Connecticut Part 2 (New York City)

Continued from Connecticut Part 1

The great thing about the New England area is how close you are to so many great cities. Besides spending our time exploring Connecticut we also took some weekend trips to nearby cities. The first being New York City.

We took a two hour train from New Haven, CT to Grand Central station in New York City.

When we arrived at Grand Central station, Melinda had arranged for a surprise. A friend of ours from high school, who is attending law school in D.C., met up with us for the weekend and I had no idea until I turned to Melinda and said, "Haha, that guy looks so much like Doi... wait... that IS Doi!".

For dinner our first night there we went to the Stardust Diner. Now this just isn't any diner. Nope. But then, NYC is not any other city. This is a diner where many people who are working while trying to catch their big break into the entertainment system (especially onto Broadway) are the servers. AND what better way to get people to discover you than to be singing and dancing while serving customers. While here I got the Coney Island Burger (the bun was made out of pretzel dough) and it was SO delicious.

Night time stroll and fun across the Brooklyn Bridge

NYC Subway: I'm weird but I get excited when I smell that terrible awful sweaty-pee-etc. subway smell because I know I am in a big city and I love it.

I love Broadway! Nothing can beat the talent that you get to see in New York City. I always try to see a show whenever I am in NYC. This time was saw Phantom. Sadly, I have to admit, of all the shows I have seen on Broadway, this was my least favorite. Don't get me wrong, it was great because anything on Broadway is great; I've just seen and enjoyed better when attending a show on Broadway.

We were going to do a quick walk through Central Park when we passed one of the ponds and saw that they had remote control sailboats to drive. Well, Melinda and I couldn't say no to that. It actually was really hard because you actually had to turn the sail just right to catch the wind so that the sailboat would float in the direction you wanted. Once we got the hang of it we MAY have purposefully kept running into other's boats (but mostly each other's) and started a whole game of bumper boats.

Walking the Streets of New York City

Fire hydrant in Little Italy

Our last night there someone suggested we took the Staten Island Ferry at night to see the city line all lit up. I had never thought of this before. I've always used the Staten Island Ferry during the day as a free and easy way to see the Statue of Liberty but I had never considered it at night and I loved it. It was beautiful.

I have probably visited this city too much but every time I go I always end up doing a few new things besides repeating the things I love. I love that this city has millions of things to offer.

Connecticut Part 1

In October last year I went and lived with a friend in Connecticut for the month. I was still enjoying my "retirement" from work and traveling. My friend was doing rotations for PA school and needed a roommate and thus began our adventures in the state of Connecticut as well as the neighboring states.

We lived in a house in Torrington, CT which we names the Old Man House... because it WAS an Old Man House. It smelled like an old man house, was decorate like an old man house, was cleaned like it was an old man house... it was an old man house but we loved it. Now if you are reading this blog post for advise of what to do in Connecticut, I would not suggest starting in Torrington... nope... probably skip right over it. We may have a little special spot for it in our hearts but the truth is, Torrington was an arm pit of a town and if what we were seeing with our actual eyes wasn't enough evidence, the looks on everyone's faces when they asked where we were staying was enough. Keep reading to see the amazing about this state.

Old Man House

An antiques store in Torrington... apparently Tom and Debbie are not longer together.

Besides the fun bonding time we had in the old man house, we also did our best to explore the state. Here were some of the many things we did while in Connecticut (we also listened to some podcasts about Connecticut to get ideas of things to do and see):

Peipe's Pizza

Frank Pepe Pizzeria

Pizza is a BIG thing on the East Coast and who's is the best... MATTERS! Peipe's Pizza, found in New Haven, was voted the number one pizza in America in 2013 while we were there.

Mystic Beach

We learned about Mystic Beach in the podcast and had to see if it was as beautiful as it made it sound... it was better. Even though it was October, cold and windy I loved it and thought the scenery was breathtaking and perfect.

Craig's Castle

We were driving on the freeway a couple of times when we saw up on the "mountain" a brick pillar poking out through the tree tops that looked like it was attached to a castle. Finally one day we decided to get off the freeway and find our way to it. After several U turns we made it to Craig's Castle which actually was a singular pillar that looked liked it should be attached to a castle that looked out over the area. Even though we laughed at the anti climatic finding of Craig's "pillar" the mountain was beautiful and looked like it had several hikes to go on. Something to go back and do.

New Haven and Apple Picking

We made a group of friends in the New Haven area and had fun exploring the area with them. Apparently a big "New Englander" thing to do in the fall is to go apple picking and that is what we did.

Because we went apple picking a little late in the season, there weren't many apples available at the bottoms of the trees. We had to get creative about how to pick the apples at the tops of the trees.

The Fall

If nothing else, I would tell anyone to go to Connecticut in the Fall just to enjoy the incredible and everlasting colors of the leafs.

Yale University

I love to visit university campus'; they are beautiful, historic, sophisticated, full of possibilities... and Yale was no exception. Even though it was a beautiful campus the only pictures we took were these two. These two pictures show evidence of us stealing sandwiches from a conference going on and us running/escaping through a tunnel that went under the street and connected to another building.

Connecticut State Capitol

Greenwich, CT

Greenwich, one of the highest price in realestate in the US. An area close to New York City filled with giant homes on the coast. We spent an afternoon driving around ooo-ing and awwww-ing at the homes and finished the night watching the sun set while we ate ice cream.

Things to do next time:

We spent an entire month in Connecticut but I still have a list of things I want to go back and do.

Candlepin Bowling: it is an old fashion type of bowling with a small ball that is still played in the New England States. We did go regular bowling with a group of friends but I still want to try Candlepin!

Visiting Gilmore Girl type towns

Exploring the Pirate Ship from Calendar at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex, CT.

I loved my entire month in this state and besides living with my friend for a month, I loved having the opportunity to explore and take time for some of Connecticut's hidden charms and gems.