Search Results for: Connecticut

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    10 Family Friendly Places to Hike in Mystic, Connecticut

    ByJennRecord

    One of our recent family goals, and new favorite activity, has been to enjoy the outdoors more by spending time exploring some of the 139 Connecticut State Parks and open spaces; see the full list here. Connecticut has over 210,000 acres of public, open spaces, and we’re slowly making our way through them all.

    We spent time this fall exploring the western part of the state- mostly in Litchfield County- and you can read about some of those adventures in this post about 6 family friendly places to hike. This week, we want to share 10 places in the eastern Mystic region of the state we have recently explored:

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    10 Ways to Explore the Connecticut River Museum

    ByJennRecord

    The Connecticut River runs over 400 miles from the Connecticut Lakes near the Canadian border down through Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut to Long Island Sound in Old Saybrook. The Connecticut River Museum began as a volunteer organization in the 1970s, housed in a 1870s Steamboat Warehouse, and has since expanded into a museum with an impressive collection of artifacts and art, a replica sailing ship, a combat submarine, and a calendar filled with special events, programs, and workshops.

    The museum is spread out over three floors of exhibits: a rotating exhibit on the 3rd floor and permanent exhibits on the first and second floors. There is also a small display in the boathouse room. We found the exhibits engaging and informative and appropriate for upper elementary aged students and older. Toddlers might have a hard time not touching everything and won’t be able to read all the informative signage; however, ALL ages will LOVE the train show (so bring kids of all ages to the train show and hold on to toddlers closely).

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    10 Ways to Explore the Florence Griswold Museum in Lyme, Connecticut

    ByJennRecord

    We enjoy visiting art museums with our children. Some people may think art museums are not an ideal spot to bring children, but there are a whole variety of reasons why you should- read them in this post. We’ve recently been researching local museums in Connecticut and were pleased to see that the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme is open and taking very good steps to honor pandemic restrictions and keep everyone safe and healthy.

    Home to military sea captain Robert Griswold and his family in the middle 1800s until Florence Griswold’s death in 1937, the 12 acre estate includes art galleries, the main mansion, three additional structures with exhibits, an artist trail, gift shop, and seasonal cafe. The Griswold family harvested a large collection of gardens, producing much of the food the family ate, and later served to guests. Griswold inherited the home from her family and began welcoming boarders in 1899 as a way of making money. Up to 18 artists, who became known as the Lyme Art Colony, would stay in the home at one time,. Famous guests include President Woodrow Wilson and his first wife, an aspiring artist. Old Lyme became known as one of the biggest Impressionist art colonies in America, in large part to the Griswold campus. Today, it is open to visitors and welcomes families to explore what life was like for the artists in the early 20th century.

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    6 Family Friendly Places to Hike in Western Connecticut

    ByJennRecord

    One of the good things to come out of the COVID 19 pandemic for our family is the desire to spend more time outdoors. While we have always enjoyed outdoor spots like the beach, the zoo, and various parks, we’ve never really been “hikers.” Until 2020, we also didn’t have many opportunities to explore many Connecticut state parks. Connecticut has 110 state parks and hundreds of hiking trails. Check out this overview on Visit Connecticut.com, with links to alphabetized lists of parks and information. We’ve been fortunate to have time this past year to “hit the trails.” We’ll be sharing many of them in the coming weeks, including tips for hiking with kids in general, but this week we’re starting with six spots in the northwestern part of Connecticut that we like:

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    32 Places to Eat in Connecticut

    ByJennRecord

    Our recent list of 30 Places We Love in Connecticut received some great feedback. We’re glad so many people enjoy (and agreed with) some of our favorite spots. I thought about including some of our favorite places to eat, but decided food needs its own post!

    This is by no means a comprehensive list. Our suggestions below are definitely Fairfield and New County heavy, as that’s our home base. If you’re looking for a larger variety, check out this recent list from Connecticut Magazine. I subscribe to Connecticut magazine and always save this annual issue- so many great suggestions. One of my other favorite guides for dining in Connecticut is CTBites.com. They offer weekly newsletters with updates, special events, and holiday menus. You might also be interested in this guide to eating gluten free in Connecticut and this guide from Mommy Poppins, which includes peanut free spots.

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    30 Places We Love in Connecticut

    ByJennRecord

    Connecticut may be the third smallest state (5,543 square miles), but what it lacks in size, it makes up with so many fun places to explore and so many family friendly activities. I have lived in Fairfield County in Connecticut for 20 years. And over the past 20 years my family has explored most of the Nutmeg State, from Greenwich to Mystic and Fairfield to Torrington. Since our daughter was born over a decade ago, we’ve found just about every spot to be kid friendly. While we plan on adding to this list each month, and will share annual updates, this is our first round of places we love in Connecticut.