Newington: Complete! Olympia Diner & Carvel Ice Cream Here is the CTMQ Guide to Newington with my list and stories about everything I’ve done there! After a decade of writing CTMQ, I decided to try to “complete” towns. In that decade of traveling and writing, I had already done a lot of stuff in many of our … [Read more...]
Nigeria: Naija
Taking a Poundo on the Chin-Chin CT Food Tour of the World at Naija, Newington November 2024 Straight up, this will be a difficult page to write. I cannot find a single review of this restaurant. No explanations, no experiences... nothing to help guide me. Sure, I ate there and know the names of most of what I … [Read more...]
Enoch Kelsey House
Enoch is Enoch Enoch Kelsey House, Newington January 2025 Connecticut museum visit #543. I knew something was off. Funny, even. The Enoch Kelsey House, a rarely open gem in the center of town, bent over backwards to accommodate my visit. Okay, maybe not to a great extent, but it's not typical for rarely-open … [Read more...]
CTfastrak Multi-Use Trail
Hoodie Ride Newington & New Britain November 2023 A month before Christmas Calvin and I went on a quickie 10-mile out and back jaunt along the CTfastrak bike trail. He was was too big for his bike at the time, but this would be the last ride before we traded up to an adult bike. The kid is 5'7" now and is still … [Read more...]
Mortensen’s Ice Cream
Stick to Ice Cream, Leave the Puns to Me Mortensen's Ice Cream, Newington January 2023 I'm 50 as I write this. I've lived within 10 miles of Mortensen's for decades. And I rather like good ice cream. Which is why it's really weird that this is the first time I'd ever had Mortensen's ice cream in my life. In … [Read more...]
Churchill Bridge
Taking a Gambrel on the Design Churchill Covered Bridge, Newington One of my favorite CTMQ readers once wrote a comment regarding one of these newer, uglier covered bridges, "Even the classics we all love were new once." Indeed. That doesn't mean that these random, rather non-functional covered bridges … [Read more...]
National Iwo Jima Memorial
Oorah! National Iwo Jima Memorial, Newington & New Britain We all have "those things" that we live near that we just never check out. Be it a museum or a hike or restaurant or whatever. I think the unconscious thinking is, "I live nearby, so it's easy to get to, so I'll make the effort someday." The National … [Read more...]
Cedar Mountain and Balf Nature Preserve
Okay Balf Cedar Mountain and Balf Nature Preserve, Newington January 2023 If you happen to be a Newington resident and have read some of the other pages I've written about Newington trails, you're probably gritting your teeth preparing for another smarmy screed from me. I can hear you from here... "here we go, … [Read more...]
Newington Greenway
F Greenway Trail Newington Greenway, Newington January 2023 This "trail" was removed from the town's trail guide in 2025. If you have found yourself on this page, congratulations! It's one of those that I've written and published but didn't give it tags to stand out on the site and I never mentioned it on … [Read more...]
Indian Hill Trail
A Proper Troll Indian Hill Trail, Newington January 2023 This "trail" was removed from the town's trail guide in 2025. Oh Newington, you vexing mistress, you. First, you go and elect a guy with my name as mayor (He didn't run in 2016, but whatever). Then you claim to have the "world's smallest waterfall" which … [Read more...]