Eat Here... Oar Else The Blue Oar, Haddam July 2021 Lists and listicles are as much of an epidemic as the COVID pandemic. These lazy lists are endemic across online publications these days. I mostly ignore all of them - especially any about "Best Connecticut bloggers" or whatever. CTMQ has never even been … [Read more...]
CTMQ’s Guide to Haddam
Everything Haddam I’ve been exploring and writing about Connecticut since 2006. After a decade, I began compiling CTMQ guides for each town in the state. I plan on “completing” Haddam CTMQ-style... as well as the other 168 towns, cities, and boroughs in Connecticut. That is the ultimate goal of CTMQ. If I’ve … [Read more...]
Millers Pond State Park Intro
Millers Pond State Park Durham & Haddam Millers Pond is a nice little state park that surrounds a natural spring-fed pond. There are lots of trails that extend beyond the park itself into the surrounding Cockaponset State Forest. The Mattabesett Trail courses through it. The pond has been dammed since 1740 … [Read more...]
Haddam Land Trust
Haddam Land Trust Trails Bam! Go Forth! To Bamforth! And all the other Haddam Land Trust trailed properties! Man, there's a lot to hike in Haddam. Several state parks, a large state forest, Mattabassett goodness... on and on. And I promise that I won't overlook what the HLT does here either. And they're … [Read more...]
Haddam’s Town Trails
Haddam's Town Trails I won't lie to you and say that I am currently familiar with every nook and cranny of Haddam, the only town in Connecticut with residences on both sides of the Connecticut River. Sure, I'd hiked the Mattabessett Trail through town and some trails in the Cockaponset State Forest before putting … [Read more...]
Cockaponset State Forest Intro
Cockaponset State Forest Haddam, Chester, Deep River, Killingworth, Durham, Guilford, Madison, Clinton, Westbrook, Middletown & Middlefield I listed all the towns above not because there are worth CTMQ things do within the Cockaponset in each, but just to make the point that this is a disjointed and sprawling … [Read more...]
Middlesex Land Trust Trails
Middlesex Land Trust Trails Cromwell, Durham, East Hampton, Middlefield, Middletown, Portland and Haddam Hoo boy. This one’s a doozy. While I completely understand that it is nigh impossible for little land trusts to keep and maintain a nice website that allows the few who care to easily tease out the trailed … [Read more...]
TSTL’16.10: Millers Pond State Park
The Sky's the Limit 2016 Hiking Challenge #10 Millers Pond State Park, Durham/Haddam Septemeber 4, 2016 Now into the double digits for our 2016 Sky’s the Limit Challenge hikes, I was feeling confident about our chances for completion. (Well, let’s be honest – we all knew we’d complete all 14.) Millers Pond … [Read more...]
Clark Creek Falls
I Love Secret Falls Clark Creek Falls, Haddam January 16, 2016 I’ve written many times over the years that, due to Connecticut’s relative lack of things like “real” caves and impressive waterfalls, our guidebooks and websites highlight some rather weak fake caves and piddling falls. (And, as a result, I … [Read more...]
Thankful Arnold House Garden
Thankful Arnold House Garden Wilhelmina Ann Arnold Barnhart Memorial Garden, Haddam June 14, 2008 I visited this historic garden before the Historic Garden initiative began. As a result, I didn’t exactly spend too much time in the gardens, even though a lovely woman was tending to them during my visit to the house … [Read more...]