We made great use of our fall break (all two holidays of it!) by traveling to Connecticut to visit our son Craig, and also to check in with Nancy's aunt and uncle, Mary Ellen and Harry. It was four days packed with traveling and we'll tell the story through pictures and captions. But the synopsis is: landed in New Haven Thursday around noon, drove to Greenwich, met up with Mary Ellen and Harry, bopped around with them Thursday, Friday visited Yale in the rain then continued on to Hartford, checked out the Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens house, greeted Craig as he returned from Prague, then Saturday enjoyed an awesome breakfast at Mo's, drove to Vermont, hiked, stopped in Brattleboro for a beer, returned via New Hampshire, dined in Hartford at Frank Pepe's, Sunday churched in Hartford, toured Craig's sumptuous IAE office, then continued on to a coastal tour, including a late lunch at the famous Dog Watch Cafe in Stonington and a walking tour of the port of Mystic. Then it was back to the New Haven airport and two flights to arrive back home before the stroke of midnight, ready to teach school the next morning!
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| Our approach into New Haven. This was our first prop plane in quite a few years. Seating: less than 20! |
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Nancy and her aunt Mary Ellen and Uncle Harry, during our walk in the park along the Long Island Sound, just outside of Greenwich. We could see the buildings of Manhattan on the horizon!
The LeBiens were wonderful hosts for our first day in New England. The dinner at the Indian River Yacht Club was a real treat.
We loved our tour of the Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens house, even if our highly intelligent tour guide wanted to elevate S.C. to sainthood. I'm sure there's a good website for more info, but suffice it to say the house had a lot of cool stuff in it.
Saturday morning, after breakfast at Mo's Diner, we traveled through Massachusetts without stopping, making a beeline for our fal foliage hike.
The hike included lots of "up". Here we are waiting on Craig, who is talking to his friend Caroline, who happens to be in Istanbul, Turkey (international phone call from wilds of Vermont....hmm)
This was one of the few adventurous spots on the trail. Otherwise it was pretty much a long trudge uphill. Good exercise and great views!
The views of the valley were spectacular.
Craig and Nancy posed for a last photo before doing a little rock hopping in the creek.
The white birch trees were absolutely gleaming on a bright, sunny afternoon.
We found what must be one of the top sights as far as picturesque scenery and cold beverages in Battleboro, and perhaps all of New England.
The late afternoon views were incredible, and changing with the clouds and the slow setting of the sun.
We were plenty hungry by the time we made it back to Hartford and Frank Pepe's pizza, baked in a coal fired oven.
Even Nancy joined in the action, though Craig would allow us to order her a large pizza. I think we could have worked it over!
Here we are at Craig's office on Sunday (there was one guy actually there working, but only one).
We toured the docks of Stonington, deciding on a best choice for a ship while waiting for our table at the Dog Watch Cafe. My lobster roll was pretty good! That should last me for a little while.
We walked off a bit of our lunch at a waterfront park just down from the Cafe.
We wrapped up our seaside tour in Mystic, which include a cool drawbridge and many shops with unusual items that must be of interest to some tourists. The weather was gorgeous, though with a little wind blowing there was a chill in the air. Not a place to winter in!
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