There’s an intoxicating small-town charm to East Windsor, as well as some enlightening visitor attractions like a museum for electric railroading and a preserved academy building where some famous 19th-century Yale students got an education.

This is run by the local historical society, which takes care of a small campus of relocated landmarks.

In and around East Windsor are scenic walking trails, fruit farms, golf courses, craft breweries and antiques shops, while the New England Air Museum is a big regional attraction just across the river in East Granby.

Let’s explore the best things to do in and around East Windsor, Connecticut:

1. Connecticut Trolley Museum

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East Windsor has what is thought to be the oldest museum for electric railroading in the United States.

The Connecticut Trolley Museum was set up in 1940 on the right of way of the Rockville Branch of the Hartford and Springfield Street Railway Company, which had been abandoned some 14 years earlier.

There’s a working 1.5-mile stretch of track, where you can take unlimited rides on restored streetcars from New Orleans, Montreal, Boston, Springfield, MA and around Connecticut.

At the visitor center’s main hall there are several static cars to check out, as you work your way through the history of this elegant mode of transport.

The museum is mainly a seasonal attraction open every day except Tuesdays between June and September, but there are special events at Halloween, Christmas and Easter.

2. Connecticut Fire Museum

Source: Connecticut Trolley Museum / Facebook

In a warehouse to the rear of the Trolley Museum is a separate attraction dedicated to the history of firefighting in the state.

The museum has less frequent opening hours, so it’s worth checking in advance, but the good news is admission is included in the Trolley Museum ticket price.

What you’ll see is a rare repository of trucks and hand and horse-drawn firefighting equipment dating from 1850 to 1967. This is complemented by models and all sorts of memorabilia, from photographs to medals, historic life nets, flags, bells and uniforms.

3. East Windsor Academy Museum

Source: Jerry Dougherty / wikipedia.org

The East Windsor Historical Society maintains a small handful of buildings at this campus in Scantic Village, but the most significant is this Federal-style academy building from 1817. Built with bricks on a brownstone foundation, the academy offered higher education to boys from the area, and among its alumni were Yung Wing (1828-1912), Yale’s (and America’s) first Chinese graduate and Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-1890), the banker father of J.P. Morgan.

By the middle of the 20th century the building had been converted into apartments, and was later bequeathed to the historical society by its owner.

Some of the intriguing things awaiting you inside are Native American arrowheads, a cannonball from King Philip’s War (1676), a scale model of the ferry that crossed the CT River from 1641 to 1917 and weapons, uniforms and other memorabilia from all of the nation’s wars.

4. East Windsor Hill Historic District

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Mostly lining Main Street between the Scantic River and Edwards Cemetery is a historically important assemblage of folk vernacular buildings raised between the start of the 18th century and around 1860. This area, in the very north-west of East Windsor, was settled in the 1630s by families from across the river Windsor.

The two areas were connected by the Connecticut River’s first ever ferry, established in 1641. East Windsor families would have to cross the river to attend church until the General Court allowed them to found their own church society in 1691. In East Windsor Hill Historic District there’s a chronology of prevailing architectural styles from Georgian Colonial to Federal and Greek Revival, all designed by local architects.

What’s impressive is how much period detail remains.

The finest example of Georgian Colonial architecture is the Ebenezer Grant Mansion (1653 Main Street), while the standout Greek Revival building is the 1835 mansion commissioned by Bennett Tyler, the president of the Theological Institute of Connecticut (1748 Main Street).

5. St John’s Episcopal Church

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A linchpin at Warehouse Point village, St John’s went up at the very start of the 19th century.

The curious story behind its foundation goes that some of the church’s founders were members of the First Congregational Church of East Windsor, who were keen to have a new church constructed.

This came about after the former meeting house burned down, and they were tried and acquitted of arson.

Outside the Episcopal Church is in the clean Federal style, with a two-stage tower and rows of Doric pilasters on the facade.

The interior meanwhile was reworked into a neo-Gothic style later in the 19th century, when the galleries to the side were taken down and a barrel vault was built over the nave, with a new chancel added at the rear.

6. Broad Brook Barber Shop Museum

Source: Robert 'Jerry' Riggott / Facebook

Tucked behind the East Windsor Academy is a set of smaller buildings, each with its own tale to tell.

The Barber Shop dates from the end of the 19th century and was moved here from Broad Brook in 1967. From the 1880s this was the business of one Maximilian Ertel, a Saxony native who sold the shop to the local judge Rudolph C. Geissler in 1919. Inside are interesting artifacts like Ertel’s license and Geissler’s actual barber chair.

Another pocket-sized 19th-century building on the site is the East Windsor District Probate Court, also used for a time as a doctor’s office in the 1860s, while there’s a collection of farming equipment in what was once a tobacco shed, and along Scantic Road is the recently restored Osborn House (1785).

7. Scantic River State Park

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This linear park is in different sections adding up to almost 800 acres and lining the banks of the Scantic River in East Windsor, Enfield and Somers.

The park was in the pipeline for 20 years after first being planned in the 1960s, and has grown steadily over the last 20 years.

So far about a third of the planned 2,200 acres have been acquired.

In East Windsor there’s an access point at the very end of Melrose Road in Broad Brook.

It’s all a very pretty place to go for a hike, with low, rolling hills, riverbanks in hardwood forest and a stretch of rapids with a little waterfall.

Near the trailhead by the parking lot you’ll come to the eerie remains of a steel-frame bridge over the river.

8. Problem Solved Brewing Company

Source: Problem Solved Brewing Company / Facebook

Throw a dart at a map of Connecticut and there’s a good chance you’ll hit a craft brewery.

The fierce competition means that only the best survive, and that applies to East Windsor’s Problem Solved Brewing Co., which has a high rating on the notoriously competitive Untappd.

Problem Solved focuses its energy on a small line-up: The draft list in October 2019 consisted of just five beers, including Prime Factor, a Belgian saison, Second Root, a cream ale with coffee, Conductivity, a centennial IPA, The Origin, a sweet wheat stout and One Squared, a red honey lager.

New beers are released every few weeks, so there will always be something different.

There’s always one or two guest ciders on tap as well, and you can bring your own food or get a takeout delivered, and take on friends at a board game.

The taproom is open Thursday to Sunday.

9. East Windsor Park

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Clean and well-maintained, East Windsor Park is a typical recreation space, with lighted basketball and tennis courts, a volleyball court and a sizeable playground for wee ones.

Where the park stands out is for the Broad Brook Reservoir, which serves as a swimming area in the summer months and is fitted with a slide and diving board.

There’s a nice patch of sand beside it, and children will have a fun time playing and building sand castles.

A concession stand is open at this time, and there are grills as well as two pavilions that can be rented by residents.

When we made this list in 2019, non-residents could visit only Monday to Thursday in summer.

10. New England Air Museum

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A mere 10 minutes from Warehouse Point is the region’s premier aviation museum in a set of three hangars at Bradley International Airport.

With a staggering fleet of historic aircraft, the museum charts New England’s contribution to America’s aviation industry, paying special attention to Connecticut brands like Sikorsky, Kaman and Pratt & Whitney.

You’ll get to see the oldest surviving Kaman and Sikorsky aircraft, a K-225 and an S-39, as well as the last remaining Sikorsky VS-44A flying boat.

Also relevant to this state is the display for the balloonist Silas Brooks (1824-1906), whose preserved basket here is thought to be the oldest surviving aircraft in the entire country.

The museum’s informative displays are as interesting as the aircraft and dive into topics like the Wright Brothers, New England Women in Aviation, Sikorsky and Pratt & Whitney.

11. The Vintage Shops

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Part of the joy of this antiques center in Warehouse Point is its location, in a stately Greek Revival-style building with a bold portico.

There are 11 different dealers in this space, all with a slightly different speciality.

Airwaves Antiques for instance deals in vintage radios, amongst other things, while the Clock Man sells timepieces going back to the 1700s.

Reflections of the Past meanwhile as a bit of everything, be it coins, kitchenalia, ephemera, political artifacts or lighting.

As for the building, this has had a few different uses down the years, as a boarding house and later a bar.

12. Grassmere Country Club

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For a high-quality round of golf you won’t have to travel further than this public course five minutes away in Enfield.

Grassmere Country Club has a nine hole course that opened in 1973 and includes a practice green and chipping green.

Things start off tricky as the first two holes have doglegs (both par 4s), and the fourth hole (also par 4) isn’t much easier for its long, blind uphill second shot.

The fifth (par 3) is a favorite for its distant view to the green, but a winding brook comes into play here and on the par 3 ninth, which has a treacherous sloping green.

13. Windsor Locks Canal State Park Trail

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Hop across the Connecticut River and you can take an easy waterside walk on a trail steeped in history.

This 4.5-mile walk is on the towpath of the Enfield Falls Canal, which was built in the 1820s to help waterborne traffic avoid a difficult piece of the Connecticut River.

Until the days of the canal, boats would require the services of a fallsman, propelling the craft with set poles.

The canal was quickly redundant as a means of transport thanks to the arrival of railways, but soon found another use as a supply for water-powered mills.

As well as granting uplifting views of this famous river, the trail has lots of 19th-century stonework leftover from the canal, in the form of bridges and aqueducts.

14. Warehouse Point Library

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East Windsor’s local library punches above its weight for a town of this size.

Beyond its books, movies and other media, the Warehouse Point Library is a pillar of the community, organizing clubs, activities and classes for all ages, as well as weekly screenings of recent movies and exhibitions by local artists and photographers.

If you’re a non-resident just visiting, the library can be very handy in a pinch.

You can make use of the free Wi-Fi and public computers, bury your head in a book, newspaper or magazine for an hour or two, and pick up any information you might need about East Windsor and its surroundings.

15. Irish Bend Orchard

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Just outside the East Windsor village of Melrose is a quintessential New England fall attraction.

The pick-your-own season at Irish Bend Orchard lasts from August to October, beginning with peaches and nectarines, followed by Asian pears and ending with a host of apple varieties.

You can also drop by the farm stand, which stocks all of this produce.

Towards the end of autumn is time for pumpkins, when children will be able to go on free hayrides on weekends.

There’s a convenient guide on the farm’s website letting you know what’s in season.

The post 15 Best Things to Do in East Windsor (CT) appeared first on The Crazy Tourist.

In East Hampton’s state forests and state parks you can watch the epic Connecticut River rolling by, cross a 19th-century covered bridge and walk the course of a lost railroad that once shuttled passengers between New York and Boston in record time.

The Connecticut Valley is very fertile, and you can spend an afternoon in summer or fall picking your own fruit at the many farms.

On the water East Hampton has a captivating historic district dotted with Federal-style buildings at the site of a long lost river port.

1. Air Line State Park Trail

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The ambitious New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad got its name, Air Line, from the soaring viaducts built to ensure a level trackbed on its high-speed route from New York to Boston.

The Air Line opened in 1873 and the section between East Hampton and the Connecticut-Massachusetts linehad been abandoned by the mid-20th century to become a trail.

The 25-mile southern portion of this route, from East Hampton to Windham, is designated a National Recreation Trail and is a breeze to walk or cycle on.

The Air Line State Park Trail has a smooth stone dust surface and crosses buried 19th-century trestles at the Rapallo and Lyman viaducts, with benches positioned at scenic spots along the route.

2. Salmon River State Forest

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A piece of the Air Line Trail carries you through the Salmon River State Forest, a haven for hiking, fly fishing and mountain biking, or just enjoying a picnic in nature.

The Salmon River is as placid as you can get today, but in the 19th century the banks were teeming with mills.

At North Westchester there were so many factories competing for waterpower that the grist mills had to run at night and the paper mill by day.

The Blue-Blazed Salmon River Trail snakes through the park, and takes you over an important piece of heritage, which we’ll cover next.

3. Comstock Covered Bridge

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Spanning the Salmon River in the state forest is the last remaining covered bridge in East Connecticut.

Dating to 1840, it is one of only three crossings of its kind in the state and remains open to pedestrian traffic, although vehicles have been banned since the 1930s.

A decade before then, a truck crashed through the floor, and the ensuing renovation was carried out as a Depression-era employment initiative by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The main bridge span is covered by a gabled roof, which has the benefit of protecting the timbers below from the weather, and slowing their ageing process.

4. Hurd State Park

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There’s a stunning piece of the Connecticut River in East Hampton, where you can stroll down to the riverbank and take a family picnic in perfect seclusion.

At this point the river is more than 200 meters across, and if you happen to arrive at Hurd State Park by water in the summer months there’s a small campground reserved exclusively for people entering and leaving by boat.

The park spreads over more than 1,000 acres, and has a network of blazed trails streaking through the forest.

The orange and yellow trails take you to the top of the split rock, a set of granite ledges where you can see the river far below through the trees.

5. Lake Pocotopaug

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The lake next to the namesake village in East Hampton is large by any standard, at just over 500 acres.

A lot of the residences at Lake Pocotopaug are year-round, although some are holiday rentals or second homes, so the population does swell a little in summer.

On the west shore is Sears Park, which has a little beach, but the recent presence of blue-green algae has ruled out swimming.

This beach is also restricted to residents and their guests.

For out-of-towners the best way to enjoy the lake passively is via Lake Drive, which bends around the west and north shore, affording spectacular vistas of Twin Islands and Scraggy Island on the water.

You can also rent a non-motorized vessel from Happiest Paddler, and we’ll talk about that later.

6. Fat Orange Cat Brew Co.

Source: Fat Orange Cat Brew Co. / Facebook

Craft breweries don’t get much more homespun than this small-batch seasonal brewery operating out of a barn in rural East Hampton.

Fat Orange Cat’s farm is on the Salmon River watershed, giving rise to the exceptionally pure water that goes into a range of brews including well-reviewed IPAS, sours, porters and more.

There’s plenty of outdoor seating and fire pits at the homey taproom, as well as outdoor heaters for a cosy time in the colder seasons.

You can opt for a flight of four glasses to sample a few beers at once, and pick up a few cans, which have beautiful illustrations.

7. Arrigoni Winery

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Run by a family with more than a century of winemaking heritage, Arrigoni Winery is on 200 acres of fertile farmland set between the Connecticut River and Route 66. You can pause at the winery’s tasting room to sample some of Arrigoni’s 14 different varieties, made from estate-grown Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Vidal Blanc and more.

There’s a lovely sunset patio and a covered pavilion with outdoor heaters and a fireplace for chilly evenings.

Choose from a classic or premium tasting (5 wines each), both of which come with a souvenir glass.

8. Middle Haddam Historic District

Source: Jerry Dougherty / wikipedia.org

The quiet and rural waterfront area on the Connecticut River in East Hampton is worth checking out on a drive.

Between 1730 and 1880 this was a bustling river port, docked by ocean-going vessels and trading across the east coast of North America and the West Indies.

Mine Brook, which meanders through the village, was the site of a sawmill providing timber to a shipyard on the riverfront.

The Middle Haddam Historic District offers a perfect snapshot of the Federal period in Connecticut.

The majority of the 58 contributing buildings went up before 1835 and after the Revolutionary War, at a time when the shipyard and port were most active.

The buildings in the district from this period display a high degree of workmanship, which indicates the high number of skilled craftsmen in town at the time.

Two prime examples of Federal architecture are the stone-built Hurd Mansion (106 Moodus Road), for the eminent shipbuilder Jesse Hurd (1765-1831), and the smaller wood-frame dwelling across the road, built for his son-in-law at 97 Moodus Road in 1823.

9. Pumpkintown USA

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For younger families, Pumpkintown USA is all about non-scary fun during the build-up to Halloween.

This attraction has a recreated post office, fire department, jail, barbershop, saloon and more, all populated by more than 70 cheerful pumpkinhead figures, as well as farmyard animals.

On weekends you can drop by for facepainting, a “Sling-a-Ding” game and a “Moonbounce Pumpkin”. A big part of any visit is the mile-long ride on the hay wagon, through woodland inhabited by more pumpkinheads going about their business in their rustic dwellings.

Finally, the Harvest Shop is stocked with seasonal goodies like maple syrup, fall plants, autumn fresh produce, pumpkin butter spreads and pumpkin spice-scented candles.

10. Day Pond State Park

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One local body of water that does accept visitors is the picture perfect Day Pond, in 180 acres of public land.

The pond is named after the pioneering Day family, which impounded the pond to drive an up-and-down sawmill with a waterwheel.

Stone foundations hark back to that time, while the pond is stocked with trout which makes it a favored destination for anglers.

There’s a neat little beach area for swimming in the summer months and overlooking the water close by is a picnic pavilion, with more tables nearby on the east and west shores.

By the water you can step onto the Blue-Blazed Salmon River, which will lead you to the Comstock Covered Bridge on its south loop.

11. Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Park

Source: Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park, LLC / Facebook

The banks of the Connecticut River in Portland have a brownstone bedrock, which provided the building material for cities like New York, Portland, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Chicago.

The main quarry site was in operation from the 17th century until a flood and then a hurricane ended commercial quarrying in the 1930s.

Since the 2000s the flooded quarry has been transformed into a summer activity center with climbing walls, as well as paddleboards and kayaks for hire.

There’s also an inflatable obstacle course, wakeboarding, a rope swing and an amazing 11 different zip-lines.

12. Belltown Hill Orchards

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In the north part of town and the neighboring communities the countryside is flush with fruit farms, many of which open up to the public for pick-your-own seasons in summer and fall.

June to the end of October, Belltown Hill Orchards has sweet and tart cherries, blueberries, plums, nectarines, peaches, pears, raspberries, apples (24 varieties) and pumpkins.

There’s a handy ripening calendar on the farm’s website and a guide to the many different types of apples, explaining storage, flavor, uses and texture.

All of this produce is available seasonally at the farm market, along with jams and jellies, salsas, soups, local honey, seasonal decorations and delectable baked goods like pies, brownies and apple cider donuts.

13. Gotta’s Farm and Cider Mill

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In Portland, Gotta’s Farm and Cider Mill is in its fourth generation and was established in 1898. The farm has two locations, at Rte 17 for pick-your-own strawberries, peaches, pears and apples, and at the QP Farm Market on Rte 66. The latter sells farm-fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as enticing pies, breads and cookies, together with Christmas trees and decorations later in the year.

Gotta’s Farm also has a garden center, for annuals, hanging baskets, perennials, flowering shrubs, evergreens, herb plants and vegetable plants.

14. Happiest Paddler

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For water activities on Lake Pocotopaug your best bet is this boating agency, just north of Sears Park on the west shore.

Happiest Paddler is open seven days in June, July and August, and is weather dependent in the transitional months.

For one hour, half a day or a full week you can rent kayaks or paddleboards (both single or double), as well as canoes and paddleboats (for two or four passengers.

Flotation equipment and paddles are included in the rental fee, so you’ll have all you need for a voyage around one of the largest lakes in the state.

15. Nike Missile Site HA-26 Launch Site

There’s something out of the ordinary hidden in the Meshomasic State Forest, on the edge of East Hampton in South Glastonbury and Portland, and slowly being swallowed by nature.

This is a long-abandoned radar and launch site for the Nike Ajax anti-aircraft missile.

This system was developed at the dawn of the Cold War, and the site was in service from 1956 to 1963. At Del Reeves Road on the Portland side of the line you’ll discover the IFC radar station, with the remnants of foundations, floor tiles, a flagpole and manholes to underground utilities.

At the launch site in South Glastonbury there are more faint vestiges, from stairs to the foundations of barracks and launch pits easily identified in the clearings.

The post 15 Best Things to Do in East Hampton (CT) appeared first on The Crazy Tourist.

The Enfield Falls Canal is mostly intact despite being obsolete for more than 150 years, and its towpath can be walked via the Windsor Locks Canal State Park.

On the subject of transport the town is home to Bradley International Airport, the second largest airport in New England and the busiest in Connecticut.

In a series of hangars here you can explore the New England Air Museum, endowed with some awesome pieces of aviation heritage specific to Connecticut and the wider region.

Let’s explore the best things to do  in and around Windsor Locks, Connecticut:

1. New England Air Museum

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New England, and Connecticut in particular, has a great deal of aviation heritage as you’ll discover at this first-rate museum at Bradley International Airport.

You can do a deep dive here on the history of Sikorsky Aircraft and inspect nine models by this Stratford-based manufacturer, including the oldest surviving Sikorsky aircraft and the last remaining Sikorsky VS-44 flying boat.

On show in three enormous display hangars are dozens of airplanes and helicopters, combined with hardware like ejection seats and missiles.

One remarkable machine to size up is a WWII-era B-29 Superfortress.

Smaller museum exhibits shed light on lots of interesting topics like the airship era, the Wright Brothers and the story of New England women in aviation.

2. Windsor Locks Canal State Park Trail

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In Windsor Locks and Suffield you can walk the 4.5-mile towpath of the Enfield Falls Canal, completed in 1829. This waterway was built to help river-going traffic avoid a section of rapids that could only be navigated with the help of a “fallsman”, who would be equipped with a long stick.

The canal is in a good state of preservation, retaining its locks, which have been out of action since the 1970s.

On this light walk you’ll be treated to breathtaking views of the Connecticut River and some fine examples of 19th-century engineering and stonework in the bridges and aqueducts on the canal.

3. Noden-Reed Museum

Source: Magicpiano / wikipedia.org

This historic house, along with its rare brick barn, is cared for by the Windsor Historical Society, and open for guided tours in the afternoon on the last Sunday of the month.

The older of the two structures is actually the barn, dated to 1826, and housing a beautiful of array of old carriages, as well as farming implements from the Connecticut Valley’s tobacco farming trade.

The farmhouse next door, with Greek Revival flourishes, is from 1840 and presents historic military uniforms, costume and curiosities of all kinds, including hand-stitched blankets and quilts on its antique beds.

The property is much older, harking back to the 18th century, and was the site of a cabin for the Hessian soldier Hendrick Roddemore and, by tradition, New England’s first decorated Christmas tree in 1777.

4. Northwest Park

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If your interest is piqued by this area’s tobacco-growing heritage then Windsor’s Northwest Park is an obligatory visit, just over the Farmington River.

The park encompasses 473 acres of sports facilities and forest, meadows and wetlands, on a landscape once dominated by tobacco farms.

You can delve into this history at the CT Valley Tobacco Museum, traveling back to the native origins of the tobacco plant in New England and following a new timeline exhibit that culminates with the early-20th-century boom in the Connecticut Valley.

Elsewhere you can learn about the area’s geology and natural history at the Northwest Park Nature Center, which keeps farmyard animals in a barn next door.

There’s live music every year during the park’s Coffeehouse Concert Series, and in fall the Northwest Park Country Fair is a tradition now in its fourth decade.

5. Farmington Canal Heritage Trail

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You can trace the route of a longer former canal on this trail that passes through East Granby and Suffield, just to the west of Windsor Locks.

The Farmington Canal was completed in 1835 to provide a quick waterborne trade link between New Haven and Northampton.

But little more than a decade later, railroads were already cheaper and more efficient, and the exact route became the trackbed of what would later become the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

The line was abandoned in stages towards the end of the 20th century, and as of 2019 around 85% of the route between New Haven and Northampton is a trail.

In the north of Connecticut you’ll be able to access the longest uninterrupted section, at 24.6 miles from the border with Massachusetts down to northern Plainville.

6. Connecticut Trolley Museum

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The oldest museum in the United States devoted to electric railroading is on the opposite bank of the Connecticut River in East Windsor.

The Connecticut Trolley Museum was founded in 1940 on the right of way of the Hartford and Springfield Street Railway Company’s Rockville Branch.

The museum has preserved a whole catalogue of old trolleys and streetcars from across the country.

Some are in working order and can be ridden all day on the museum’s 1.5-mile stretch of heritage railroad.

Others are presented as fine static displays at the Visitor Center’s main hall, tracking the history of this form of transport, or in various stages of refurbishment at the restoration shop.

7. Vintage Radio & Communications Museum of CT

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You can take a trip through the history of modern communication technology at this lovable museum in Windsor.

In a deceptively large building crammed with artifacts, the timeline begins in the 19th century with phonographs and leads you through the development of radios (including one in a refrigerator!), TV and movie-making equipment and computers.

A memorable exhibit is a hulking television camera from the 1970s, while the museum has its own amateur radio station, which you can operate if you bring a valid license.

Among the other great pieces are a working 1940s Wurlitzer jukebox and a Kodak VP-1 Videoplayer, one of just five prototypes from the early 1970s.

8. Phelps-Hatheway House

Source: Msact / Wikimedia | CC BY-SA 4.0

On the weekend you could make the ten-minute trip to Suffield to enjoy another piece of Connecticut heritage.

The oldest parts of the Phelps-Hatheway House, on the southern ell, are from the 1730s, but the house was extended throughout the 18th century, with what is now a central block in the 1760s and a northern ell in 1795. This gives the property a sprawling aspect, with each section capped with a genteel gambrel roof.

Those final changes were designed by architect Asher Benjamin early in his career, and ordered by the wealthy land speculator Oliver Phelps.

The interior is enriched with a superb collection of 18th-century antiques, and outside is a formal parterre and a generous herb garden, all sprinkled with flowering shrubs and tended by the Suffield Garden Club.

9. Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine

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A little grim but highly absorbing, this National Historic Site in East Granby started out in the early-18th century as a copper mine, in operation until the 1740s.

After that the tunnel network was converted into Connecticut’s first official prison, also used for British prisoners of war and Loyalists during the Revolutionary War.

You can access around half of the extant tunnels on a tour, exploring a place that was referred to as “Hell” by its inmates.

On the surface are the ruins of structures from the turn of the 19th century, including five brick and masonry buildings and the prison wall.

The Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine reopened after almost a decade of renovations in 2018, and you can come to look around from Wednesday to Sunday.

10. Southwest Family Park/Veterans Memorial Park

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Adding up to more than 40 acres, these two parks, literally in the southwest of Windsor Locks, boast a wide array of recreation facilities.

Here you’ll find baseball and softball fields, football fields, soccer fields, basketball courts and volleyball courts, many of which are lighted.

The larger Veterans Memorial Park has the added benefit of a children’s playground and a pavilion, as well as an outdoor skating rink in winter.

In early July this park is the location for the popular annual Windsor Locks Fire Department Carnival, which has been going since the 1940s and is accompanied by a fireworks display.

11. Brignole Vineyards

Source: Brignole Vineyards / Facebook

In East Granby, Brignole Vineyards has a stunning Greek Revival winery, purpose-built and surrounded by rows of vines.

The wine selection is hand-crafted from estate-grown grapes that flourish in the Connecticut climate, as well as California varieties to bring a slice of the Napa Valley to New England.

These bottles range from sweet white dessert wines to robust reds, and you can come to find your favorite while you bask in the sunshine from the twin-level deck and pergola.

12. Spare Time Windsor Locks

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Previously known as Bradley Bowl, this old-school bowling alley has been around as long as most people from the area can remember.

When we wrote this list in 2019 the spot had just reopened as Spare Time after a complete overhaul, turning it into an amusement destination for all the family.

The lanes are still here of course, but are equipped with sleek banquettes and lots of LCD screens.

And along with the alley you’ve now got escape rooms, laser tag and an expanded state-of-the-art arcade with VR games.

13. Connecticut Fallen Firefighters Memorial

Source: Ritu Manoj Jethani / shutterstock

At Bradley International Airport, within seconds of the New England Air Museum there’s a poignant monument to the state’s firefighters who have fallen in the line of duty.

The memorial was dedicated in 2002 after first being envisioned ten years before.

At its center is a large slab of polished impala black granite, measuring 3.7 by 1.8 meters and with a carving depicting four firefighters tackling a blaze.

Around the base on granite tablets engraved with more than 300 names, and set a little way back are eight granite benches, one for each of the counties of Connecticut.

14. Broad Brook Brewing

Source: Broad Brook Brewing / Facebook

At the time of writing in September 2019 this treasured craft brewery was expanding, making the move from East Windsor across the river to nearby Suffield.

Broad Brook Brewing was founded in 2010 and produces year-round, seasonal and one-off brews, from IPAS to porters, stouts, red ales and Oktoberfest beer.

At the old location, which had been restricted to narrow opening times, there was lots of live music, tours on Saturdays and you were allowed to bring your own food to go with your pints or sampler flights.

At the last update, the shiny new brewery was taking shape, and an announcement for the grand opening was due any day.

The post 15 Best Things to Do in Windsor Locks (CT) appeared first on The Crazy Tourist.

While the lake is a famed second home for affluent New Yorkers, most of the plush houses by the shore in New Fairfield are lived in year round.

This is all in contrast to the days when New Fairfield was a buzzing summer destination.

Still, the best place to swim and relax around Candlewood Lake is partly in this town, at Squantz Pond State Park.

New Fairfield is on the north fringe of the city of Danbury, which puts a lot of shopping, culture and entertainment within a short car ride.

1. Candlewood Lake

Source: tmphoto98 / shutterstock

One of the things that makes New Fairfield a desirable place to live is the big, painterly body of water to the east.

Candlewood Lake is the largest in the state at 11 miles long and two miles across at its widest point.

Much of Connecticut’s most expensive real estate is on its shores, and with that in mind it’s startling to think that there was no lake at all before the 1920s.

It was created by a hydroelectric below the Rocky River’s confluence with the Housatonic, calling on a workforce of almost 1,400 men for the construction.

Unsurprising, given its upmarket character, Candlewood Lake has lots of private beaches and marinas, but out-of-town and out-of-state visitors can idle by the water at Squantz Pond State Park and New Fairfield Town Beach for a fee.

For water activities, try Lakeside Watersports in Danbury, offering motorized thrills like waterskiing and wakeboarding.

2. Squantz Pond State Park

Source: Jay Ondreicka / shutterstock

Maybe the best truly public space on the shores of Candlewood Lake is right in New Fairfield at Squantz Pond.

The name comes from Chief Squantz, the 18th-century Schaghticoke chief whose tribe held sway over what is modern day New Fairfield and Sherman.

He refused to sell this land, which was eventually acquired after his death.

What is now the state park was farmland until 1926, with high slopes under a mantel of hardwood forest, stooping to a cool, blue pond with a beach.

That beach is long and broad, and has a roped swimming area, bathrooms, a boat launch, picnic areas and lifeguards on duty most days during the summer break.

On the shore you follow trails west into the Pootatuck State Forest.

3. Pootatuck State Forest

Source: Ricky P Photography / shutterstock

Directly west of Squantz Pond is 1,200 acres of steep wooded terrain at the Pootatuck State Forest, which is more suited to activities like hiking, mountain biking and cross-country skiing in winter.

You can access this landscape via the same trails as Squantz Pond State Park, and there’s a tangle of blazed routes to choose from.

The most travelled path lifts you to a scenic rocky overlook above Squantz Pond on the Blue Trail, for a clear sight of the pond, but also Candlewood Lake off in the distance.

4. Green Chimneys Farm & Wildlife Center

Source: Jordan Confino / shutterstock

More than 200 farm animals and injured wild species have a permanent home at this center just over the state line at Putnam Lake.

Green Chimneys is a multifaceted non-profit organization, mainly serving children and young people who have struggled in traditional learning environments with animal-assisted therapy at its heart.

On weekends the center opens to the public, and you can come by to look around the teaching barn, horse barn and outdoor paddocks between 10:00 and 15:00. Groups of six or more will have to sign up for a tour, and this takes in pigs, camels, llamas, horses, donkeys, cows, goats and many more animals, and also features pony rides and hayrides for wee ones.

Alternatively the Farm & Wildlife Tour will introduce you to non-domestic animals like owls, snakes, falcons and a condor, eagle and tortoise.

5. Danbury

Source: Nancy Kennedy / shutterstock

Seconds to the south is a city often ranked as one of the most liveable in the United States.

From the late 18th century to the early 20th century Danbury was the country’s hat-making capital, manufacturing five million hats per year by 1887. Even now Danbury is affectionately dubbed “Hat City”. You can learn more about this aspect of the city’s past at the Danbury Museum and Historical Society, which has a fine main campus on Main Street with five buildings.

Danbury was also a railroad town in the 19th century, at a key junction between a branch of the Metro-North Railroad and the vital Maybrook freight line.

Railroad enthusiasts can visit the former Union Station (1903), now the Danbury Railway Museum, and take a ride on a length of track in the sprawling railyard.

For a relaxing walk in greenery, Tarrywile Park is 722 acres of landscaped parkland in the grounds of the Shingle Style Tarrywile House, dating to 1897 and now rented out for events.

6. White Silo Farm & Winery

Source: Gayane / shutterstock

Head past the north shore of Candlewood Lake where White Silo Farm & Winery rests in a rollercoaster landscape that takes on a new character with each season.

White Silo’s tasting room is fabulous too, in a dairy barn that has been here since the 18th century.

The winery operates on a boutique level, producing all its bottles in small batches, from grapes like Cayuga, Marquette, Cab Franc and Frontenac, but also a variety of other fruit grown in these fields.

Wine tastings are $8, to be enjoyed below the wooden beams in the old barn, or while savoring the countryside from one of White Silo’s terrace gardens.

The farm has more in its repertoire than wine, and produces a large asparagus crop in spring, all of which goes towards an asparagus festival.

7. Danbury Fair Mall

Source: jjbers / Flickr | CC BY

The second-largest mall in the state is a breeze away in Danbury, and has a location with a compelling past.

As you’ll gather from the name, this was the site of the Danbury Fair, an annual exhibition that took place from 1821 to 1981, drawing 400,000 people in its final year.

The mall opened in 1986 and acknowledges the history of the site with a summer carnival outdoors in June and July.

For a cross-section of Danbury Fair Mall’s 200 upmarket and midmarket tenants, you’ve got Apple Store, Macy’s, Sears, Michael Kors, Old Navy, Gap, H&M, Foot Locker, Clarks and Banana Republic.

Food-wise, chains include Cheesecake Factory, Chipotle, Cosimo’s Pizza, Chick-Fil-A, McDonalds and sweet picks like Cinnabon and Häagen-Dazs.

8. Ives Concert Park

Source: wcmickle / Flickr | CC BY

The feted Modernist composer Charles Ives (1874-1954) was born in Danbury, and the city pays tribute to this musical heritage with a sumptuous venue for summer concerts.

The Ives Concert Park is an amphitheater in 40 lush acres next to a pond, staging a program that attracts more than 65,000 people each year.

The line-up reflects the city’s multicultural make-up, and includes classical music, jazz, famous classic rock artists, annual reggae, Irish and Ecuadorian festivals, Shakespeare, live comedy, children’s events and plenty of tribute acts.

9. Richter Park Golf Course

Source: Mikael Damkier / shutterstock

In the 1980s this public course in Danbury was rated by Golf Digest as one of the best in the country.

What Richter Park has going for it is the location, on rolling, wooded terrain beside the ample West Lake Reservoir.

That water comes into play often, with 14 of the 18 holes featuring a water hazard, while the stiff slopes and newly renovated bunkers will punish even the smallest misjudgment.

Safe to say that despite being a public course, Richter Park is a course for people confident in their accuracy.

For non-residents, a full round will cost $73 on weekdays and $83 on weekends (cart complimentary).

10. Sherman Playhouse

Source: Matusciac Alexandru / shutterstock

Since 1929, this beautiful former church has staged community productions, made with a lot of love and dedication by the Sherman Players (founded 1949). The Greek Revival building used to be the Center Church (1837), which had been abandoned by the 20th century before being rescued in the 1920s by a wealthy couple, Walter and Alice Evans, as a place for their daughter Marianne to enjoy her passion for drama.

Marianne’s daughter, Betsy, has been involved with the Sherman Players (mainly in set design) for over 50 years, while her daughter Phoebe has been making playbills, posters, brochures and more for over two decades.

There are five productions a season at the Sherman Playhouse, and in 2019 this featured Cabaret, The Tempest, The Graduate, Venus in Fur and the Christmas pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk.

11. Great Hollow Nature Preserve & Ecological Research Center

Source: Great Hollow Nature Preserve / Facebook

Only founded in 2016, the Great Hollow Nature Preserve & Ecological Research Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to biodiversity conservation, experiential environmental education, ecological research and passive outdoor recreation.

That last bit will appeal to casual visitors, as you’re free to visit their 825-acre preserve, heading out on more than five miles of walking trails, right here in New Fairfield.

There are also programs to look into, like guided nature walks and monthly “Kids’ Nature Nights”, which are loaded with fun but educational activities and have a different theme each month.

12. New Fairfield Town Park

Source: LOGVINYUK YULIIA / shutterstock

Open from the start of the school summer break to the Labor Day weekend, New Fairfield has a small but appealing beach on Candlewood Lake.

There’s a designated swimming area in the lake’s clear, gentle waters, as well as a nice patch of soft sand, restrooms, changing areas, an enlarged snack bar and a picnic area.

Residents can purchase seasonal passes for a small fee.

Non-residents can buy daily guest passes, although these do tend to be pricey.

13. Bear Mountain Reservation

Source: Halfpoint / shutterstock

One of the best places in the area to go walking if you’re a dog owner, Bear Mountain Reservation has a system of trails on light hills next to Candlewood Lake.

The longest of these is the looping red trail, twisting through open fields and peaceful forest.

On this route you’ll come to a junction with the orange trail, which drops down the rather precipitous slope to Candlwood Lake if you need to work those calves.

South of the property is FCI Danbury, a low-security federal prison, mainly for female inmates.

You may be interested to know that famous conscientious objectors like James Peck and Robert Lowell were imprisoned here in WWII, as was screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr., who was blacklisted in 1947 during the Red Scare.

14. New Fairfield Historical Society

Source: Charlene Yerks / Facebook

Helping to keep the town’s history alive, the New Fairfield Historical Society meets every 2nd Wednesday of the month in the New Fairfield Library’s Historical Room in the basement.

The society’s main property is the Little Red Schoolhouse, a 19th-century one-room school building on Brush Hill Road.

The schoolhouse opens for programs throughout the year, when you’ll get a taste of education in the days when New Fairfield was a farming community.

In 2019 to celebrate the society’s 50th anniversary there was a letter-boxing treasure hunt Little Red Schoolhouse.

15. Cosier-Murphy House

Source: Magicpiano / Wikimedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

At 67 Connecticut Route 39 is a sight to take in as you pass through the Miller’s Corner section.

The Cosier-Murphy House is a private residence, but is one of the oldest homes in the town, dating back to 1840 and constructed in the Greek Revival style.

From the road the house seems smaller than it is, as the main entrance is on the side elevation, and has a side-hall plan, so the door is in the right bay.

Above, the second floor windows are unusually squat, to the point where they might be part of an enlarged frieze band below the main facade’s pediment.

Almost everything you see, from the pediment to the shutters to the picket fencing, is original, which, along with the unusual architecture, earned the Cosier-Murphy House listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

The post 15 Best Things to Do in New Fairfield (CT) appeared first on The Crazy Tourist.

Niantic has attracted holidaymakers for well over a century, and has sandy beaches tucked snugly into bays on East Lyme’s indented shoreline.

At the Niantic Bay Boardwalk you can linger for an hour or two with a book or just soak up the widescreen views of the bay.

There’s another beautiful lookout at McCook Park flanked by two more sandy beaches, and on the south-west side of East Lyme is Rocky Neck, with nature-rich wetlands and yet another glorious beach.

Let’s explore the best things to do  in and around East Lyme:

1. Niantic Bay Boardwalk

Source: jjbers / Flickr | CC BY

Possibly the best place to pause next to Long Island Sound in all of Connecticut, the Niantic Bay Boardwalk curls around from “The Guy” in the east to Hole-in-the-Wall Beach in the west.

For the first half of this 1.1-mile promenade the boardwalk edges a sandy beach that will look very enticing on a sunny day in summer.

This section is a true boardwalk, in the sense that it carries you over dunes, while the western half is a gravel path over the rocks, with the waters of Long Island Sound breaking a few feet away.

There are benches all along the way if you need a break, and Niantic’s adorable Main Street is just behind for shopping and dining.

2. Rocky Neck State Park

Source: Isabel Eve / shutterstock

Bounded to the east by a salt marsh and to the west by the tidal Fourmile River, Rocky Neck is a scenic tract of coastal land that was safeguarded in the early 1930s when it was purchased by conservationists and sold to the state.

In summer the park’s appeal is obvious, for the crescent-shaped sandy beach, completely free of stones and sloping gently into the clear waters of the Sound.

There’s also compelling history, and Ellie Mitchell Pavilion (1936), a Works Progress Administration project for jobseekers.

Composed of local timber and granite, this the largest structure from the Depression era in Connecticut.

Around the salt marsh and tidal zone on the park’s margins you can head off on trails to look for herons, cranes and mute swans in fall, while the osprey is a magnificent summer visitor worth keeping an eye out for, catching herring in the park’s Bride Brook.

3. McCook Park Beach

Source: dmcoxe / Flickr | CC BY

At the western end of the Niantic Bay Boardwalk is McCook Park Beach, which encompasses the bluffs of McCook Point, as well as the two sand beaches either side of it.

The land belonged to the McCook family, descendants of the Union Army chaplain John James McCook, until 1953. McCook point is the site of their summer home, where there are now lawns fringed by copper beeches.

From the point you can survey Long Island Sound, and make out Orient Point at the top of Long Island.

Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, there’s lots of room to spread out on McCook Point Beach and Hole-in-the-Wall Beach, although you will need to buy a day pass to visit and this can be pricey.

4. Florence Griswold Museum

Source: Pi.1415926535 / Wikimedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Above the Lieutenant River in Old Lyme, the regal Georgian mansion of Florence Griswold (1850-1937) became the focal point for the Impressionist Old Lyme Art Colony at the turn of the 20th century.

Scores of artists stayed with Florence in that time, including Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf, Matila Browne, Breta and Lydia Longacre and Wilson Irvine, to name just a few.

Every artist who visited the colony was invited to paint a panel in the house, and these total 43, most of which are on show in the dining room.

The house later became a museum, with extra exhibition space provided by the Krieble Gallery, which opened in 2002 and holds exhibitions that change up to four times a year.

The museum has a considerable endowment of Impressionist, landscape and modern painting by artists like Hassam, Milton Avery, Matilda Browne, Frederic Church and Edward Francis Rook.

5. The Book Barn

Source: jakkaje879 / shutterstock

A wonderland for bibliophiles, the Book Barn is a second hand bookstore with three locations across Niantic, all on Main Street.

In 2019 there were more than 350,000 books at the Book Barn, but this immense library will have grown even by the time you read this.

The quaint Main Barn sits just west of Niantic, while there’s a Downtown Shop by the Niantic Cinema, and Chapter Three is a bit further out of town on West Main Street.

Such is the size of the Main Barn that there’s an information booth at the entrance, with brochures to help you find your way.

Helpful staff can also point you in the right direction, and if you get overwhelmed there’s complimentary tea, coffee, cocoa, cookies and crackers to revive you.

6. Children’s Museum of Southeastern Connecticut

Source: Niantic Children's Museum / Facebook

Smaller children can learn and develop creativity through play at this highly-rated children’s museum.

At the Discovery Room here there’s a scientific thread running through all the activities and exhibits, like Microscopes, Train Table, Kaleidoscope, Creation Station, Magnet Wall and Maxi-Rollaway.

In this space there’s also a small collection of animals, including a bearded dragon, a leopard gecko, am observation bee hive, Australian tree frogs and a Russian tortoise.

In the Imagination Room, youngsters can built with foam blocks and role-play everyday situations at a market/cafe, village, market garden and fire station.

The fun continues outside at a playscape with climbing wall, separate area for toddlers, water table, dig pit, zip-line and tree house.

7. Samuel Smith Farmstead

Source: Pi.1415926535 / Wikimedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

This wonderfully preserved First Period colonial house was built around 1685 and lies in 17 acres in rural East Lyme.

Additions were made circa 1735 and 1812, but the property has held onto its colonial character and is accompanied by a barn and much of its original farmstead.

The building stands 1-1/2 stories tall, with a gambrel roof and five-bay facade.

Inside there’s a central chimney, as well as an unusual fireplace in the basement.

Among the many period features to survive are featheredged wood paneling from the early 18th century.

A restoration project is ongoing, but the Samuel Smith Farmstead is open for tours on Sunday afternoons between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

8. Harkness Memorial State Park

Source: Jennifer Yakey-Ault / shutterstock

When the heirs and philanthropists Edward and Mary Harkness established their summer home in neighboring Waterford they gave it the grandiose name “Eolia”, after the island home of Aeolus, the Greek god of winds.

Their Renaissance Revival mansion, overlooking the Sound was completed in 1907, and the great Beatrix Jones Farrand was hired to landscape the exquisite formal garden, with terraces, a pergola, colonnade and circular fountain.

The 300-acre estate was left to Connecticut by Mary in 1950, and you can visit to walk among the florid gardens, lawns and lofty trees, marveling at the views of Long Island Sound and touring the 42-room mansion on weekends.

9. Thomas Lee House

Source: Dmcoxe / wikipedia.org

It’s humbling to think that this house on West Main Street has been standing since 1660. The Thomas Lee House is one of the oldest wood frame houses in Connecticut in its primitive state, and was first restored in the early-20th century by the historian and preservationist Norman Isham.

Five bays across on the main facade, the house stands 1-1/2 stories tall, with a post-and-beam frame topped with a steeply pitched roof.

The building’s footprint was doubled about 1700, and then a lean-to for the kitchen and adjoining rooms came in 1765. The property was in the Lee family for 200 years before it was purchased by the East Lyme Historical Society in 1914. Inside you can appreciate the wooden paneling, period furniture, cooking implements and everyday tools like bellows and looms.

10. Niantic Farmers’ Market

Source: Matej Kastelic / shutterstock

At Methodist Street, opposite Niantic Bay Bicycles, the Niantic Farmers’ Market sets up every Thursday, 15:00-18:00, from the start of June to the end of October.

In 2019 there were more than 20 regular vendors, all of whom were producers who could vouch for their stock and give you tips on things like preparation and storage.

You could shop here for organic fruit and vegetables, farm-raised meat, eggs, fish, cheese, as well as pies, cannoli, cupcakes, syrups, fresh-squeezed lemonade, Creole cuisine, prepared salads, and lots more besides.

11. Nature’s Art Village

Source: Ritu Manoj Jethani / shutterstock

Just over the line in Montville, the sprawling Nature’s Art Village combines shopping and a set of distinct family attractions.

At the Shops you can lose all track of time browsing for arts and crafts, jewelry, educational toys, puzzles, minerals, fossils and beads.

The Past Antiques Marketplace is an immense antiques emporium, with more than 90 dealers on two floors and under one roof.

For family fun you’ve got Copper Creek Mini Golf, the mining-themed Discovery Depot and the Genius Museum, chronicling two centuries of American industrial ingenuity.

12. The Dinosaur Place at Nature’s Art Village

Source: Ritu Manoj Jethani / shutterstock

Children will be in awe of this Jurassic-themed attraction at Nature’s Art Village, where some 50 life-sized dinosaur models prowl in 60 acres of woodland.

These beasts are on a well-kept trail here, 1.5 miles long, and arcing around the lake, Raptor Bay.

Across the water is the park’s own volcano, which rumbles and smokes on the hour between 13:00 and 17:00. Kids can have a wild time, let loose at the largest splashpad in New England, at the massive T. Rex Tower Playscape, on Monty’s DINO-Sized Playground or sliding from the mouth of a T. Rex at the MAZEasaurus.

13. Cedar Ridge Golf Course

Source: Mikael Damkier / shutterstock

If you need to squeeze in a round there’s a well-reviewed public course in East Lyme.

Cedar Ridge is an executive par 3 but has 18 holes instead of nine.

You’ll have to use every iron in your bag, as five or six of the holes are more than 200 yards.

The fairways are forgiving, framed by light rough, and with bunkers and water that won’t come into play too much.

But the greens are not to be trifled with, being ultra-quick and laid out on surprising slopes.

As a par 3 Cedar Ridge is great for beginners, but will test seasoned golfers’ putting, pitch shots and iron-play.

Green fees range from just $15 for 9 holes, walking, Monday to Friday, to $40 for 18 with a cart on weekends.

14. Nehantic State Forest

Source: User:Magicpiano / Wikimedia | CC BY-SA 4.0

A big block of this 5,000 acre state forest is in East Lyme’s quiet north end.

This state forest is the oldest in New London County, having been purchased in sections from 1926, and occupies parts of Salem to the north and Lyme to the west.

On the East Lyme side there’s hiking to be done on the Nehantic Forest Road and the circuitous un-blazed trails that break off and rejoin it.

Go a short way west and the block in Lyme is more oriented towards outdoor recreation, thanks to the Blue-Blazed Nayantaquit Trail and the boating opportunities at Uncas Pond and Norwich Pond.

15. Fishing Charters

Source: TeodorLazarev / shutterstock

If bottom fishing is your thing, Waterford’s Mago Point, just over the Niantic, has a little community of fishing charter companies waiting to take you onto Long Island Sound to land some big fish from the deep.

Many of these companies, like Sunbeam Fleet, have been in business for decades, with skippers who know the waters like the backs of their hands.

They’ll give you all the pointers you need to help you bring in some monsters, from blue fish to largemouth bass, bonitos, black fish and breams.

Along with Sunbeam Fleet, there’s a whole directory of charter options here, including Petrel Fishing Charters, Mijoy Boat, Lucky Strike, JB Sportfishing, Black Hawk II and Tartan II.

The post 15 Best Things to Do in East Lyme (CT) appeared first on The Crazy Tourist.

In summer rural New Haven County is ripe for an epicurean adventure, taking you to craft breweries, vineyards and family-run PYO orchards with creameries and massive farm stands.

At this time of year you can get a handle on North Branford’s heritage at museums run by the Totoket Historical Society, which looks after an 18th-century house, a farm museum, a schoolhouse and an early gas station.

On the coast is Stony Creek, the jumping off point for the Thimble Islands, a beautiful and mysterious archipelago of granite islets.

1. Reynolds-Beers House

Source: Totoket Historical Society / Facebook

At 1740 Foxon Road, the Totoket Historical Society’s main museum office is in a handsome gambrel-roofed house with three dormers peeking through.

This is the Reynolds-Beers House, constructed by Hezekiah Reynolds in 1786 and with two ells at the back and east, added during the 19th century.

What’s special for a property of these proportions is just how much original interior detail has survived the test of time.

This goes most of all for the large amount of decorative panelling.

The house is open on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons all year.

2. Gordon S. Miller Farm Museum

If you time your visit right there’s a trove of artifacts to be discovered at this museum on the same site.

The Gordon S. Miller Farm Museum opened in 2002 and is full of genuine antique implements like two-man saws, tinware, hatchets, augers, coal shovels, hay knifes, threshing flails, saddles and more.

The museum is also a repository for other objects brought to light around North Branford, among them many Native American arrowheads.

Also worth checking out is the preserved 38-star flag, dating to 1876. The building was constructed as traditional post and beam barn and opens one Saturday a month in the spring, summer and fall.

3. Little White Gas Station

Source: CT State Historic Preservation Office / Facebook

To the rear of the farm museum on the same property is North Branford’s first gas station.

Then known as the Angelo Forte gas station, this little hexagonal building goes back to the 1920s and was originally set at the Regional Water Company property on Route 80 close to the High School.

The building was relocated to its present spot in 2007 and its interior is adorned with old gas station signs and license plates evoking the period.

You can take a look inside whenever the Miller Barn is open.

When we wrote this article the historical society was seeking a vintage gas pump to place outside to complete the ensemble.

4. Little Red Schoolhouse

Source: Magicpiano / Wikimedia | CC BY-SA 4.0

Starting in the summer of 2019 the Totoket Historical Society has opened up another riveting old site to the general public.

The Little Red Schoolhouse has a long and varied history.

It was completed as a one-room schoolhouse in 1805, but had become obsolete by 1904. For the next 25 years the building fell into decay before being restored by the League of Women Voters, who relocated it to its current spot.

For more than 20 years up to 1956 this was the Town Library, and since then has been a museum visited by schools.

What sets the Little Red Schoolhouse from other single-room schools is its age, and the wall-attached desks and benches take up three sides.

You can take a look around on the first Sunday of the month in spring summer and fall.

5. Northford Center Historic District

Source: Paperchaser29 / Wikimedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

You can continue on your journey through North Branford’s early years, via Middletown Avenue from the village centre in the south to the junction with the Old Post Road in the north.

This historic district has 85 contributing buildings, nearly all of which date back to before the Civil War.

Although most are houses, there’s also a library, the Little Red Schoolhouse, two churches and Northford town green itself.

The oldest building here is the saltbox Benjamin Howd I House (1705) at 1795 Middletown Avenue.

As you progress through time, what’s interesting is how the district holds a mirror up to Northford’s 19th-century industrial development, when it became the “Christmas card center of the world”. You’ll see that prosperity in the imposing Greek Revival and Italianate houses, but also the Northford Congregational Church (1846), built from sandstone.

This fine Gothic Revival edifice was designed by Henry Austin (1804-1891) who drew up several Yale University buildings.

6. Dudley Farm Museum

Source: goodstreetsorg / Flickr | CC BY

This 10-acre property nearby in Guilford was in the Dudley family for almost 300 years up David Dudley’s passing in 1991. The current farmhouse was built in 1845 and is preserved by a foundation as a museum for the region’s agricultural heritage.

You can tour the farmhouse, viewing period furniture and fittings, and learning details about the people who lived here.

The barns and outbuildings hold antique farm equipment, and children be pleased with the farmyard animals representative for the mid-19th century.

In the grounds are period herb and flower gardens, meadows, woods and arable farmland.

7. Rose Orchards

Source: MarcoFood / shutterstock

In the North Branford Countryside, Rose Orchards is the sort of rural business that does a bit of everything.

On hot summer afternoons you’ll be enticed by its frozen custard, and the almost limitless choice of sundaes, milkshakes, some mixing fresh fruit grown on the farm.

The PYO fruit season at Rose Orchards lasts from the end of June to the end of October, beginning with strawberries and ending with pumpkins, via blueberries, peaches, raspberries and lots of different apple varieties.

All of this produce is on sale at the farm stand, as well as cheeses, Connecticut maple syrup, pickles, preserves, fresh dairy products and pies in 14 different flavours.

And if you come with an appetite, Buck’s Grill serves up burgers, wraps, sandwiches, hot dogs and salads, as well as a tasty breakfast menu.

8. Northford Ice Pavilion

Source: hedgehog94 / shutterstock

For a bit of exercise or a family activity, Northford Ice Pavilion’s public skate sessions are an easy, economical option.

As of 2019 the rates are $8 per skater and $4 for skate rental.

Check the website for the full public skate schedule, as the Ice Pavilion is also the home rink for a host of area high school teams.

If you live locally there are adult and youth teams recruiting new players, while the rink also runs a Learn to Skate program for everyone from toddlers to grown-ups.

Classes run in eight-week sessions and take place Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays.

Each session includes 25 minutes of tuition and 30 minutes of practice time.

9. Thimble Island Brewing Company

Source: Thimble Island Brewing Company / Facebook

A trailblazer for Connecticut’s burgeoning craft brewing industry, Thimble Island has been in business for almost a decade, and puts out more than 10,000 barrels a year.

Until recently this was also the only brewery on the Connecticut shoreline, and both the can designs and taproom have a maritime aesthetic.

The flagship is the crowd-pleasing American Ale, an amber ale with a careful balance of hops and malt.

The taproom is open seven days and has 24 rotating draft lines, with brews like Vanilla Coffee Stout, Oktoberfest German lager and a whole spectrum of IPAs and sours to investigate.

Guided brewery tours are given on weekends, and there’s a New England-style seafood menu on Fridays and Saturdays, and a regular food truck on Sundays.

10. Stony Creek Brewery

Source: Stony Creek Beer / facebook

When it comes to location, Stony Creek Brewery on the Branford River is in a class of its own.

The airy taproom has a deck, terrace and yard overlooking the water, and even offers a window onto the brewery’s canning and bottling lines.

There’s a also little dock for the brewery on the river if you come by boat.

When it comes to the brews, Stony Creek has a whole line of hoppy IPAs dubbed “The Crankies”, as well as lagers and all sorts of creative stouts, porters and sours, and lots of creative seasonal beers.

Brewery tours take place on Saturdays and Sundays, while there’s a steady rotation of food trucks and live music every few days.

11. Bishop’s Orchards

Source: topseller / shutterstock

Another multifaceted rural attraction, Bishop’s Orchards is at two locations, in Northford and Guilford, and features pick-your-own fruit, a creamery, a winery and a farm market.

From early summer to late-fall you can pick strawberries, blueberries, peaches, raspberries, pears, apples and pumpkins.

There’s a helpful calendar on the farm’s website to let you know what will be ready and where.

Bishop’s Orchards’ winery was set up in 2005, growing Chardonnay, Vidal Blanc, Pinot, Gris, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, for wines from dry to sweet, together with fruit wines and hard ciders.

Drop by on weekends for tours and tastings.

Finally, that capacious farm market is food paradise, overflowing with fresh produce, artisanal cheese, organic treats, home-baked goodies and delicious “grab N go” meals”.

12. Rosabianca Vineyards

Source: Gayane / shutterstock

Family-owned and run, Rosabianca Vineyards has a tasting room in a quaint restored barn, pouring a variety of Italian-red and whites that run the gamut from sweet to dry.

This estate was the dream of family patriarch Andrea Rosabianca, who came to America from Amalfi more than 60 years ago.

Stay up to date with the vineyard’s website, which posts details of live comedy, music and even vinyasa yoga.

You’re free to bring your own snacks to enjoy with the wine, and there’s a pizza truck on Friday nights.

13. Thimble Islands

Source: phucTechnology / shutterstock

In Stony Creek Harbor, a few miles to the south is an archipelago of more than 100 rocky islands.

It’s thrilling to think that these landforms are the peaks of granite hills that were submerged during the last Ice Age.

Unlike many of the islands on Long Island Sound, the Thimble Islands are sturdy because of their granite bedrock and were settled in the 17th century.

The sheltered waters soon became a key deepwater anchorage, and one story goes that the pirate Captain William Kidd buried his treasure here.

There are 81 houses on the archipelago: Fourteen of the islands have only one house, while the most populated, Money Island, has 32. There are three boat companies at the Stony Creek Dock waiting to take you out on a narrated sightseeing cruise full of compelling stories.

14. Stony Creek

Source: Enfi / shutterstock

The little harbour village where you embark for trips around the Thimble Islands merits a bit more of your time.

Stony Creek has beautiful waterfront houses from the 19th century, some established as hotels when this village was a retreat for industrialists.

Also historic is the village’s pink granite quarry, which provided the material for the Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Station and the base of the Statue of Liberty, and is still operating today.

You can tie together these different strands at the Stony Creek Museum, which is free to enter and opens on Fridays and weekends.

Meanwhile Stony Creek Beach may be the most delightful beach in the state, with those grand seafront houses setting the scene behind.

15. Lake Saltonstall Recreation Area

Source: CSNafzger / shutterstock

North Branford is near the southernmost point of the Metacomet Ridge, a 200-million-year-old basalt fault that forms a rugged hump for 100 miles through Connecticut and Massachusetts up to the Vermont border.

One piece of the ridge lies to the south-west of North Branford at Lake Saltonstall, which is embedded in Saltonstall Mountain.

The land at the Lake Saltonstall Recreation Area is owned by the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority, granting access to permit-holders.

If you’re in the area for the long term, then these are inexpensive, costing $50 for a family for two years.

Lake Saltonstall is a fishing hotspot, with plenty of carp, yellow perch, trout, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass.

For hikers there’s a trail following the ridge through deep forest , treating you to dramatic views of the water, and over Foxon to the west.

The post 15 Best Things to Do North Branford (CT) appeared first on The Crazy Tourist.

Right in the town is the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation, commanded by the immense Foxwoods Resort Casino, with its monolithic hotel towers and endless gaming, dining, entertainment and shopping.

In the opposite direction at Groton is the region’s primary submarine base, with a real nuclear sub you can board.

There’s seafaring heritage of an older kind at Mystic, which has one of the top maritime museums in the United States, a world-beating aquarium and a main street made for pottering around.

In between, Ledyard boasts pastoral orchards, a historic house museum and the last working 19th-century sawmill in the state.

1. Foxwoods Resort Casino

Source: littlenySTOCK / shutterstock

Towering over the treeline on the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation is a Vegas-style megaresort.

The first casino arrived in 1986 and was joined by a hotel tower in the early 90s.

In the last 15 years Foxwoods has expanded at dizzying rate, and in 2015 an entire Tanger outlet mall opened here (more later). Foxwoods Resort Casino has two hotel towers (2,266 rooms in all), two huge performing arts venues, spas, a video arcade, standalone stores and a whole directory of restaurants, nightclubs and bars.

Not to forget gaming, there are more than 5,500 slot machines at Foxwoods more than 250 tables for roulette, craps, blackjack and poker.

2. Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center

Source: North woodsman / shutterstock

Much of the funding for this enlightening museum on the native peoples of eastern North America came from Foxwoods casino revenues.

The museum opened in 1998 in an airy, glass-clad building by New York’s Polshek and Partners (now Ennead Architects). Within are compelling artifacts from the 1500s to the 1900s, as well as handicrafts and artworks commissioned especially for the attraction.

Realistic 3D dioramas and interactives illustrate the history of the Mashantucket Pequot.

One immersive walk-through exhibit recreates an entire Pequot coastal village from the mid-16th century, with 51 life-sized figures engaged in crafts from weaving mats to sharpening arrows.

The building also comprises a 56-meter observation tower, where you can view the reservation and casino, and a big slice of rural south-eastern Connecticut.

3. The Submarine Force Museum

Source: Flickr user : https://www.flickr.com/photos/divemasterking2000 / Wikimedia | CC BY 2.0

A moment across the town line in Groton is the United States Navy’s main submarine base on the East Coast.

Groton’s time as a naval station began as long ago as 1868, and the base was adapted for submarines in the 1910s.

The museum here is managed by the Navy’s Naval History & Heritage Command Division and brims with submarine artifacts, but also has a small armada of vessels.

The star of the show is the nuclear sub, USS Nautilus, which we’ll cover next.

You can enter a reproduction of a Sturgeon-class sub’s attack center, peer through working periscopes, inspect midget submarines from World War II and see a full-sized replica of the Turtle, dating to 1775 and the first submarine to be deployed in combat.

The Medal of Honor Gallery pays tribute to the US Navy’s eight submarine Medal of Honor recipients.

4. USS Nautilus

Source: Road Travel America / Flickr | Public Domain Mark

It’s hard not to be awed by this vast and historic piece of hardware berthed in front of the Submarine Force Museum.

The USS Nautilus, in service from 1954 to 1980, was the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine.

Because of this new means of propulsion, the vessel broke a long list of submarine records in its first years of operation, including the longest submerged cruise and the highest speed.

Stepping aboard, the aft compartments, around the engine room are understandably off limits, but you can squeeze through the bridge, control room, galley, crew’s quarters and captain’s stateroom, all with the help of a self-guided audio device.

5. Maugle Sierra Vineyards

Source: Rostislav_Sedlacek / shutterstock

This relaxed but sophisticated winery is on a 100-acre farm with a history dating back to the 19th century.

The winegrowers here have plated hardy red varetials, Marquette and St. Croix, as well as the late frost white St. Pepin, to cope with Connecticut’s hard winters.

And on a snowy winter’s day you could repair to the cosy fireplace at the end of Maugle Sierra’s tasting room, which has an elegant mahogany bar.

In summer the view of the vines from the patio and deck is a treat, and there’s usually live music on Fridays.

In 2019 a single wine tasting came to $12 and included six wines (three whites, a rosé and two reds).

6. B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill

Source: probabilistic / Flickr | CC BY

From the beginning of September, the oldest steam-powered cider mill in the country stirs into action for a great family day out.

A National Historic Landmark, B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill was founded in 1881 and on weekends throughout the fall you can call in for cider-making demonstrations.

The mill’s store is open seven days a week through to the end of December, selling sweet cider and hard cider of course, but also apple pies, apple cider donuts, candy apples, pumpkin bread, kettle corn, as well as freshly picked apples and pumpkins.

7. Nathan Lester House

Source: Linda Davis / Flickr | CC BY

In more than 100 acres of grounds stands a simple but well-proportioned farmhouse from the end of the 18th century.

The property is owned by the Town of Ledyard, and the house and its accompanying barns are full of artifacts belonging to the Ledyard Historical Society.

On Tuesday, Thursday and weekend afternoons in summer you can tour the period interiors and pore over centuries of Ledyard history at the Tool Museum.

Out in the grounds is the sweet Great Oak Garden and more than 2.5 miles of trails to wander along.

All of this is free, though donations are welcome.

8. Main Sawmill

Source: Pi.1415926535 / Wikimedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

At 175 Iron Street in Ledyard sits the only working up-down sawmill in Connecticut.

This water-powered sash mill was built by one Israel Brown in 1869 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972 when it was restored to working order.

The saw, oriented vertically, is housed in a wood frame structure with a gabled roof, and is fed logs through a wide opening in the front.

The mechanism is powered by an iron water turbine attached to a system of pulleys and belts.

The Main Sawmill opens up for free demonstrations on Saturdays in the spring and fall, when you can see it make light work of locally harvested timber.

9. Holmberg Orchards & Winery

Source: Jules_Kitano / shutterstock

A lovely way to spend a fall day in Connecticut is on a bucolic farm picking your own apples.

Holmberg Orchards is in its fourth generation and set in the rambling hills of Gales Ferry.

In the autumn you can pick 25 apple varieties as they come into season, from Gala to Macoun.

There are also pears (Bartlett, Bosc etc) and pumpkins, and you can turn a visit into a family day out on weekends with tractor rides, cider donuts and slushies.

Two grape varieties, Pinot Blanc and Gewurztraminer, are also cultivated on the farm.

The historic Wine Barn (c. 1850), built from old American chestnut, is open Saturdays and Sundays between Memorial Day weekend and the start of November.

For a $10 taster you’ll be given half-ounce pours of any seven wines or ciders.

And finally, Holmberg’s Farm Market is open all year for fresh produce, specialty foods and home-baked pies, muffins, donuts, breads, cookies and much more.

10. Grand Theater at Foxwoods

Source: Melinda Nagy / shutterstock

On any scale the main venue for shows at Foxwoods would be vast.

The Grant Theater can seat 4,000, and despite its hangar-like dimensions is praised for its acoustics, unbroken views and comfort.

The seating is laid out on three large tiers: Orchestra, Parterre and then Mezzanine in the nosebleeds, with two centrally- located VIP sections.

The program is diverse, and in late-2019 some of the big names were Jerry Seinfeld, Rick Ross & Jeezy, the B-52s, Incubus, Jay Leno and ZZ Top.

There’s also a steady stream of comedians, magicians and music artists at the Fox Theater, and at more intimate spaces like the Atrium Bar Lounge.

11. Tanger Outlets Foxwoods

Source: Michael Dubenetsky / shutterstock

If you need a break from the gaming floor at Foxwoods there’s now a sizeable outlet mall at the resort.

This is the first in Tanger’s nationwide chain of malls to be housed under one roof, and among the brands are Nike, Gap Factory Outlet, Michael Kors, H&M, Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, Samsonite, Levi’s, J. Crew, Clarks, Guess, Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and many more premium brands.

A bonus is that Foxwoods’ Rewards Points are accepted by about 3/4 of the stores here.

There’s also a handful of outlets for sweet treats, like Doc-Popcorn, Cinnabon and Häagen-Dazs.

12. HighFlyer Zipline

Source: Michael Dubenetsky / shutterstock

On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays you take an adrenaline-pumping flight, high above Mashantucket’s woodland.

You’ll ascend the 33-story Fox Tower where a zip-line three quarters of a mile long zooms over the landscape as far as the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center.

On the ride you’ll reach a top speed of 60 mph, with a bird’s eye view of the landscape and the wind in your hair.

With four parallel lines, this is the only zip-line in the United States to be launched from a hotel tower.

There’s a complimentary shuttle service between the Fox Tower and museum for riders and spectators.

13. Lake of Isles

Source: Bohbeh / shutterstock

If you have money to burn you can play one of the best courses in Connecticut at Lake of Isles, next to Foxwoods Resort.

This 36-hole facility was designed by esteemed architect Rees Jones, and has a North and South Course, both praised for their expansive layouts.

The one available to the public is the North Course, bending around the north shore of the club’s 90-acre eponymous lake.

This track takes in some testing wetland areas, with a front nine marked by a couple of tricky dog-leg par 4s and a rolling back nine with a mammoth par 5s at the 15th.

Given the massive scale of the North Course, carts are obligatory, and a round can cost upwards of $100, although you can play nine holes in fall for as little as $69.

14. High Rollers Luxury Lanes and Sports Lounge

Source: Aleksandar Karanov / shutterstock

In keeping with the opulence of Foxwoods there’s even a high end bowling alley/restaurant at the resort.

With chandeliers and over-sized leather banquettes, High Rollers Luxury Lanes evokes the atmosphere of early Vegas, but mixes that with state-of-the-art technology and a menu for all tastes.

There are 20 lanes in total (six VIP), all of which conform to Professional Bowlers Association regulations, and all with full food and beverage service.

There are large flat-screens throughout, and billiards and shuffleboards in the sports lounge.

Check the website for nightly promotions.

15. Mystic

Source: Andreas Juergensmeier / shutterstock

Just off Ledyard’s south-eastern tip is the picture-book village of Mystic, which embodies everything people love about the New England coast.

Mystic’s Main Street is a string of upmarket boutiques and maritime-oriented gift shops, and spanning the Groton and Stonington sides of the Mystic River is a century old bascule bridge with an exposed mechanism and two massive counterweights overhead.

The Mystic Seaport Museum upriver shows you all the trades of a traditional maritime town, and docked in front is the Charles W.

Morgan (1841) the only surviving wooden whaling ship from the 19th-century American merchant fleet.

Also indispensible for families is the Mystic Aquarium, renowned for mammals like Steller sea lions and New England’s only beluga whales.

The post 15 Best Things to Do in Ledyard (CT) appeared first on The Crazy Tourist.

What will strike you right away is the total absence of modern commercial development in a town that has fought hard down the years to preserve its homey character and abundant open space.

The Devil’s Den Preserve covers most of the north of Weston and was founded by the philanthropist daughter of Lucius Pond Ordway, who part-owned the mining company that would become 3M.

After an industrial boom in the early 19th century Weston, went into decline until the 1900s and the roads brought New York commuters, artists, musicians and people from theater world.

In the 21st century Weston is touted one of the best places to live in Connecticut, and among the wealthiest communities in the United States.

Let’s explore the best things to do in and around Weston:

1. Devil’s Den Preserve

Source: Dean Bouton / shutterstock

Mostly in Weston but also crossing the town line into Redding is the largest nature preserve in Fairfield County and one of the largest in the entire Metropolitan New York area.

Devil’s Den has extraordinary natural diversity on the watershed of the west branch of the Saugatuck River and can be discovered on more than 20 miles of trails, bringing you to waterfalls and high rocky ledges, which we’ll detail below.

Some 140 bird species have been recorded on this land, from pileated woodpeckers to ruffed grouses, and more than 500 kinds of trees and wildflowers grow here.

The main parking area at the end of Pent Road has maps, so you won’t necessarily need to plan your hike in advance.

2. Coley Homestead

Source: Weston Historical Society / Facebook

The home of the Weston Historical Society is this 19th-century homestead, established in 1834 by David Dimon Coley and occupied by five generations of the Coley family over almost 170 years.

The property, presented as a museum, is made up of the farmhouse (c.1841), a cattle shed (c.1880), a carriage house (c.1840), a big barn and an array of smaller outbuildings.

The farmhouse blends Greek Revival and Victorian elements, having been altered as the century progressed.

In the barn is a large assemblage of Coley-family carpentry tools and farming implements donated to the society by local families.

You’ll seed drills, chisels, saws, planes, skimmers for maple sugaring, pulleys, baskets and anvils going back hundreds of years.

Check the calendar for seasonal events like the Music at the Barn concert series in summer and the Scar Fair every Halloween.

3. Weir Farm National Historic Site

Source: Nancy Kennedy / shutterstock

One of only two sites in the national park service to be tied to the visual arts is practically on Weston’s doorstep at Weir Farm.

This was the home of the American Impressionist J. Alden Weir, who welcomed luminaries like John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, Albert Pinkham Ryder and John Twachtman here in the early 20th century.

Walden’s house, two separate studios and host of other outbuildings are in 60 acres of bucolic fields and woods, with the idyllic Weir Pond a short walk away.

The property was described by Weir as the “Great Good Place”, and you can tour the art-rich house and studios, learning about Weir, his daughter Dorothy and her sculptor husband Mahonri Young.

The couple took over the property after J. Alden Weir passed away in 1919. May through October the visitor center provides free-to-use art supplies, so you can channel all this inspiration into a masterpiece of your own.

4. Lachat Town Farm

Source: Lachat Town Farm / Facebook

Just over 20 years ago one Leon Lachat deeded his working farm in 42 acres to the town of Weston and the Nature Conservancy as a way of preserving some local agricultural heritage.

The conservancy looks after the wooded area backing onto Devil’s Den, while the town is responsible for the meadow to the front.

The farmhouse, raised in 1770, had been in danger of being torn down, but is going through a long-term restoration thanks to fundraising efforts.

As for things to do, there’s a whole menu of programs at the farm, like knitting classes, storytimes, tai chi, gardening talks, art exhibitions, painting workshops and a farmers’ market on the last Sunday of the month, June through October.

There are also fun seasonal events here, involving bonfires, live music, arts and crafts, face-painting, pony rides and petting zoos.

Come winter, Weston families flock to the farm as it is maybe the best place in town to go sledding.

5. Trout Brook Valley Preserve

Source: Smileus / shutterstock

Owned by the Aspetuck Land Trust, safeguarding land in Weston, Westport, Fairfield and Easton, the Trout Brook Valley Preserve is a 730-acre tract of land that was saved from developers in 1999. One of people responsible for this achievement was Westport resident and Hollywood star Paul Newman.

Where there was going to be a golf course and luxury condominiums is now pristine nature with scenic vantage points and old apple and blueberry orchards.

You can explore the preserve on 14 miles of trails, some of which link with the adjoining Crow Hill and Jump Hill preserves, and the west shore of the Saugatuck Reservoir, letting you walk for hours without seeing civilization.

6. Norfield Congregational Church

Source: Dougtone / Flickr | CC BY-SA

In Weston Center, this dignified Greek Revival church went up in 1830, and has a congregation that goes back to 1757. With a wood frame on a granite foundation, the building has come through plenty of changes in the last 200 years, most notably to the spire, rebuilt in 1987. Now this landmark could be considered Georgian Revival for its round-arched windows and unusually large modillions on the pediments and cornices.

The church, in a complex that includes a parish hall, Christian Education Building, memorial garden and lawn, is the cornerstone of an 18-acre historic district made up of 16 contributing buildings.

The most remarkable of these is the house at 47 Norfield Road, once attached to the Weston Boarding School, and largely unaltered since 1795. In June church lawn is the setting for a country fair that has been running for more than 110 years.

7. Katharine Ordway Preserve

Source: Dr. Garden / shutterstock

The founder of the Devil’s Den Preserve lived at 177 Good Hill Road in the south of Weston.

Katharine Ordway (1899-1979) is an interesting figure whose father acquired 60% of the stock of the mining company that would later be known as 3M! She made an invaluable contribution to The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut, and after she passed away a piece of her private estate was turned into a 62-acre preserve.

There are three miles of trails in mixed hardwood forest, and the arboretum has a darn redwood and an American chestnut that Ordway personally selected.

Katharine’s mansion is at 177 Good Hill Road, and occasionally opens for tours given by the Weston Historical Society.

8. Amber Falls

Source: SvetMedvedeva / shutterstock

From Devil’s Den’s main parking lot on Pent Road you can head off on a 90-minute hike (there and back) to a waterfall deep in west side of the preserve.

Amber Falls is served by a combination of the Pent, McDougal West, Sap Brook and Den Trails.

After crossing a bridge, this small but picturesque falls and their gorge will soon hove into view upstream.

Here a western branch of the Saugatuck River drops around six meters over a flight of cascades, all enclosed in hardwood forest.

9. Great Ledge

Source: Mad Hare Imagery / shutterstock

At the northern tip of the Devil’s Den preserve is a space by the Saugatuck Reservoir, owned by the Redding Land Trust.

True to its name, Great Ledge consists of a soaring granite gneiss cliff formed in the Ordovician period as long as 500 million years ago.

Great Ledge is frequented by climbers, but there’s a surprisingly light 4.4-mile loop to this spectacular lookout, fitted with information boards telling you about the plants and animal life in the area.

There’s a parking lot on Dayton Road in Redding where you can pick up the Pinchbeck Trail to start this hike.

10. Bisceglie-Scribner Park

Source: David Lee / shutterstock

Tucked into the woods off the Newtown Turnpike in Weston is a place for residents to get some exercise and take part in sports.

Bisceglie-Scribner Park is just over 50 acres and contains baseball fields, a fitness trail, a picnic area, children’s playground and an inviting swimming pond.

This watched by lifeguards seven days a week, coinciding with the school summer break.

Unfortunately for visitors the pond is open only to Weston residents and their guests.

11. Bradley Edge Tool Company Historic District

Source: Swroche / wikipedia

If you find yourself on Lyons Plain Road in the east of Weston you’ll be passing through a historical district mostly made up of houses constructed between 1820 and 1925. Nearly all of these have a connection to the Bradley Edge Tool Company, which had a factory complex on the Saugatuck River, lost to fire in 1911.

The outstanding properties here include the 1830s Greek Revival Gershom W. Bradley House(No.  115), Curtis Wood House (No .135) and the stunning Italianate Miles Bradley House, from 1859 sitting at No. 110. There are also fascinating examples of rural workers’ housing in the district, to give you a clear picture of a 19th-century western Connecticut residential community.

12. Ambler Farm

Source: Ambler Farm / Facebook

A mile or so over Weston’s town line, Ambler Farm dates back more than 200 years and is owned by the neighboring town of Wilton.

If you’re just dropping by you can wander the organic gardens, cast your eye over the historic buildings, meet the barnyard animals, take a picnic and see what’s on ripe at the seasonal farm stand.

Ambler Farm’s calendar is chock full of educational programs and events, from live music to cooking classes, maple syruping and tomato tasting, some of which require advanced registration and a fee and others that you can attend for free on the spur of the moment.

13. Weston Farmers’ Market

Source: Javani LLC / shutterstock

On Saturday mornings, May through mid-October, a farmers’ market pops up on the Coley Homestead shaded lawn.

On a typical visit you can expect to find local produce, honey, homemade sauces, jelly and all kinds of baked goods.

You’ll also come across handmade crafts, soaps, fabrics, and there’s normally plenty of entertainment for families.

As well as the satisfaction of supporting local businesses, you might be pleased to know that vendor rental fees go towards charitable organizations in Weston.

14. Wilton Playshop

Source: Matusciac Alexandru / shutterstock

You don’t have to travel further than Wilton for an evening of live entertainment, by a theatre group founded more than 80 years ago.

Shows take place in a former church annex, constructed in 1871 and later moved down the hill and joined to what used to be a goat barn.

Wilton Playshop’s plays and musicals are produced with lots of dedication and no little talent.

These are also intimate performances, to the point where you can join the cast in the green room (the former goat barn) during intermission.

Picks from the 2019-20 season included The Lion in Winter, Evita and Jekyll & Hyde.

15. Saugatuck Reservoir

Source: Eric Urquhart / shutterstock

This sizeable body of water warrants a mention as it makes up the entirety of Weston’s north-east boundary.

Impounding the river of the same name, the Saugatuck Reservoir provides water for the city of Norwalk and covers more than 800 acres.

It was dammed in the 1930s, but only after a lot of wrangling, as many residents refused to sell their property.

After the association created to fight the reservoir had been defeated by the courts and Bridgeport Hydraulic Company Holdings, the villages of Hull and Valley Forge were submerged beneath these waters.

The current owner is Aquarion, which sells season fishing permits ($25) if you have a Connecticut fishing licence.

Among the many species recorded in the reservoir are small and largemouth bass, sunfish, yellow and white perch and brook, brown and rainbow trout.

For walkers, the Saugatuck Valley Trail weaves through Aquarion land from the northern tip down the west shore.

The post 15 Best Things to Do in Weston (CT) appeared first on The Crazy Tourist.

This place had long been frequented for its natural springs, and in 1771 a young John Adams spent some time here to partake of the waters.

Until the late-20th century the source of the Willimantic was a hub of industry, and you can discover the history of manufacturing at Stafford’s wonderful historical society museum.

Main Street Stafford Springs has a leftfield, arty character, with a restored vaudeville theater, eccentric little shops and a beloved craft cider brewery.

Let’s explore the best things to do in and around Stafford, Connecticut:

1. Stafford Historical Society Museum

Source: Daderot / Wikimedia | Public domain

The headquarters for Stafford’s historical society has a fitting home, inside an exquisite Victorian building constructed as the Stafford Mineral Waters Company’s bottling house in 1885. Over the last 135 years this has housed the Converse Woolen Company’s offices, Stafford probate judge’s offices and the town library.

On two floors the society’s museum goes into depth on local industries and companies, like B. Schwanda & Sons, which manufactured buttons using mother of pearl shipped over from Australia.

Also compelling is the contents of an early-20th-century pharmacy in Stafford Springs.

There’s information about the Podunk and Nipmuck Indians who used Stafford Springs’ waters, and the town’s time in the 18th and 19th centuries as a health resort.

One character you’ll learn about is Ephraim H. Hyde (1812-1896), who was Connecticut’s Lieutenant Governor in the 1860s and, amongst other things, had a hand in what would eventually become the University of Connecticut nearby in Storrs.

2. The Stafford Palace Theater

Source: Vershinin89 / shutterstock

This rather nondescript-looking brick building on Main Street in Stafford Springs actually has a lot of history, having been founded as a stage for vaudeville in 1900. By the early 1940s the Stafford Palace Theater was playing movies but closed in 1960, becoming a bar/club.

Since the 2010s the building has been restored as a vibrant performing arts venue for live music, comedy, movie screenings and annual events like the Wicked Weekend horror market and film fest in December.

3. Stafford Springs Art Walk

Source: Arts on Main Stafford Springs / Facebook

What may strike you about Stafford Springs is just how much life there is in this remote rural village.

In the last decade Main Street has built a strong art community, and those 19th-century mill buildings create a backdrop for an assortment of studios, independent eateries and shops you won’t find anywhere else.

On the second Friday of every month shops here stay open until 20:00, and will normally be dedicated to a featured artists.

There will also be live music in a range of styles, and if you’re busy in the evening you can come back the next morning for the “Morning After Party”.

4. Crazy Cock Cider

Source: Stafford Cidery - home of Crazy Cock Cider / Facebook

Where almost every town in Connecticut has a craft brewery it’s refreshing in more ways than one that Stafford Springs is the proud home to a cidery.

Crazy Cock Cider is all about creative and fun hard cider, with a taproom on Main Street open Thursday to Monday for pints, samplers and growler refills.

For an idea of what’s in store, there’s Tea-Hee, brewed with chamomile, the chocolate-flavored Cock-O-Lot, Sweet Vanilla, Gingerade infused with ginger and Hot Cock, which packs a cayenne pepper punch.

If all these varieties sound a bit wild, Sanity is a classic semi-sweet hard cider with nothing but the taste of apples.

5. Stafford Motor Speedway

Source: HowdeeDoodat / Flickr | CC BY-SA

Long before it was a stop on the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series tour, this half-mile oval track was the Agricultural Park, opened in 1870. You might be intrigued to learn that the speedway follows exactly the same course as the track for horseracing 150 years ago.

The speedway is a 21st-century sports venue, with seating for 8,000 and facilities for national television coverage.

There’s racing every Friday night between May and September, and the NASCAR Whelen modifieds are in town three times during the season for the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler 200, the Stafford 150 and the NAPA Fall Final 150.

6. Rusty Wallace Racing Experience

Source: HowdeeDoodat / Flickr | CC BY-SA

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to get behind the wheel of a genuine NASCAR racecar or even just ride along you can find out on at Stafford Speedway.

Here the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience, endorsed by the NASCAR icon, offers driving experiences and ride alongs in a genuine stockcar.

Ride alongs are three to five laps, but if you want to take the wheel you can drive for anything from five to 50 laps for a full race day experience.

7. Shenipsit State Forest

Source: Jeff Holcombe / shutterstock

Much of the land on the west side of Stafford is given over to the Shenipsit State Forest, which is spread in 11 parcels over this town, Ellington and Somers.

At the forest’s headquarters in Stafford there’s a great little museum about the Civilian Conservation Corps, which we’ll talk about next.

The forest is on the eastern cusp of the Connecticut River Valley, which gives peaks like the 328-meter Soapstone Mountain in Somers extra prominence.

At this summit there’s a lookout tower for astounding vistas of the valley, the Berkshires in Massachusetts and Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire.

Soapstone Mountain is the highest point on the Shenipsit Trail, which wends its way south, roughly parallel to the Connecticut River for 50 miles.

The North section can be joined at Greaves Road in Stafford for an epic trip through the forest, traversing Soapstone Mountain and other tall peaks like Bald Mountain, Perkins Mountain and Rattlesnake Mountain.

8. Connecticut Civilian Conservation Corps Museum

Source: Daderot / Wikimedia | Public domain

If you visit the Shenipsit State Forest on a weekend in summer there will be an enlightening museum about the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a work relief program during the Great Depression.

CCC projects provided unskilled manual labor jobs for job-seeking, unmarried men between the ages of 17 and 28. The museum, at 166 Chestnut Hill Road, is in the only surviving CCC barracks building in Connecticut, and chronicles this organization with tools, documents, photographs, memorabilia and personal accounts sourced from all over the Northeast United States.

9. Stafford Library

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The sort of amenity that most small towns wish they had, Stafford Library is more than just a place for Stafford residents to loan books, magazines and DVDs.

There’s a wealth of programs for people of all ages from summer movie screenings outside to storytimes, open art studios, book clubs, interesting talks and events like a Halloween party for kids.

If you’re just passing through, Stafford the library can be a valuable place to get your bearings, with material about the region, computer access, free Wi-Fi and helpful, welcoming staff.

10. Holt Memorial Fountain

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There’s a rather curious sight at the junction of Main Street and River Road in Stafford Springs.

This fountain under a granite canopy supported by four pillars is for Charles Holt, who owned the Phoenix Woolen Company and president of the Stafford Savings Bank.

He died in 1892 and the monument was erected two years later, donated by Holt’s wife, Joana and daughter, Celia.

The low, outer basin is often bedded with flowers, and the fountain forms a roundabout.

In 1990 there was a proposal to shift the Holt Memorial Fountain out of the road to help traffic flow, but this was firmly opposed by the town.

11. Peaked Mountain

Source: Maridav / shutterstock

For more staggering natural scenery, Peaked Mountain is a nature reserve a few minutes across the state line in Monson, MA.

These 2,000 acres of former commercial forest encompass the summit of the 374-metre Peaked Mountain, which afford jaw-dropping views of the New England countryside, 60 miles north to Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire and south back to the Shenipsit State Forest.

At the Valley View vantage point you can gaze west to Springfield and Boulder Hill.

Hiking from the reserve’s main entrance there’s an elevation gain of more than 140 meters, so you’re sure to get a good workout on a 90-minute round trip.

On your hike you may spot birds like cardinals, blue jays, warblers and thrushes, as well as raptors like owls, hawks and turkey vultures.

12. Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary

Source: Paul Sparks / shutterstock

In the same upland region known as the Quinebaug Highlands there’s another sweep of protected nature against the state border in Monson.

The Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary was founded by one Arthur D. Norcross in 1964, and over time a 100- acre woodlot has burgeoned into 8,000 acres of meadows and forests for the protection of New England’s native plants and animals.

There are 2.5 miles of trails, and the foundation is keen to engage the public with lectures, guided walks, indoor classroom programs and in setting up bluebird nestboxes with children on Saturdays in January, February and March.

13. Queen Bee Vineyard

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With views for miles in the rugged south Massachusetts countryside, Queen Bee Vineyard is a boutique winery opening for tours, tastings and purchases on weekend afternoons.

Planted here are mostly French and American hybrid grapes that do well in the vigorous New England climate and go into mostly single varietal wines.

Among the whites are Aurore, Chardonnay, Edelweiss, La Crosse, Traminette, Vidal and Vignoles.

And reds include Frontenac, Chancellor, Marquette, Vincent and Chambourcin.

The wines available at the tasting room will change with the seasons.

When we put this list together in autumn 2019 there was a fruity La Crosse, an aromatic Traminette and a full-bodied Vincent.

14. Nipmuck State Forest

Source: Jennifer Yakey-Ault / shutterstock

Scattered over Union and Ashford, this 9,000-acre state forest has a south parcel right next to Stafford Springs.

It’s important not to confuse this 900-acre parcel with the one in Union by Bigelow Hollow State Park.

In Stafford’s south-eastern corner you can hike in peaceful mixed woodland along the Bradley and Murray Trails.

The trails intersect close to a spur on Stone House Road, and the Bradley Trail heads east while the longer Murray Trail continues south as far as Polster Road in Willington.

15. Staffordville Reservoir

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This long and narrow body of water extends north from Stafford’s Staffordville section, covering a little under 150 acres and with homes all along its eastern shore.

If you’re a Staffordville resident, tenant or are visiting someone who lives here you’ll be able to use the little sandy beach at the south end, with a satisfying view up the length of the reservoir.

Motorized boating is also permitted at the Staffordville Reservoir (subject to strict rules), and kayakers and paddleboarders are a common sight in the warmer months.

The post 15 Best Things to Do in Stafford (CT) appeared first on The Crazy Tourist.

And even though Orange has a mostly suburban character there’s lots of 19th-century history around the Town Green, with a refined Federal-style church and historic houses maintained by the Orange Historical Society.

Something that brings the crowds to the town is the Orange Country Fair, an autumn extravaganza rooted in the 1890s.

Yale’s magnificent architecture and high-quality museums are never far away, and the same goes for beaches by Long Island Sound in Milford and West Haven.

Let’s explore the best things to do in and around Orange, Connecticut:

1. PEZ Visitor Center

Source: Sean Wandzilak / shutterstock

Right here in Orange is the United States headquarters for a candy icon, with a Visitor Center that exceed expectations.

For one thing, you can marvel at the world’s largest collection of PEZ memorabilia, all neatly presented in glass display cases.

And for something you probably never thought you’d see, there’s a fully customized PEZ-themed motorcycle, designed by Orange County Choppers, from the TV Show American Chopper.

Engaging, interactive exhibits tell you all you need to know about a brand that was founded in Austria more than 90 years ago.

You can see what’s happening on the factory floor through viewing windows, and video displays show how both the candy and the famous dispensers are manufactured.

And it goes without saying but the factory shop stocks flavors and dispensers that you won’t find anywhere else.

2. Orange Center Historic District

Source: The original uploader was Staib at English Wikipedia. / Wikimedia | CC BY 2.5

After World War II Orange began suburbanizing at breakneck speed, but a little patch of the old 19th-century agrarian town remains at the Orange Center Historic District around the Town Green.

All along Orange Center Road between the cemetery and Nan Drive you’ll come across sparkling examples of Federal, Greek Revival and late-Victorian architecture.

Two of the properties from here are in the care of the Orange Historical Society, including the elaborate Academy, which we’ll talk about below.

The district’s linchpin is the splendid Orange Congregational Church (1810). In the Federal style, this monument was designed by the self-taught architect David Hoadley, and features a Palladian window and a ceremonious domed belfry.

3. Orange Country Fair

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The town’s big annual event takes place in mid-September at the High Plains Community Center, right by the historic district.

The Orange Country Fair has a long history, first running from 1898 to 1912 and now enjoying a revival since 1975. All of the activities that you would want from a country fair happen over two busy days, filled with pig racing, a hand-saw contest, birds of prey demonstrations, a classic car show, amusement rides, a horse draw, an antique tractor pull, live music and much more.

Fair food is of course integral to the event, and there’s chili, fried dough, clam chowder, funnel cakes, Philly cheese steak subs, roast beef au jus rolls, to name a few choices.

4. High Plains Community Center

Source: Diego Trabucco / shutterstock

For the rest of the year the High Plains Community Center is the place to go in Orange if you want to be active.

The number of indoor and outdoor facilities will barely fit into this paragraph but includes softball fields, soccer fields, a disc golf course, a fitness center, a gymnasium and two picnic pavilions.

For lighter exercise you can follow the Paul Ode Nature Trail or a meandering walking track.

There’s also an indoor pool at High Plains Community Center, which is open to non-residents although you’ll have to pay a slightly higher rate.

5. The Academy

Source: The original uploader was Staib at English Wikipedia. / Wikimedia | CC BY 2.5

The Orange Historical Society cares for three beautiful old properties in the town.

One that is certain to catch your eye on Orange green is this two-story clapboard school building, with a decorative gable structure.

The Academy has had a few different uses in its time: It was built in 1878 to replace an earlier, almost identical school where students would be charged tuition, which is where the name “The Academy” comes from.

Its replacement was a small high school, with an assembly room on first floor and a space for classes above.

A little later this building became Orange’s Town Hall and the home of the town court, a role it held until 1967. Since 1989 The Academy has been leased to the historical society and holds the Mary Rebecca Woodruff Research Center, with deep collections of artifacts, documents, photographs, maps, clippings and more for serious research.

6. William Andrew House

Source: LisaHendricks / wikipedia

The oldest surviving building in the town is a 1-1/2 story wood frame Georgian house at 131 Old Tavern Road.

This building dates back to approximately 1740 and was raised by Nathan Bryan whose family was prominent in Orange and engaged in the shipping industry.

Nineteen different families have resided at this building since those days, but the historic character of the William Andrew House has changed little.

In 2000 the property was bought by the town and is managed by the Orange Historical Society as a museum.

Inside you can peruse finds from an archeological dig that took place on the site not long after.

7. The Stone-Otis House

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

Also cared for by the Orange Historical Society is this modified Greek Revival house on the east side of the Town Green.

It was constructed by Sarah and Dennis stone around 1830 and indicates the high level of workmanship prevalent in Orange at the time.

Dennis Stone ran one of Orange’s first two general stores from this property, and the Historical Society has restored this space.

Also on the first floor you can look around the parlor, a bedroom and a keeping room.

Upstairs is a nursery, a bed chamber, a children’s room and an interesting display of clothing from the 19th century.

Lastly “Grandma’s Attic” on the third floor shows all the curiosities that 19th-century families might store for the long term.

At the back is an award-winning herb garden growing medicinal, culinary and household herbs, some of which go into goodies like jellies, teas and seasoning mixes at the society’s gift shop.

Tours of the Stone-Otis House are by appointment.

8. New Haven

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If you get lucky with traffic, parts of Orange are just 15 minutes by road from downtown New Haven via the Connecticut Turnpike.

New Haven is of course the city of Yale University, which puts high-quality museums at your fingertips.

The Peabody Museum of Natural History is one of the largest and oldest university museums in its field in the world, and at the Yale University Art Gallery you can enjoy masterpieces by Gauguin and van Gogh.

Something you have to see as you tour Yale’s Collegiate Gothic architecture is the modern Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, famed for holding one of 48 extant copies of the Gutenberg Bible, along with ancient papyri, Medieval manuscripts and personal papers of writers like D.H. Lawrence, Gertrude Stein and James Joyce.

Downtown New Haven is dynamic and cosmopolitan, offering almost any cuisine you can think of on Howe Street, Chapel Street and Crown Street.

The city is also renowned for its Neapolitan-style pizza, “apizza”, baked in coal-fired ovens and served at spots like the fame Frank Pepe Pizzaeria Napoletana.

9. B&B Flower Farm

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West Haven’s B&B Flower Farm is much more than the name suggests.

Of course, the farm sells seasonal flowers, but also handmade crafts, fresh produce like corn and tomatoes, as well as ice cream in many flavors.

In summer and fall this is a great little attraction for wee ones, with tractor rides, pony rides and a trip through 11 acres of woods on a horse-drawn wagon.

B&B Flower Farm keeps a small herd of friendly goats, and children will be able to right up to the paddock and pet them.

10. Wrights Pond

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Directly on the south side of Old Grassy Hill Road you can park up beside this little body of water, which has a beautiful backdrop of hardwood forest to the south.

There are benches by the parking area, and in warmer months you could stop to feed the waterfowl.

Fishers occasionally post themselves on the banks in summer.

When temperatures drop in winter the frozen surface becomes an outdoor skating rink.

The ice is check daily by the Parks and Recreation department for safety and a sign will be put up to indicate that the ice is safe.

11. Racebrook Tract

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Split by the Orange and Woodbridge line, the Racebrook Tract is 420 acres of nature what was two separate farms up to the 20th century.

Something interesting about this land is that the dry-stone walls cross-crossing the tract are the original farm boundaries.

Four blazed trails ramble through a relatively level landscape entering mixed hardwood forest and imposing groves of white pines.

By the trailhead for the red trail in the south-west corner is the Orange Arboretum, growing three varieties of spruce, as well as pine oak, white oak and birch trees.

From the north-east corner of the parking area here there’s a wheelchair accessible trail paved with asphalt and taking in a boardwalk over wetlands.

12. Grassy Hill Country Club

Source: Mikael Damkier / shutterstock

Established in 1927, this public course has an upmarket air for its course quality and services.

Grassy Hill is on softly undulating terrain with lightning-quick greens and three sets of tees to suit all levels.

The layout has been devised to bring the best out of big-hitters, but will also reward accurate approach play.

This goes for the epic par 5 5th, at 612 yards, and the par 3 3rd, down a sudden slope to a well-guarded green.

There are full practice facilities at Grassy Hill, including a putting green, driving range, chipping green and practice bunker, as well as a pro shop and Mulligan’s Bar & Grill.

You can call in your order at the 9th tee and have it ready for you as you sit down.

13. Silver Sands State Park

Source: Jay Yuan / shutterstock

For a day at the beach, this state park in Milford is worth every minute of the journey in summer, but is also somewhere to visit in any season.

That year-round appeal has a lot to do with Charles Island, which is joined to the mainland by tombolo.

The island is an important site for nesting herons and egrets, so is off limits from May 1 to August 31. Keep abreast of tide times as the tombolo is submerged by dangerous currents twice a day.

Within the park’s 300 acres are dunes, a salt marsh, woods, open fields and that sublime natural beach, edged by a boardwalk that spans the entirety of the park.

14. Bradley Point Beach

Source: TierneyMJ / shutterstock

South of Orange, West Haven has the longest stretch of publicly accessible shoreline in Connecticut.

At almost four miles this makes up a quarter of all the public beachfront in the state.

Lifeguards are on patrol one weekends only between May 25 to June 23, and then daily from June 24 to August 9, and back to weekends only from August 10 to September 2. One excellent spot, easily reached from Orange, is historic Bradley Point Park where British troops landed for Tryon’s Raid on July 5, 1779. Not far east from here is Savin Point Park, which was Connecticut’s answer to Coney Island until this amusement park closed down in the 1960s after almost a century in business.

15. Orange Volunteer Firemen’s Carnival

Source: ALPAL images / shutterstock

The fairgrounds at the High Plains Community Center host another much anticipated event at the Volunteer Firemen’s Carnival in early-August.

Raising money for a great cause, this event brings carnival games, a raffle, lots of children’s activities, a fireworks display and amusement rides like spinners, carousels and a ferris wheel.

Naturally the food tent is at the heart of the carnival, for burgers, hot dogs, fried dough but also enticing pies baked by the Women’s Auxiliary.

The event has a rich tradition, having been held since 1925 and missing only two instalments.

The department generates its own revenue so all proceeds go towards new firefighting apparatus.

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