Town Revisit: Bristol

It's the Fourth of July and we headed to Lake Compounce. It is the oldest continuously running theme park in the United States. It's in a scenic setting set back away from the highways and the center of town.

Before the fireworks we got in a few rides on the Boulder Dash and the Wildcat. Both are wooden roller coasters. Boulder Dash is built into the side of a mountain and Wildcat is one of the oldest roller coasters in the country.

Maybe next time we'll try the Screaming Swing. That thing looks intense!

Town #103: Bozrah

I am willing to bet that this is one town many people from Connecticut have never visited.

What it's known for: having a strange name.

Most towns in Connecticut have English sounding names ending in things such as -bury or -field. This town struck out on its own.

Not only is it a unique name for the state of Connecticut, it is the only town named Bozrah in the United States.

The town itself isn't sure how the the name came about. It was informally called New Concord before it was offically named Bozrah. A local legend suggests that the person who petitioned the Connecticut Assembly for township status was dressed so colorfully one of the assemblymen made a joke about looking like he had "come from Bozrah." And then the Assembly thought it was so funny they decided Bozrah should be the town's name. I have no idea if this legend has any measure of truth to it, but it makes for an interesting story.

We first stopped at the Exit 23 Restaurant. It's a little diner on the corner when you first get into town. It is the epitome of a small town diner. Here's Bruce with his cup of coffee. After we were caffeinated we continued onto our main town stop: the Bozrah Farmers' Market.

We went on the opening day. Since it was the day before Independence Day the theme was Colonial Days. It's the biggest thing that happens in the town and the first farmers' market I have been to with parking attendants for the influx of arriving cars. It was raining on and off all day, so one has to suspect even more people would have been there otherwise. The market took place at Maples Farm Park. The town had just finished a rock wall enclosed gravel parking area for the new season which looked very nice. If you go, follow the adorable sheep signs. They will direct you to the park. I even found a four-leaf clover while we were there!

Across the street we saw something named Six Paca Farm. We decided to stop and were delighted to find a coffee shop/alpaca store. I have to say this is the most unique thing I've ever encountered paired with coffee. We had so much fun.
New England Custom Blurb:
On the way out of town we saw something I'd never seen for sale by the side of the road. New Englanders will put pretty much anything outside with a for sale sign on it, (or a free sign if they really want to be rid of the item) but this was the first time I've seen this particular category. Sinks, yes, but never a bathtub.

Bozrah stats:
Population: 2,445
Size: 20 square miles
National Historic Places: Bozrah Congregational Church and Parsonage

Town Revisit: Wethersfield

New England Custom Blurb:
In Connecticut most towns have a historic district. It's a place where it has been agreed the buildings have some sort of historical or architectural significance. It can be a few buildings or a large area. In most cases, you drive through, see a sign, and have no idea why that area is "historic." The boundaries of the districts are often obscure as well.

But visiting Wethersfield was different. The historic area, named Old Wethersfield, is the largest historic district in the state.

The area has a lot of shops. We stopped in at Antiques on Main and then had lunch at Village Pizza. And in between we took tours of four of the homes in the historic district.

One of the most interesting was the Silas Deane House. The house which is a National Historic Landmark, was the home of the state's first diplomat. The house was built to further Deane's political aspirations and has some ornate details for a house of that period. The entry stairway has three different ballisters and must have been incredibly impressive for the time period.

The last house, also a National Historic Landmark, was the Joseph Webb House where George Washington once sleep and where he and General Rochambeau made war plans for five days. The most interesting aspect was the northeast parlor that had beautiful built-in cabinets with doors that could be closed for a more formal look. The first picture from the link above is a picture of the area with the door closed.

Town #102: Goshen

Goshen. One of the most rural towns we have visited.

What it's known for: having one of the largest fairs in the state.

Pretty much every town in Connecticut has some sort of annual fair, but Goshen's fair is a bit different in that it focuses on agriculture. Or so we hear. It takes place in September, so we'll check it out then.

As a footnote, Connecticut does not have a state fair. Instead, New England has what they call the Big E. The E stands for Exposition. It is the equivalent of a state fair for all six of the small states in this region. By state fair standards it's pretty enormous. If visiting New England, it's worth checking out for the experience.

Back to Goshen. Their fairgrounds get used for many other things besides the annual fair. Looking at their schedule it reads as follows: rodeo, Tibet fest, wine festival, 4-H, auto show. Such diversity! This is definitely one of the things I enjoy about Connecticut. You never know what you might find when you look around.

So, we went up for the town's annual rodeo. As I mentioned Goshen has a large fairground area. Many towns in Connecticut will do fairs in non-standard fair areas. I have experienced fairs in places such as town greens, blocked off town main streets, town fields, and even a commuter lot. I have yet to visit the really large Connecticut fairs such as Durham, Woodstock, and Hebron (which I assume have proper fairgrounds) so this was my first experience with fairgrounds in Connecticut.

New England Custom Blurb:
The fair itself was what you expect from New England fairs: carnival rides, carnival food, and carnival games. Connecticut fairs tend to focus mostly on the food category. You can get pretty much everything you could ever image to eat at a Connecticut fair. I saw one guy walk by with a 5-foot bag of popcorn, two fried doughs (THE New England staple for fair food), two bags of popcorn, and a diet coke. I personally tried the cherry limeade (quite a disappointment for a girl who grew up with Sonic cherry limeades) and a root beer float. Bruce, of course, had the basket of deep fried garlic. I can never talk him out of that.

The main event: the rodeo. Turns out the rodeo was small potatoes. Not much to say about it. The girls' drill team came out and rode in circles barely able to control their horses. Then the bull riders fell off one after another so fast almost none of them qualified. The fence was built improperly, making it virtually impossible to see. And, many people stood in front of the fence instead of sitting on the bleachers--in spite of the announcer's request not to do that--making it even more difficult to see. Case in point: the photo above.

We'll definitely go back to Goshen. We have the wine festival on our calendar and maybe even the official town fair. Also, we drove by this and I can barely resist a place that showcases farm animals from around the world.

Goshen stats:
Population: 3,092
Size: 45 square miles
State Parks: Mohawk State Forest
Historic Sites: Goshen Historic Center

Town #101: Cornwall

We were driving to another town, and since we had some time to kill we thought it would be a good time to finally stop by Cornwall. Cornwall is a very small town population-wise. The town is, however, known for one thing: its covered bridge.

Actually, it is also known for Mohawk Mountain, the oldest and largest ski resort in Connecticut. Roughly a third of the residents in Cornwall are owners of second homes and many count the tranquility and skiing as their reasons for spending weekends in the town. But, the first thing that comes to mind for most people is the covered bridge.

There are only three historic covered bridges left in Connecticut. The one in Cornwall is the largest and made of red spruce timbers. For those reasons many consider it to be the most beautiful of the three covered bridges. The town of Cornwall also shows up in at least one poem The Hills of Little Cornwall that describes the tranquility of the town.

The bridge (on the National Register of Historic Places and built around 1864) is one of fewer than 1000 authentic covered bridges left standing in the U.S. today.

By the time we got to town in the late afternoon all the local shops next to the bridge were closed. So go early if you want to explore the small town a bit. We ended eating nearby at the Berkshire Country Store for sub sandwiches. So, if you get there late like us that is still an option. Both the bridge and the store can be found in the West Cornwall part of town.

New England Custom Blurb:
Sub sandwiches are a way of life in New England. I would even say the sub sandwich and pizza (including apizzas) are the two staples for New Englanders. The first Subway sandwich shop was started in Connecticut.

The name for sub sandwiches is also worth mentioning. In parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts the word grinder is used to describe what is more commonly called the sub or hoagie. Not much is known about the term but it seems to have first appeared during WWII in Massachusetts. Some Italian sandwich makers started selling their sandwiches to the men working on nearby war ships "grinding" hot iron. The nickname given to the men "The Grinders" and the sandwiches they liked to eat eventually became synonymous. But the term never spread far beyond that region.

Cornwall stats:
Population: 1,489
Size: 46 square miles
State Parks: Mohawk State Park
National Historic Places: West Cornwall Covered Bridge

Town #100: Waterford

Getting to the 100th town feels like a milestone. It's arbitrary considering that there are a total of 169 towns, but there's always a bit of magic in that number on any list. Or maybe it's just me. Either way, I'm pretty excited about 100! I'm also happy about this town being number one hundred.

Waterford is one of my favorite towns in Connecticut. I've been there quite a few times to go shopping or to get a bite to eat. But today, I went to the Harkness Memorial State Park. On the park grounds sits the Eolia Mansion and its formal gardens. The gardens are one of a few still in existence that were created by Beatrix Ferrand. One of the others is the famous Dumbarton Oaks Garden in Washington DC.

On the other side of the park is an amphitheater that looks out to the sea and a pier leading to the Long Island Sound.

Although it was a gloomy, foggy day the park was still beautiful. It even had a sort of magical, surreal quality due to the weather. Can't wait to go back when the sun is shining.

Waterford stats:
Population: 18,940
Size: 44 square miles
State Parks: Harness Memorial State Park
Other attractions: Eugene O'Neill Theater

Town #98: Wilton

Here are few facts about Wilton:
Wilton is one of the most affluent areas in the United States. It is the headquarters of AIG and all its private schools are for elementary students. Twice a year the town hosts a tag sale (a yard sale for those who don't know that New England term) with the strange name Minks to Sinks. You can read the explanation of the name on their website, but I'm not really buying it myself.

We thought the best way to take in this town would be to walk around the town center. We stopped into Mediterranean Grill for dinner. The restaurant is supposed to offer a fusion of Spanish, Italian, and Moroccan food. The menu is quite small--and we found it a bit overpriced--which would have been fine for the area except the service was less than adequate. We wouldn't go back, but if you are in the area, you might want to chance it. And if not, there were quite a few other nice restaurants to try.

Before we left, we stopped at the local bookstore and Swoozies which is an upscale party store that is spreading through the CT and NJ area. The store handles all the invitations and other such needs for throwing a themed get-together for a few friends or a kids birthday party. They handle weddings too.

We finally ended up at Starbucks. We always look for independent coffee shops, but it is getting to be so difficult to find independents left in CT. Kind of a sad trend.

Wilton stats:
Population: 17,960
Size: 27 square miles
National Historic Places: Cannondale Historic District, David Lambert House, Georgetown Historic District, Hurlbutt Street School, Marvin Tavern, Sloan-Raymond-Fitch House, Weir Farm National Historic Site, Wilton Center Historic District
Must Eats: Wave Hill Breads