex Steam Train and River Boat, Griswold Inn (in operation since 1776), Ivoryton Playhouse, great nature parks, great NE architecture
Chester-Artist town with old architecture and some very fine stores. From there you can take the ferry across to Hadlyme and check out Gilette's Castle, beautiful grounds, interesting castle, unbelievable views, driving around that side of the river is truly amazing.
East Haddam-just up from Hadlyme has the Goodspeed Opera House and is right on the CT river also. The village is also an old NE village with shops and restaurants
Moodus and Devil's Hopyard State Park-unbelievably cool park right along the 8 mile river with large waterfalls and great hiking.
Colchester and Salmon River, Comstock Covered Bridge, Day Pond SP
The drive down route 156 to
Old Lyme- Does have more development but that part can be avoided and stick to the historical areas and check out the Florence Griswold Museum and the beautiful mansions on the original Main Street.
Old Saybrook is very built up but the Fenwick Point section, where someone else had mentioned that Kate Hepburn lived until she died, is spectacular to see the summer "cottages"
Further East:
Stonington is also a beautiful burough right on the water with terrific restaurants
NW corner is also a beautiful area with Litchfield, Norfolk, West Cornwall
Hope this helps
Here are some of my favorite small towns in SE Connecticut:
Essex: Voted best small town in America a few years back. Right on CT River. some highlights are CT River Museum, Essex Steam Train and River Boat, Griswold Inn (in operation since 1776), Ivoryton Playhouse, great nature parks, great NE architecture
Chester-Artist town with old architecture and some very fine stores. From there you can take the ferry across to Hadlyme and check out Gilette's Castle, beautiful grounds, interesting castle, unbelievable views, driving around that side of the river is truly amazing.
East Haddam-just up from Hadlyme has the Goodspeed Opera House and is right on the CT river also. The village is also an old NE village with shops and restaurants
Moodus and Devil's Hopyard State Park-unbelievably cool park right along the 8 mile river with large waterfalls and great hiking.
Colchester and Salmon River, Comstock Covered Bridge, Day Pond SP
The drive down route 156 to
Old Lyme- Does have more development but that part can be avoided and stick to the historical areas and check out the Florence Griswold Museum and the beautiful mansions on the original Main Street.
Old Saybrook is very built up but the Fenwick Point section, where someone else had mentioned that Kate Hepburn lived until she died, is spectacular to see the summer "cottages"
Further East:
Stonington is also a beautiful burough right on the water with terrific restaurants
NW corner is also a beautiful area with Litchfield, Norfolk, West Cornwall
Hope this helps
Apr 5th, 2006, 01:08 PM
#24
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Essex, which some have already mentioned, is just as quaint as quaint can be. East Haddom and Old Lyme are also cute little towns, completely untouched by neon and commercialism. That is an area that I only went to because of my interest in art--wanted to see the Florence Griswold Museum. I was not prepared to fall totally in love with the place as I did. (Sorry Litchfield fans, there was something intangible here, maybe more earthiness, less pretension, that made me like it better. Although the Litchfield Hills are also nice...)
Apr 8th, 2006, 06:28 PM
#25
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Wow, this is great. Many of you have had alot of great things to say about Essex. That sounds like a "must see".
Is it realistic to do the coastal towns -- say Stonington, Old Lyme, Essex, etc. in one weekend?
Is it realistic to do the coastal towns -- say Stonington, Old Lyme, Essex, etc. in one weekend?
Apr 9th, 2006, 02:58 AM
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I never got to Stonington, but in Old Lyme and Essex, if all you're doing is walking the main street, you can be done in an hour for each! Now, if you add on time for museums, meals and relaxing, that adds a bit. So yes, a weekend would be ample time. I stayed at the Bee and Thistle and loved it, by the way. They have a lovely dining area on the porch, a nice garden, and they're on the river. And there are several other inns in town as well.
Apr 9th, 2006, 12:21 PM
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They can be done in one weekend, if you stayed Fri night in say either Essex or Old Lyme. Sat morning head out and do a loop that runs up one side of the river and down the other. That would be routes 154 on the west side of river and 156 on the east. Some of the places I mentioned above would be a detour off but not by far. That would take you all day on Saturday and then Sunday you could head up to Stonington. That is about a 35 minute drive. You would be trying to squeeze too much in to do all of them in one day.
As someone else mentioned there is The Bee and Thistle in Old Lyme as well as Old Lyme Inn. They are both very quiet places and are pretty much by themselves in the area.
The Griswold Inn is right in Essex Village, it is much livelier and is in the middle of all the shops, waterfront, CT River Museum, etc. The Copper Beech Inn is also in Essex, it is beautiful but not within walking distance to the village.
Hope this helps.
As someone else mentioned there is The Bee and Thistle in Old Lyme as well as Old Lyme Inn. They are both very quiet places and are pretty much by themselves in the area.
The Griswold Inn is right in Essex Village, it is much livelier and is in the middle of all the shops, waterfront, CT River Museum, etc. The Copper Beech Inn is also in Essex, it is beautiful but not within walking distance to the village.
Hope this helps.
No worries!
Sep 2nd, 2006, 02:43 AM
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"Norfolk -- my personal favorite, much smaller, "the ice box of CT" very pleasant when it's hot elsewhere, summer music, hiking"
Ah... memories! I grew up in Colebrook and Norfolk, and actually went to a 2-room schoolhouse in Colebrook! (It is now a "museum", no less, which sure makes me feel old!)
Our kids never believed me about walking to school in Norfolk when it was -20 or so, but we did!
Northwestern CT IS lovely. Mountains, ponds, little towns, even today.
Ah... memories! I grew up in Colebrook and Norfolk, and actually went to a 2-room schoolhouse in Colebrook! (It is now a "museum", no less, which sure makes me feel old!)
Our kids never believed me about walking to school in Norfolk when it was -20 or so, but we did!
Northwestern CT IS lovely. Mountains, ponds, little towns, even today.
Sep 7th, 2006, 08:51 PM
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On Tuesday we took "back roads" from Amherst, MA where our daughter goes to school, to Storrs, CT so that our son could check out UConn.
I can't offer much in the way of specifics about where you might want to stay. But I can say that it was a very pretty drive. If I recall correctly, amaclise, you're a midwesterner. Believe me, that drive was like nothing you'd see around Chicago!
I can't offer much in the way of specifics about where you might want to stay. But I can say that it was a very pretty drive. If I recall correctly, amaclise, you're a midwesterner. Believe me, that drive was like nothing you'd see around Chicago!
Sep 9th, 2006, 11:20 AM
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amaclise, I can understand why you would. Don't get me wrong, I'm a born and bred Midwesterner. I love the Chicago area and I love being closer to my family. But I also have a real soft spot for the east. We lived in various parts of it for nine years when we were first married. And, as I mentioned, our daughter now goes to school in Massachusetts.
What strikes me anew every time we visit is how pretty the countryside is. As I said in my earlier post, it's like nothing you'll find around Chicago! With far too few exeptions, driving in the midwest is very boring!
What strikes me anew every time we visit is how pretty the countryside is. As I said in my earlier post, it's like nothing you'll find around Chicago! With far too few exeptions, driving in the midwest is very boring!
