Seeing The Sights When Guests Come To Town—

Connecticut’s Eye-Poppers Not Just For Leaf-Peepers

By Nancy K. Crevier

The colors hidden by summer’s greenery are beginning to paint the landscape by mid-September. Maple trees begin to hint at the riot of red that will fully engulf each of these trees within the month. Birch and elm trees fade to palest green, and then give way to autumn’s golden garb. Brilliant oranges peep out at the edges of ash and hickory leaves and a maroon blush takes over the sumac bushes lining the roadways.

Fall foliage and New England are synonyms. Thousands of visitors from all over the world become “leaf-peepers” for a few short weeks in late September and October, descending on Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut — including Newtown and its vicinity.

It is the perfect time to flaunt the beauty of Newtown to visitors, and many residents do just that. While Newtown is no metropolitan hot bed of activity, there are still certain places that Newtowners proudly point out to area visitors.

“New England is known for its beautiful foliage, but I have company all year around,” says Marcia Moskowitz, who lives off of Route 302. “If [visitors] come from the city, I think just coming to Newtown is a whole different thing for them. I love the whole Ram Pasture area, and Castle Hill where you can view all of Newtown.”

Newtown’s Main Street, with its historic homes and giant flagpole, is a must-see for her visitors. But Ms Moskowitz is willing to take her friends and family a little further than her own backyard. “I love to take [my visitors] to Kent Falls and to Lake Waramaug in New Preston,” she says. “It’s a beautiful drive.”

Ram Pasture and Kent Falls offer Ken and Maggie Mahony’s guests, too, a hint of the peaceful lifestyle enjoyed in this section of New England. One of the more amazing aspects of Newtown, though, says Ms Mahony, is the movie theater at Edmond Town Hall. “A lot of our visitors come from England,” she said, “and they cannot believe there’s a $2 movie house or how easy it is to go there. Most of them have to travel to a city and pay a tremendous amount to see a movie.”

Summer visitors are treated to a trip to the Ice Cream Shop on Church Hill Road, said Ms Mahony, a good place to savor the small town flavor of Newtown. “We like to take people out to eat, too. Sal e Pepe’s and the Inn at Newtown are two of our favorite places here.”

Newtown visitors the first weekend in September will be a little early for the foliage season, but the Labor Day Parade is always a hit with out-of-towners, said Ms Mahony, and they are happy to spend the morning at the state’s biggest Labor Day parade.

Local Highlights               And Day Trips

Kent Falls is also high on the list for Wendy and Ernesto Leon-Gambetta when they have company. “We’ve had relative and friends from all over visit,” says Ms Leon-Gambetta. “They come from Peru, Nebraska, Canada, Texas, and Arizona.” It is not just the autumnal glory of our region that draws their visitors, she says. Year around, she has the opportunity to showcase the town.

“I take our visitors to Edmond Town Hall to see the mural [painted by artist David Merrill], and we always go to the top of Castle Hill Road to look over Newtown. We drive by the kids’ schools, and sometimes take in a movie at the Edmond theater. If it’s the right season, we love going to The Creamery at Ferris Farm,” she says. “In the fall, we like to go apple picking, either at Blue Jay Orchards in Bethel, or Lyman Orchard in Middlefield.”

The Leon-Gambetta family is also not opposed to a road trip to highlight the beauty of the area. “We’ll go up to Kent and visit Kent Falls, and then on to Litchfield. We just park and walk up and down to see the historic homes.” In warmer weather, it is essential to take a trip to the shore, says Ms Leon-Gambetta, with a stop in Madison for lobster rolls at Lenny and Joe’s Fish Tale restaurant.

Huntington State Park in Redding is the perfect place to enjoy the autumn display of foliage, says Linda Lubinsky. “We like to take a little picnic and sit by one of the ponds there. It’s a pretty place for hiking,” says Ms Lubinsky. Having lived overseas, the Lubinskys have entertained visitors from as far away as Japan, and friends from their Parisian days, as well. “We have taken them pumpkin and apple picking at Blue Jay Orchards, and in the fall, the Castle Hill Farm corn maze is a fun place to visit.”

A little further down the road, is another one of her favorite places to take visitors. “You’ll never believe it, but I take people to see Stew Leonard’s!” she exclaims. The unusual supermarket with its wide selection of products is fascinating for many visitors, she claims, noting that the mechanical characters in the store are especially popular with the children. For visitors with a little more time to tour the area, Ms Lubinsky finds the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk a fun place to visit.

The first place that comes to mind for Booth librarian Kim Weber and her husband, Jack, when friends and relatives come to town is, naturally, the library. “I do the whole tour with them, from top to bottom,” she says. “The library is really a museum, with Mary Hawley’s bedroom upstairs and all of the wonderful things on display.” Like the Lubinskys, the Webers also select Huntington State Park as one of their top picks for hiking and enjoying the great outdoors.

A lot of the time, though, she says, depending on where their company hails from, they will spend a day in New York City walking through the Greenwich Village and Canal Street areas. “The Schubert Theater in New Haven, or the Peabody Museum in New Haven for people with kids, are places we often go, too” she says. “If we really want to travel, we go to Stockbridge or Sturbridge in Massachusetts. It is beautiful up there.”

With the whirlwind tour Frances Ashbolt offers her visitors, many from her homeland, England, it is no wonder they frequently must buy an additional suitcase for their souvenirs.

“In Newtown,” she says, “we like to take our visitors to McLaughlin Vineyards, the Orchard Hill Nature Center, and Castle Hill for the view, of course. Everyone who visits us from England loves to go out to breakfast and we have plenty of venues to choose from in town.”

It is not just the Weber family whose visitors are treated to a library visit. The Ashbolts elderly in-laws, “cannot leave without visiting the book nook at the library for something to read on the plane home,” says Ms Ashbolt. Lexington Garden Center is also popular with her guests, and if visitors time it right, they get to watch the Labor Day Parade or witness the Christmas tree lighting in Ram Pasture.

The Ashbolts find neighboring towns Bethel, Litchfield, Ridgefield, and Kent to be favorites with out-of-town guests, as is a stop by the pewter factory in Woodbury.

“When we have visitors with children, they like to go to Lake Compounce, tubing on the Farmington River, the aquariums, Sherwood Island State Park, and Silver Sands in Milford,” said Ms Ashbolt.

A Serene Setting

McLaughlin Vineyard on Alberts Hill in Sandy Hook offers a serene setting for a picnic, along with the opportunity to purchase and enjoy wines made on site. Too cold for a picnic? It might be maple syrup season, in which case visitors can tour the sugaring facility at McLaughlin’s and sample the sweet result. Call 426-1533 for hours and to arrange tours, particularly if it is a large group.

Other area vineyards are part of the Connecticut Wine Trail tour, and oenophiles will appreciate a chance to marvel at the products and surrounding landscape of the vineyards. DiGrazia Vineyard in Brookfield, Hopkins Vineyard in New Preston, and Haight Vineyard in Litchfield and Mystic are all easy daytrips. At Jones Vineyard in Shelton, guests can not only taste the grape and fruit wines produced there, but sign up for a wine-pairing class, or take a ride into the fields to pick the fruit of the season. At ctwine.com/sitemap, a complete listing of Connecticut wineries and their offerings can be found.

The local region offers much for those visitors who appreciate the stunning foliage that colors the hillsides, but prefer to view others’ interpretations of the world, indoors. At Weir Farm in Wilton, the former home of late 19th Century American Impressionist J. Alden Weir, the property is home to a gallery, art center, and other art-related events. Call 203-834-1896 for gallery hours and information.

The Institute for American Indian Studies in bucolic Washington is home to an art gallery, museum, and research center focused on the Eastern Woodlands Native Americans. A quick call to the center at 860-868-0518 will divulge what activities are scheduled for visitors to the area. The young and young at heart guest will appreciate a visit to the Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven or the Yale Art Gallery, or just a stroll through the tree-lined paths that meander the Yale campus.

The Wadsworth Museum in Hartford, the Hill-Stead in Farmington, and New Britain Museum of Art are all within a two-hour car ride. The magnificent homes of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe stand side-by-side on Farmington Avenue in Hartford. History buffs can revel in the guided tours of these museumlike turn of the 20th Century homes. Discover more Connecticut art at arttrail.org/trails.

When early risers come to visit, a ride to New Milford as the sun peeks over the treetops provides a wondrous view. Stop at the Elephant’s Trunk on Route 7, where as early as 5:45 am every Sunday from April to December more than 1,000 dealers display their wares at this vast flea market. After 7 am, the $20 entry charge drops to a mere $1.

Connecticut hosts will find plenty of sports events at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, only 20 minutes from Newtown. Summertime is the time to see the Bridgeport Bluefish take on other New England baseball teams. In chillier weather, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers make the arena their home rink and offer some fast-moving, exciting hockey games. Information about sports events and concerts at the Arena at Harbor Yard can be accessed by calling 203-345-2300.

From breathtaking views at Newtown’s doorstep to the shores of Long Island Sound, from wineries to eateries, from fall’s brilliant foliage to the first leaf of spring, the local region is a pleasure to the senses. It is time to get the guest room ready.