Full Steam Ahead Essex (Google Maps location) November 4, 2012 "Steve, come on man, everyone knows the Gris and everyone knows it's just a restaurant." Really? Well then everyone is wrong. First of all, the Gris is hardly any ol' restaurant - it has been around and fully operational since 1776. SEVENTEEN … [Read more...]
186. Nathaniel B. Palmer House Museum
The World in the Palmer of His Hand Stonington (Google Maps location) September 3, 2010 I’ve been known in these very pages to whine about the fact that there are so many historic house museums in Connecticut for me to visit. It’s not even the visits themselves I whine about – it’s the process of writing about … [Read more...]
185. Old Lighthouse Museum
To The Lighthouse Stonington (Google Maps location) September 3, 2010 More on my ascent of the lighthouse proper - Right here. Hurricane Earl. Remember that one? You don’t? That’s because it didn’t really happen. We’d been in Rhode Island all week for vacation (CTMQ family vacation photos here! Woo … [Read more...]
The Oliver Cromwell
Site of Connecticut’s First Warship Oliver Cromwell, Essex As I write this sentence, my brain is already fretting about where to slot it in on CTMQ. It’s not a US First – although it’s close – and there are no ruins or remnants of it remaining here in Essex. All that exists are an interpretive sign and an old … [Read more...]
URR Trail: Stonington (Mystic)
Greenmanville Historic District Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Avenue Named for its founders, Greenmanville represents a typical 19th century industrial town with a rich documented history of participation in the movement to abolish slavery. The Greenman brothers founded a shipyard here and became social … [Read more...]
Concept of Freedom Trail: Stonington
Charles W. Morgan, Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Avenue I will certainly be revisiting Mystic Seaport and will have real pictures on this page at some point. Among the many displays at Mystic Seaport, renowned for its maritime village and working craftspeople, is the ship Charles W. Morgan, last of the … [Read more...]
432. Submarine Library and Museum (Closed)
A Sinking Ship Submarine Library and Museum, Middletown RIP 2003 It is downright silly of me to attempt to write about this defunct museum. It shuttered its windows with the passing of its lone curator, Ben Bastura. And from all I can gather from the internet, Mr. Bastura was quite a figure. I will simply copy … [Read more...]
Museum on the Green
Come and Drink the Green Kool-Aid Glastonbury (Google Maps Location) June 14, 2008 This is the greatest museum not only in Connecticut, but in the world. I love Glastonbury's Museum on the Green and all my readers must flock to it in droves and genuflect before the great brick building. Come... Drink the Green … [Read more...]
Mystic Seaport
A Whale of a Good Time Mystic Section of Stonington (Google Maps Location) August 11, 2007 This page is... embarrassing. The Seaport is, to me, Connecticut's premier attraction. I'm writing this statement 13 years after writing this page, and the only reason I keep it intact is so you all can laugh at me. I will … [Read more...]
Cove Warehouse Maritime Museum
By Cove, I Think We've Got It! Wethersfield (Google Maps Location) May 27, 2007 So you're saying to yourself, "A warehouse? An old warehouse at that? Um... why?" Good questions... Ones which I'm happy to answer for you. After having been to both the Wethersfield Museum and the Hurlbut-Dunham House a mile or … [Read more...]