Good Ol' Smellington Hockanum River Trails (The EHRTC): West Road Trail, Ellington ~1 mile one way, March 2018 If you are reading these Hockanum River Trails south to north, you have already read the Dart Hill North page. If you haven’t, it’s a fun one and you should. I’ll wait. Actually, there's almost … [Read more...]
Hockanum River Watershed Assoc. Intro
Hockanum River Watershed Association Manchester, East Hartford, Ellington, Vernon HOCKANUM: From the Native American word "Hocquaun", meaning a hook-shaped or crooked river. Now having hiked most of their trails, I have a Hockanum Manifesto. Here it is: I love the Hockanum Trail. There are no mountains or … [Read more...]
Cold Creek Brewing Beers
Cold Creek Brewing Beers Ellington Late 2017: Cold Creek Brewery has undergone a relatively massive change; head brewer Sean Piel has left for Counter Weight. The owners are opened Cold Creek Tavern which will is a restaurant that serves a lot of Cold Creek beer - but Cold Creek Brewery will remain open with a new … [Read more...]
Northern Connecticut Land Trust Intro
Northern Connecticut Land Trust East Windsor, Ellington, Enfield, Somers, Stafford/Stafford Springs, Tolland, Vernon My first thought as I begin to tackle this Land Trust is, “Holy crap, that’s a lot of land in trust.” My second thought is, “cool, these should be trails I can bang out with my sons.” We just … [Read more...]
Hartford Audubon Society Trails
Hartford Audubon Society Trails HAS Trails, Not in Hartford These guys call themselves HAS, so when you see the slogan “Hartford HAS it!” now you can think to yourself “Hartford Hartford Audubon Society it!” Consider your day ruined. But I do like how their sanctuary pages say Hartford Audubon … [Read more...]
Oldest Roadside Memorial in US*
Steamwhealing Over Facts Oldest Roadside Memorial in US, Ellington March 29, 2013 *Well one of them anyway. And I think I can say this is the oldest in Connecticut, but that doesn’t have the panache. “Ellington is home to one of America’s oldest roadside memorials.” This is from the impeccable source called … [Read more...]
Shenipsit Trail: Section 5
Section 5: ShenipThat'sIt! Ellington/Somers/Stafford ~ 8 miles May 16, 2010 This just didn’t seem right. A hike on the Shenipsit – my final one – with good weather! While I did have some nice days for a few of the regional Shenipsit trails, I think I had cloud cover and/or rain and/or snow on my four prior … [Read more...]
168. Hall Memorial Library Exhibits
All Hail Hallowed Hall at Hall Ellington (Google Maps location) May 19, 2010 Somewhere along the CTMQ way, after readers kept pushing me to check out various libraries around the state for various reasons, I finally began to poke around what they have to offer. It’s a sketchy can of worms to open up for a couple … [Read more...]
Shenipsit Trail: Section 4
Section 4: SHHhhhhhhenipsit Vernon, Tolland, Ellington ~ 6 miles May 13, 2010 Ahhh, such a clever title. For this is the secret section of what has become quite the oddball trail. I’ve come to learn why the Shenipsit isn’t included in the conversation with CFPA’s “big” trails (Metacomet, Mattabesett, … [Read more...]
136. Nellie E. McKnight Museum
Whoa Nellie Ellington (Google Maps Location) August 13, 2009 Ellington. Ellington. Ellington. Hm. I’m stumped. I don’t have anything to say about the rural community in north central Connecticut. Other than it’s rural and in the north central part of the state. Ellington, in fact, is very proud and … [Read more...]