Connecticut born but raised in the south -back for a visit (New Haven: rental car, rental)
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Hello all- Hubby and I are coming back to Ct. For a wedding in late June and will have 8 days after the wedding to do whatever we want. The wedding is in Avon and we will be there for the first weekend. we will have a rental car so can go anywhere we want. We would like to hit a great beach and stay for a couple of days. We were thinking of a day trip or a night in NYC. We love live music, local beers and wine, art, antiques, hiking, quaint, small downtown areas and the beach. I have been to nearby states with my daughter in the last couple of years and have hit Rockport, Mass. and Newport RI but would consider going again if its something my hubby should see. He has never been to Connecticut and I am eager to show him around for the first time in our 30 year marriage. We are 53 and 54 if that helps. Thanks for any places you can share and also any lodging in those areas.
Thank you in advance for your help!
In Ct, I also immediately suggest Mystic. For a day trip, I'd also suggest Simsbury, such a quaint Ct village. Plus, of course pick your favorite, Pepe's or Sally's Pizza in New Haven. Plus do show him the beauty of the Yale campus.
If ok with traveling north (about 80 minutes away from Simsbury), check out the tiny village of Buckland/Shelburne, Ma for the beautiful Bridge of Flowers, the Glacial Potholes, and right nearby candlepin bowling..only in a few Northern New England towns.
In terms of NYC, as it sounds like spouse is not from the region, I'd suggest Gigino's at Wagner Park in lower Manhattan to eat at, outside, on a day in NYC. It has the Progressive commercial view of the Statue of Liberty, great outdoor dining with a view that is unique. 9/11 museum is a mile away, as is the Freedom Tower. Not many miles away, take in the Christmas in New York shop on Mulberry St (Rockette ornaments for tree, amongst hundreds of other unique items), plus Ferrara's around corner 120 year old pastry shop. Italy based Parent makes white nougat Italian Christmas candy.
8 days is a good amount of time. Where are you staying?
There’s 4 regions of CT that I suggest to friends and family that visit:
1. Litchfield County - Checking out Kent center, covered bridges, Kent Falls, Lake Waramaug, Kent Falls Brewery, Lime Rock Park if there’s a race on, Litchfield center, etc
2. New Haven - it’s a cultural capitol for the state. Great food, music, museums, etc. Not sure what will be open in June for museums and other culture. The Yale art museums are still closed as of now, but they are spectacular and world class. While being free and easy to access and never crowded like NYC museums. There’s tons of music venues but the only one I know having shows is the outdoor Westville Bowl. Yale architecture is impressive and worth a tour. East Rock, Prospect Hill, and Wooster Square have great old homes and neighborhoods to wander. East Rock Park has a great view. You must have New Haven pizza at least once. Many consider it the best in the country. Sally’s, Modern, Pepe’s would be my recommendation in order for the old greats. Da Legna, Big Green Truck Takeout are great too. Mike’s and Zuppardi’s in West Haven. Lots of great breweries in area too: East Rock, Tribus, New England, Counterweight, Two Roads.
3. Lower CT River Valley and nearby shoreline - Drive through coastal areas in Guilford and Stony Creek on Route 146, Thimble Island boat tours, Guilford green (very charming), Madison beaches and center, Old Saybrook/Fenwick, East Lyme beaches/Rocky Neck, Historic Essex, Chester center, Gillette Castle, Goodspeed Opera House, Fox Farm Brewery, Fat Orange Cat Brewery, the historic car ferry, lobster rolls at Lobster Landing, etc
4. Mystic/Stonington - Mystic has tons for tourists and great food, but don’t miss Stonington Borough. Great old seaside village to walk around which IMO is more interesting than downtown Mystic. Like a mini Newport. Jonathan Edward’s might be best wine in state. Ford’s for lobster rolls, not Abbott’s which is an overrated tourist trap. Nearby Watch Hill in RI is also worth a stop and has great beaches.
Also shameless plug for my town if you fancy a quick stop:
Out of state, personally I’d avoid NYC as it’s such a weird time there with Covid restrictions. I’d focus on New England destinations.
These are my favorites:
1. White Mountains National Forest. Amazing nature and hiking, best mountains east of Mississippi IMO. Mount Washington Hotel and town of North Conway are cool stops. Mount Washington road and Franconia Notch.
2. The islands - Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Block Island. You’ll love these if you love Newport
3. Maine coast. So many great stops. Portland, Kennebunkport, Boothbay Harbor, Rockport, Camden, Bar Harbor/Acadia are my personal favorites.
4. Burlington area. Great breweries, mountains, scenic hiking.
All spectacular destinations. We also like going to Montreal/Quebec but who knows if the border will be open.
^^^ #3 Simsbury because Avon is right next door. You can eat at any of the cute restaurants in their town center and walk around the pretty town.
Out of state you mention Rockport and I recommend it highly. You can drive on rte 1 and pass through Ipswich which has some of the oldest houses in the entire country and The Whipple House, which you can tour. If you are into touring old New England houses or just gazing at them that area is the place to go. But just before you get to Rockport, you pass through Gloucester, an old fishing village. It not only has the oldest art colony but also at least three fabulous public beaches. (You just have to know where to find them!) One is Good Harbor Beach where you can walk out on the flats forever at low tide. The scenery is beyond belief too, including the area that has the famous fisherman's statue.
There’s 4 regions of CT that I suggest to friends and family that visit:
1. Litchfield County - Checking out Kent center, covered bridges, Kent Falls, Lake Waramaug, Kent Falls Brewery, Lime Rock Park if there’s a race on, Litchfield center, etc
2. New Haven - it’s a cultural capitol for the state. Great food, music, museums, etc. Not sure what will be open in June for museums and other culture. The Yale art museums are still closed as of now, but they are spectacular and world class. While being free and easy to access and never crowded like NYC museums. There’s tons of music venues but the only one I know having shows is the outdoor Westville Bowl. Yale architecture is impressive and worth a tour. East Rock, Prospect Hill, and Wooster Square have great old homes and neighborhoods to wander. East Rock Park has a great view. You must have New Haven pizza at least once. Many consider it the best in the country. Sally’s, Modern, Pepe’s would be my recommendation in order for the old greats. Da Legna, Big Green Truck Takeout are great too. Mike’s and Zuppardi’s in West Haven. Lots of great breweries in area too: East Rock, Tribus, New England, Counterweight, Two Roads.
3. Lower CT River Valley and nearby shoreline - Drive through coastal areas in Guilford and Stony Creek on Route 146, Thimble Island boat tours, Guilford green (very charming), Madison beaches and center, Old Saybrook/Fenwick, East Lyme beaches/Rocky Neck, Historic Essex, Chester center, Gillette Castle, Goodspeed Opera House, Fox Farm Brewery, Fat Orange Cat Brewery, the historic car ferry, lobster rolls at Lobster Landing, etc
4. Mystic/Stonington - Mystic has tons for tourists and great food, but don’t miss Stonington Borough. Great old seaside village to walk around which IMO is more interesting than downtown Mystic. Like a mini Newport. Jonathan Edward’s might be best wine in state. Ford’s for lobster rolls, not Abbott’s which is an overrated tourist trap. Nearby Watch Hill in RI is also worth a stop and has great beaches.
8 days is a good amount of time. Where are you staying?
There’s 4 regions of CT that I suggest to friends and family that visit:
1. Litchfield County - Checking out Kent center, covered bridges, Kent Falls, Lake Waramaug, Kent Falls Brewery, Lime Rock Park if there’s a race on, Litchfield center, etc
2. New Haven - it’s a cultural capitol for the state. Great food, music, museums, etc. Not sure what will be open in June for museums and other culture. The Yale art museums are still closed as of now, but they are spectacular and world class. While being free and easy to access and never crowded like NYC museums. There’s tons of music venues but the only one I know having shows is the outdoor Westville Bowl. Yale architecture is impressive and worth a tour. East Rock, Prospect Hill, and Wooster Square have great old homes and neighborhoods to wander. East Rock Park has a great view. You must have New Haven pizza at least once. Many consider it the best in the country. Sally’s, Modern, Pepe’s would be my recommendation in order for the old greats. Da Legna, Big Green Truck Takeout are great too. Mike’s and Zuppardi’s in West Haven. Lots of great breweries in area too: East Rock, Tribus, New England, Counterweight, Two Roads.
3. Lower CT River Valley and nearby shoreline - Drive through coastal areas in Guilford and Stony Creek on Route 146, Thimble Island boat tours, Guilford green (very charming), Madison beaches and center, Old Saybrook/Fenwick, East Lyme beaches/Rocky Neck, Historic Essex, Chester center, Gillette Castle, Goodspeed Opera House, Fox Farm Brewery, Fat Orange Cat Brewery, the historic car ferry, lobster rolls at Lobster Landing, etc
4. Mystic/Stonington - Mystic has tons for tourists and great food, but don’t miss Stonington Borough. Great old seaside village to walk around which IMO is more interesting than downtown Mystic. Like a mini Newport. Jonathan Edward’s might be best wine in state. Ford’s for lobster rolls, not Abbott’s which is an overrated tourist trap. Nearby Watch Hill in RI is also worth a stop and has great beaches.
Also shameless plug for my town if you fancy a quick stop:
Out of state, personally I’d avoid NYC as it’s such a weird time there with Covid restrictions. I’d focus on New England destinations.
These are my favorites:
1. White Mountains National Forest. Amazing nature and hiking, best mountains east of Mississippi IMO. Mount Washington Hotel and town of North Conway are cool stops. Mount Washington road and Franconia Notch.
2. The islands - Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Block Island. You’ll love these if you love Newport
3. Maine coast. So many great stops. Portland, Kennebunkport, Boothbay Harbor, Rockport, Camden, Bar Harbor/Acadia are my personal favorites.
4. Burlington area. Great breweries, mountains, scenic hiking.
All spectacular destinations. We also like going to Montreal/Quebec but who knows if the border will be open.
The above is a masterpiece but I will contribute one more suggestion.
Thanks everyone I apprecaite all of these great ideas. The only lodging we have booked so far is a hotel in Avon as part of the wedding block. We sre staying at Avon Old Farms Hotel for the night before the wedding and the night of the wedding. We will leave the hotel on Sunday but I do have a cousin in Avon that we hope to visit before heading out. Right now on Sunday we plan on heading to the New Haven area. I noticed that Madison is not far away so thought of staying in Madison two night and taking a day trip down the coast toward Mystic. Then checking out New Haven in the evening and then again on our way to Easton where another cousin lives. We will stay with her a night or two then thought we should hit NYC on the train that my cousin says will get us there in a hour and a half. Someone mentioned not bothering with NYC? Im asssuming they have lifted travel requirements there too? It seems we should go since we are so close.
As much as we love Massachussets I think we will skip it this time. Our daughter and husband were stationed there for 4 years and we saw most of the area already mentioned in the last 5 years.
I much appreciate all the advice and suggestions please keep them coming.
I wouldn’t make any real plans to visit NYC at this point -
Skip far northwestern CT locations like Kent and Sharon unless you are into auto racing- ithat area is really removed from the rest of the state, and the drive out there is kind of a pain/takes forever from points East. Stay two nights at somewhere like 1754 House in Woodbury, which is very charming with a great food/bev reputation. Antique in Woodbury, hike in Washington, go to the Litchfield Distillery or Hopkins winery in New Preston or Sunset Meadow Vineyards in Goshen. There is a beer scene for anyone in the immediate area - lots of decent to very good IPAs from places like Reverie and NewSylum and Black Hog, and some very esoteric stuff at OEC
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