Kwaree Blog

Visiting Madison Center, CT

Have I told you lately that I enjoy the Connecticut coast?

So it snowed on Saturday night. We didn’t let that stop us on Sunday. Sunday’s weather was perfect for a ride in the car to see what was going on down in Old Saybrook, Westbrook, Clinton, Madison Center and Guilford Center. I really wanted to see what Branford Center looked like, but we were getting a little ahead of ourselves. We’ll have to visit that another day.

It’s so strange to see a totally different culture from what we’re used to around here. I mean, it’s not totally different, but people along the coast seem to enjoy boating and golfing a bit more than we do. Also, if the number of restaurants is any indication, they enjoy eating too.

Okay, I’ll give you the 2 minute rundown of what I witnessed on our drive through these areas:

- Old Saybrook has a nice coast line. Too many people in that town for my taste.

- Westbrook has a few huge marinas, so if you are into boating, that’s your place to be. They also have the Water’s Edge Resort and Spa which looks very nice.

- Clinton was pretty cool. They had a huge nursery called Clinton Nurseries that appeared to hold a massive amount of compost behind a fence. When I say massive, I mean massive. The main street was tight and historic looking. Good for getting out of the car and walking around.

- Madison looked like it was the most wealthy of the towns we visited. There was some sort of a Santa gathering on main street and perhaps a parade. There were all sorts of people around who appeared to really love their town. If I live there, I would probably love it too. It’s really nice.

- Guilford Center was nice as well, but smaller than the rest. It’s a great looking town with a fairly large green. I bet I would like that during the Summer.

Once we hit Guilford, we turned around to head back. As we were driving, my lady indicated that she would be interested in visiting a beach. Since I have always wanted to walk on a beach in Winter, I thought it was a great idea.

The first beach type area we came across was Madison Beach. It was a pretty cool area and was located right past Madison Country Club. We hung out for a while and took some pictures which I will post below. The funny thing about this beach was the wind. On shore, there was a bit of wind, but not really all that much. When we walked out on a rocky area that jutted out about 100 feet into the water, we could hardly stand there because it was so windy. Strange. I’ll tell you, when it’s 37 degrees, the wind really cuts right through you.

After that, we stopped off at Hammonasset Beach State Park. Now this was the bomb diggity. I didn’t even know that Connecticut had beaches like this (again). The park is pretty huge and even offers camping. I could totally see us walking up and down this beach for our daily exercise. Great sand, great water and interesting features. I’ll post the pictures below.

After that, we stopped off at a diner in Old Saybrook and headed back. It was getting dark, so I figured our day out on the Connecticut shore was just about over. Till next time…

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Visiting Old Saybrook, CT For Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Okay, enough of the pleasantries.

This Thanksgiving, my lady and I had dinner at the Griswold Inn in Essex, CT. Since we had been there a few times before, this wasn’t a huge deal for us. What was a huge deal was the fact that dinner was buffet style. I like buffet because it translates to “all you can eat” for me. On Thanksgiving, that’s a good thing. Trust me, we’ve been down the road of “exquisite chef who only uses locally grown foods…blah blah blah.” What that means is small portions for too much money. I am so over that.

What I am into is wearing comfortable clothes and eating until I am fat and dumb. That’s what we (I) did. Dinner was great. The only complaint I have is that there were too many people. I guess the Griswold is a popular place. Next time, we are going to eat in a different room. The room we were in was crowded and I had to keep saying, “excuse me” when I got up multiple times for more food. I started getting funny looks for my second dessert run. Oh well.

So that was dinner.

We thought that it would be fun to head down to Old Saybrook, CT before dinner to do a little exploring. Since we had to be at the Griswold at 4:30PM, we went down to the water earlier to catch as much light as we could.

It’s funny, the weather was cloudy, but there were breaks of sun here and there. It was a very weird sky. November will do that. I am happy that it was the way it was because I got some great pictures of the coast line. Rarely…I mean RARELY have I ever said that something in nature is beautiful. Not that I haven’t seen beautiful natural settings in my day, but I generally say that things are nice or cool. I don’t get too excited. For some reason, when we came around the most southern bend on Maple Avenue, I started saying, “Now that is beautiful.” I couldn’t help myself. It was the way the sun was shining through the clouds and hitting the water. It looked like the water was steaming. It was really nice and you are lucky people to see pictures of some of it. I think you’ll agree.

There is nothing nicer than going for a stroll on a beach on Thanksgiving. Not too hot, not too cold.

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The Rest Of The Summer

Laura and I are watching Lost over again. During the first go-round, either I missed a few episodes or she did. Neither of us had the complete picture of what happened during season 1, 2 or 3. Let’s face it…things really didn’t start getting hot until maybe season 3 or 4.

Anyway, we are all finished with watching seasons 1 and 2 and are now a few episodes deep into season 3. We are at the point of where Jack, Kate and Sawyer are trapped by the Others and John just saved Mr. Echo. Really, this has nothing to do with this post.

Okay, you know how when you watch a DVD and are at the main menu, there is this bit of theme music that keeps going round and round? It’s the screen where you choose which episode you want to watch. Well, On this DVD, the background picture for that screen is where Jack, Kate and Sawyer are kneeling on the dock in front of the water. There’s a mountain in the background. It’s right after they got captured. The picture of the water got me thinking.

I started thinking about how cool it would be to live in Old Saybrook, CT. Old Saybrook is located right at the mouth of the Connecticut River and the Long Island Sound. It’s on our list of places to get to this Summer. They even have one of those neighborhoods where everyone drives around in golf carts. That’s pretty much what I want to do. They have beaches down there in Old Saybrook and there’s a lot of really cool stuff. So there I was, looking at this picture of kind of what Old Saybrook looks like.

I turned to Laura and said, “Hey Pumpkin heart, I want to do two more things before Summer is over. I want to go on that boat ride down in Essex (next week) and I want to go to Block Island to ride a scooter around the entire island.” She liked those ideas and even threw in camping. I told her that I was up for camping in December, when all the bugs are gone. I think we agreed on maybe September or October for that. I want to get one of those big hoodie sweatshirts so I can wear it in front of a campfire while smoking a cigar.

So that was my idea and that’s why I am writing this, just to let you know. Well, I had two things but now with the Old Saybrook trip, that makes three. Over and out.

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Visiting Essex Connecticut

A few nights ago, out of nowhere, I was bitten by something. I didn’t know what it was, but when I woke up, I wanted a boat. I guess I was bitten by the boat bug.

This is horrible. I have never wanted a boat in my life. I think it all started when I was wandering around on Google Earth (again) and noticed how cool it was that the Connecticut River leads right into the Long Island Sound. I mean, it is so easy to either launch a boat or have it docked up in East Haddam and within a half hour, you could be in the ocean. The access is incredible. That’s probably why there are like two zillion boats on this river and in the Sound. How this is just dawning on me, I don’t know.

Anyway, I decided a wanted a boat about two days ago. Then I told myself to forget about it. I didn’t want another thing taking up space around here. Then, I got back into it because I was talking to my accountant about business and the boat thing came up. Apparently, he is in the market too and he knows all about them. So, I wanted one again. Then, I talked to my father and kind of didn’t want one, but still did. I just told him I didn’t want one anymore because I didn’t want to make him nervous, even though he has two boats and two jet skis. He believes that his boats are plenty and if I would just go visit him, he could take me out. What he doesn’t know is that I need a boat to go visit him in. Then I could take him out. To make a long story short, when I went to bed that night, I kind of didn’t want a boat anymore. I figured I should sleep on it instead of making another impulse purchase.

Okay, back to a long story. Since boating requires some knowledge of the subject, I figured it would be a good idea to visit a boating town to learn a little something. What better boating town is there than Essex, CT? It would be like visiting the belly of the beast as Rob would say. So, that’s what we did.

Today, we visited Essex, CT, the nicest small town we have visited in a good long while. Essex is otherwise known as “BMW Heaven.” That’s the name I gave it. There were more BMWs in Essex today than any other place on earth. It felt good being among so many high quality machines. I kept looking at all of their wheels, running boards, ski racks, etc…seeing who had what. I am sure there were a few other enthusiast doing the same thing as I was. I decided that the X5 looks great in black. Also, the larger wheels look pretty good, but could possibly make someone a little nervous around curbs.

We visited Essex on a mission. We had to get to the water and visit a few of the many shipyards and marinas in the town. We also had to talk to a few boaters and generally absorb he vibe of the boating life. We did that and now I really want a boat.

Here is my dream – I want a boat docked in East Haddam. I want to drive down to the boat weekly with my lady and hop in for a ride. I want to cruise down to Essex, Old Saybrook, Stonington, Block Island, Matha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Newport, etc…, dock someplace and eat dinner. Then, I want to slowly cruise along the Connecticut shoreline while making our way back to the Connecticut River and up to East Haddam. Again, I want to do this all the time.

Now, I know this sounds absurd, but that’s what all these people were doing today in Essex. Man, it was so cool. All day, people were pulling up and docking their boats, only to jump out and walk around town and stop at the local eatery. It was a whole new lifestyle I have never really witnessed. I mean, I knew it was there, but I have never seen it. It’s interesting and really neat.

We did a lot of walking around today in Essex. I got a bunch of pictures and we visited a few shipyards. I got the skinny on where to dock a boat and how much it costs. Both Laura and I also helped a guy with his boat. He was having some trouble trying to dock it. All I needed was my skipper hat. It doesn’t help that I have been looking at boat websites for the past few days. Here, check out the boat I want. Now wouldn’t that be the mac daddy?

We also did a bunch of general walking around today just to check out the scene. Essex is really nice. It’s very well taken care of and the shops are unique. We stopped and went in one just because it had a sign that said, “Garden open in back.” I wanted to check that out.

After a while, we ended up in the Griswold Inn for some drinks and dinner. That was nice too. It was fun to see the boating crowd come in and eat and then leave to get back on their boats.

I am just going to post the pictures that I took and give some descriptions below them.

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That’s One Icy Driveway

When we moved here, I asked a few people who have been here for a while, what type of winters we were in store for. I wasn’t expecting huge changes from what we were used to, since we are only about two hours away from where we used to live. The responses I got ranged from, “same thing as your hometown,” “about 6-8 good snows per year,” and “a lot of ice.”

We have already experienced the snow storms. They feel about the same as where we just came from. Now, we are experiencing the ice.

See, describing winter in New York to someone is a tricky endeavor. There are many micro-climates. I think the temperatures vary to some degree, but what varies even more is the snowfall amounts. Rochester is a far cry from Long Island. Even the Catskills are much different from Westchester.

When Laura and I were out walking one day back at the old house, we stopped to chat with one of the neighbors. We started talking about snow, when she laughed and said, “Oh, you have never experienced a winter around here?” I was like, “C’mon lady, gimme a break. We are an hour away from where we used to live.” She was sort of right, there was a little more snow than we were used to.

Way, way, way back in the day, like 12 years ago, when I was attending Westchester Community College, we had an ice storm. This storm left the roads completely covered for an entire week. It didn’t help that it was about 12 degrees outside for all that time, keeping the roads frozen. I remember that I couldn’t get to the first week’s worth of classes because of all the ice. I would drive about 3 miles in the car down through town and turn around. It was maddening.

When I finally made it to class, I expected everyone else to talk about all their terrifying experiences trying to get to school. The funny thing is that no one even knew what I was talking about. They all lived in Westchester and got no ice. Either that, or it just melted faster.

Pieces of ice on driveway

Connecticut is a bit different from New York. The way it was explained to me from the sales guy at the John Deere dealership was like this: There are basically three zones in Connecticut. The first one is from Interstate 84 and north. They get snow. From Interstate 84 down to Interstate 95, we get icy, slushy mix. From 95 south, they get rain. Of course, that’s not always true, but most likely would occur in the early season and the late season. That’s fine with me.

We got some freezing rain a few days ago. It coated the ground and pavement and has been hanging around ever since. Yesterday, the sun melted most of the driveway, but not all of it. I was walking around on it today and nearly killed myself. For some reason, it’s like a magnet to me. It calls out my name…”Jay, come over and do the moonwalk on me. Act like you are walking on a treadmill. Do the robot and the running man, like Rob.” It just happens, I can’t help it.

Icy sidewalk

Icy driveway

Today, while we were at Home Depot getting some paint for the next bedroom, I went over and grabbed some calcium chloride snow melt stuff. It’s like little white beads. I think it was calcium chloride or the other stuff. The one I got said it wasn’t as bad for the environment than the calcium chloride. It could have been magnesium chloride or potassium chloride. It probably would have been a good idea to read the bag before I started writing. Either way, I got the snow melt stuff.

As you could have guessed, I was excited to throw some of it around on the ice to see how it worked.

When we got back to the house, I unloaded the bag, dropped it on the floor, raced over to get a small bucket and went to work. When I got everything situated, I started tossing the little white pellets all over the place. It was pretty fun. After I unloaded my first batch, I stood back and listened. I always like to hear the soft, “crack, crack, crack” of the ice being melted by the whatever chloride.

I did this a few times and some of the ice was melted. I think I need to add more because I now have a sheet of ice with about a million little holes in it. I always try to be conservative with this type of material, so I don’t think I get the best results. Plus, I don’t want to throw the whole ten bucks away at one sitting.

I’ll let you know how it looks in the morning.

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Days Of The New, Nice To Meet You

I played a little tennis this morning. I didn’t know if I was going to make it, because the weather was kind of rough out there. I gave the club a call about 45 minutes before the clinic started and they let me know it was “on.” If I tell you one thing today, let it be that I love all-wheel-drive. This is like the tenth time I spun all four wheels going up the driveway. I keep doing it because it’s so much fun. This X5 freakin’ rules. I drive around in the snow like it’s nobody’s business. It also has descent control, so when I want to get back down the driveway, all I do is push a button.

I showed up on time, but the others were late. That was fine with me, because it gave me a chance to become acquainted with the ball machine. Man, about 5 minutes with that thing and I was whooped. I really need to get out there more. The older I get, the worse it becomes.

Laura has been talking about a treadmill lately, so I have a feeling that is going to be making its way into the basement. There are days when we can’t walk because of the weather. I tell her that I have an allergy to the whole “exercise at home” thing. I have seen basements full of rarely used equipment all my life. I have to give her credit though, she is beating up that Bowflex. I have never met someone who actually does what she says like this. Amazing.

Tennis was fun. There were only three of us, plus the pro. Small groups are always a good time and we used our time wisely. I am still practicing my forehand, so things are a little weird, but I expect to get it one of these days. I remember back when I was on the swim team over at the town beach. I was the worst one in the whole group at freestyle. I was doing 22 second laps. I went to visit a family friend in Long Island with my father one weekend and practiced swimming in their pool. When I came back, I was doing 16 second laps. I remember the look on the coach’s face…”WHAT?” That ended up being my best stroke. I’m tellin’ ya Mike, I’m tellin’ ya.

In between other things for the past few days, I have been painting the purple room. If you forget what the purple room looks like, you can check it out here. It’s the one that’s purple. I decided to get off my duff and start painting upstairs of the house. It took a while, but I’m doing it. I cleaned out the room, painted it and then moved my office in it tonight. Here, you can take a look…

Office

Oh, you know I went down to the flooring place in town. I was going to go all out with the top floor, one room at a time. I was first going to put down new carpeting in each room, then I lost heart at during my visit. I brought back samples of pre-finished hardwood. It only took a few hours for me to completely change my mind and lose all motivation to turn this into a multi-week project. If we ever want to re-do the floors, we’ll do them. For now, we are only going to worry about paint.

By the way, can you believe I have that much stuff in the little office? Geez.

Now that the old office is cleaned out, we can start painting in there. After that, the bedroom and finally, Laura’s office. It will probably be spring by that point, so I’ll be outside for the rest of the season.

After I was finished moving all the furniture, I went downstairs to grab myself a glass of Brandy. I must tell you, after tasting that Scotch, I have admitted that I am a Brandy man. It’s the whole, “after dinner” thing, I think. It’s just the way I am. I don’t need any more hair on my chest.

I did a little looking around and decided that perhaps someone should buy me a nice bottle of Christian Brothers XO Rare Reserve Brandy. I would really like that. If you want to just drop it off, cool. If you want to meet me someplace, I can do that, just let me know when.

Finally, let’s talk about music. I am done organizing my albums into nice, neat folders on my computer (backed up, of course). I have a whole slew of them and they are mixed with most of Laura’s. She still has a while to go. As I was sitting here in the new office tonight, drinking my Brandy, I decided to cruise through some of the folders. I knew what all my albums were, but there are some of Laura’s that I really am not all too familiar with.

I first listened to one of my favorites, Christopher Cross. Then, after that was done, I opened one of hers. I listed to the first part of the first song and decided to give it a chance. I was in the middle of working, so I didn’t notice all that much after that, until the third song. It was “Days Of The New – Enemy.”

Now, I know you are chuckling under your breath, mumbling that I am not as “hip” as you are when it comes to music. You’re probably right, but I have already gotten over it. I really like the song and I would like to share it with you. Enjoy. (You’ll have to click here to see it. They disabled embedding.)

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Visting Gillette Castle State Park in East Haddam, CT

On Monday (Labor Day), we decided to get in the car and cruise down to Gillette Castle State Park in East Haddam, CT. This has been on my “to do” list for a while.

We weren’t really in the mood for a hike. We kind of just wanted to see the castle. I read good things about it and heard it was really cool. I also wanted to see if it would be a good place to launch a boat, since it sits right on the Connecticut River.

It’s a good thing we weren’t in the mood for a hike. Even though there is a trail map, this state park isn’t like the others we have been to. The castle definitely is the main attraction. There is a visitor’s center and everything. The trails lead, in a zig-zag fashion, down to the river. We walked them, but there really wasn’t an opening down there. I kind of popped out of the woods where the water began. It’s not bad in the least, just not a hiking park.

Now, what was really cool was the castle. It overlooks the Connecticut River like nothing else does. I was surprised to see so many boats on the river. I mean, I guess it was Labor Day and everything, but still, it was packed with boats. I think the best part of this river is the fact that it leads down to the Long Island Sound. I am guessing that you could get from the castle to the Sound in about a half hour. That’s pretty neat, and really good if you have a boat.

The castle has tours, for a fee. We didn’t take them up on the offer this time, but I think we will do it when the weather gets a little cooler. I am thinking around Halloween. It can be spooky, I’m sure, especially because the castle has secret passage ways. I like secret passage ways because I am a secretive and sneaky person by nature.

Here are some photos of the castle and the surrounding area.

Bridge near pond at Gillette Castle State Park

Bridge at Gillette Castle State Park

Sherlock Holmes - William Gillette sign at Gillette Castle State Park

Castle at Gillette Castle State Park

Castle at Gillette Castle State Park

Connecticut River

Flowers at Gillette Castle State Park

Castle at Gillette Castle State Park

Castle and windows at Gillette Castle State Park

Castle at Gillette Castle State Park

Garden at Gillette Castle State Park

Boat on Connecticut River

Sailboats on Connecticut River

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Playing at Rye Playland

The absolute best time to go to Rye Playland is at the end of the summer. Just be sure to check their schedule to make sure you pick a day before they close up. Their hours get quite sparse towards late August – early September. This time of year is the best because the park is nearly empty. No heat and sweat, no kids running around dropping ice cream on your shoe and no lines. Yes, no lines.

We parked in the side lot and met Craig at “Ye Old Mill.” The official story of this ride is…

“As you enter this dark ride on a small boat, a voice tells the story of the gnomes who are protecting their jewels. You’ll encounter a giant dragon and a terrifying troll during this eerie journey.”

…but this may give you a better picture:

It’s a pretty cool ride. You float around a small canal in a little boat, that might tip over at any moment…seriously…be careful. Things move and make noise, but overall, it’s not too scary.

We went on only the best rides. The Log Flume and the Double Shot are musts…

…and of course all the roller coasters. You can never get sick of going on the famous Dragon Coaster…over and over and over…did I mention no lines?

There is something about Playland that you might not expect. I would call it a certain aire. As you walk around and have all sorts of fun, the sun starts to go down and it gets a little chilly. If you are there on a clear evening, you can go out on the pier and try to look across Long Island Sound.

The best part is just hanging out on the pier looking back at the park waiting for it to get a little bit darker, because the best part comes next.

The Ferris Wheel at night. Who says Rye Playland isn’t romantic? Riding the ferris wheel with a nice cool breeze messing up your hair offers a deserved break from reality. This might be the most memorable part of the day. You have to make sure you go on the ferris wheel almost at closing time to feel the full effect.

Besides the rich history of Playland, there were some movies filmed here, such as Tom Hanks’ “Big” and Wood Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown.”

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