At the Garbage Museum in Stratford (yes, a whole museum about trash) we learned the trash facility burns their garbage and produces electricity in the process. My gut reaction was that it would produce too many smoke pollutants; however supposedly, it produces less pollution than coal and natural gas plants. With that in mind, it’s baffling to me that we possess this capability and don’t use it everywhere in the United States! Wouldn’t this solve all of our problems, well some of them anyway, from landfills to energy? Is Connecticut keeping it a secret? Why isn’t every county in every state in America doing this?
Here are some highlights and other secrets from our week in Connecticut:
Best Meal: Chip’s pancakes. Chip’s Family Restaurant was voted #1 for pancakes in CT, and now I know why. They have 40 different kinds of pancakes, and if that wasn't enough, they were happy to accommodate changes. They have unique flavors like sausage and apple, Hawaiian, and my favorite, the choco-holic. I hear the omelets are good, too, but I was lucky to walk, and not roll, away after a stack of those pancakes.
Worst Meal: Pepe’s Pizza. My apologies to the numerous Pepe’s “pie” fans. (Pizza is called pie around these parts.) The crust was too thin and charred for my liking. No offense to Pepe…It’s that style of pizza I’m not a big fan of, but I always love to try new places and foods.
Biggest Revelation: Authentic is best, but that’s really not all that revolutionary. In New Haven, we stopped in Libby’s Italian Pastry Shop for an Italian ice. It was delicious, creamier than all the other Italian ices I’ve had previously, so much so that I’ll never buy another Italian ice from the frozen food section again.
My Restaurant Conspiracy Theory: We tried our first Tim Horton’s in Mystic. Tim Horton’s is basically a donut and coffee shop, but they do have limited sandwiches. My lunch was fine, but the kids wanted to return – and why not? Where else can you get a lunch combo with a donut? Forget chips! Personally, I think it’s an evil scheme in which brothers Tim and Tony Horton (the P90
fitness guru) operate companies designed to keep each other in business: Tim fattens you up; Tony slims you down; Tim fattens you up; it’s a vicious cycle!
Most Beautiful Spot: Overlooking New Haven from the summit at East Rock. There are so many trees in the East! Of course when you think about it, it makes sense that there aren’t as many trees in the Midwest since it was a prairie. You just don’t realize it until you see the difference.
Best Tourist Spot: Mystic Seaport. I had read some reviews online that said it was no Disneyland, so I wasn’t expecting much, but once we stopped looking at old buildings and actually did stuff, it was fun! We watched the whaling play, where Chloe performed as thunder. Then we went to the planetarium. I almost didn’t pay the $2.50 extra per person, but it was so worth it. The guide patiently taught us how to locate different constellations in the night sky. He even taught Levi how to use the sextant. I have never had anyone teach me how to find constellations, even in school. It was awesome! We made a point to get our ticket validated so that we could come back the next day and continue our exploration at Mystic Seaport.
My Restaurant Conspiracy Theory: We tried our first Tim Horton’s in Mystic. Tim Horton’s is basically a donut and coffee shop, but they do have limited sandwiches. My lunch was fine, but the kids wanted to return – and why not? Where else can you get a lunch combo with a donut? Forget chips! Personally, I think it’s an evil scheme in which brothers Tim and Tony Horton (the P90
fitness guru) operate companies designed to keep each other in business: Tim fattens you up; Tony slims you down; Tim fattens you up; it’s a vicious cycle!Most Beautiful Spot: Overlooking New Haven from the summit at East Rock. There are so many trees in the East! Of course when you think about it, it makes sense that there aren’t as many trees in the Midwest since it was a prairie. You just don’t realize it until you see the difference.
Best Tourist Spot: Mystic Seaport. I had read some reviews online that said it was no Disneyland, so I wasn’t expecting much, but once we stopped looking at old buildings and actually did stuff, it was fun! We watched the whaling play, where Chloe performed as thunder. Then we went to the planetarium. I almost didn’t pay the $2.50 extra per person, but it was so worth it. The guide patiently taught us how to locate different constellations in the night sky. He even taught Levi how to use the sextant. I have never had anyone teach me how to find constellations, even in school. It was awesome! We made a point to get our ticket validated so that we could come back the next day and continue our exploration at Mystic Seaport.
Worst Tourist Spot: Yale tour. Maybe we're just not Ivy League tour kind of people, but we skipped out on the second half of the tour because we were bored.
Worst Memory: My 4 am theory. I awoke in the middle of the night and couldn’t fall back asleep because of the strong, unfamiliar perfume smell on the sheets. After questioning Levi, Chloe, and my husband and finding they didn’t have a perfume aroma, I theorized that our sheets weren’t changed after the previous hotel guests. You just can’t fall back asleep after realizing you’re sleeping in someone else’s dirty sheets.
Best Memory: Watching Mike and Levi skipping around like schoolgirls at the USS Nautilus Submarine Force Library & Museum in Groton. They were fascinated looking at the missiles. The finale was the submarine tour itself, which was a 20 minute audio tour while walking through the sub.
Funniest Memory: Having fun at a grocery store?! I wasn't sure what we were in "store" for by going to Stew Leonard's Grocery Store in Newington, but we laughed at the dancing chickens and ourselves as we kept pushing the button to make them sing and dance. Stew Leonard’s is designed to look like an old general store with whimsical characters throughout that sing and dance when you push a button. This combined with the samples (loved the donut holes!) was quite a hit.
Biggest Surprise: You can drive anywhere in the state of Connecticut in one hour! We stayed in the middle of the state the entire week and drove wherever we needed each day. It was certainly a welcome change after all the driving in Pennsylvania and the West.
Biggest Disappointment: Internet access in the hotel lobby only…maybe I should have expected that from a hotel that doesn’t change the sheets.
Biggest Twinge of Homesickness: We met up with friends from Lincoln, who are living in CT now. They gave us a personal tour around Yale and New Haven. It was nice to see them, but it also made me miss (briefly!) the normal routine of life when we saw them at church every week.
My CT Hike: Walk to the Mystic drawbridge. It was several miles to the drawbridge and back from our hotel, so I’m calling it my hike. Talk about nice timing! We arrived at the drawbridge just minutes before the scheduled lifting. With the heat, Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream was a refreshing treat before heading back. I guess most real hikes don’t include an ice cream break in the middle, do they?
What We Did Miss: Mystic Aquarium, Essex steam train, Shady Glen Dairy Stores, Branford Trolley Museum, and much more all recommend to us.
In Summary: Connecticut, we had a great time discovering your state, and there's no need to keep that a secret.
Worst Memory: My 4 am theory. I awoke in the middle of the night and couldn’t fall back asleep because of the strong, unfamiliar perfume smell on the sheets. After questioning Levi, Chloe, and my husband and finding they didn’t have a perfume aroma, I theorized that our sheets weren’t changed after the previous hotel guests. You just can’t fall back asleep after realizing you’re sleeping in someone else’s dirty sheets.
Best Memory: Watching Mike and Levi skipping around like schoolgirls at the USS Nautilus Submarine Force Library & Museum in Groton. They were fascinated looking at the missiles. The finale was the submarine tour itself, which was a 20 minute audio tour while walking through the sub.
Funniest Memory: Having fun at a grocery store?! I wasn't sure what we were in "store" for by going to Stew Leonard's Grocery Store in Newington, but we laughed at the dancing chickens and ourselves as we kept pushing the button to make them sing and dance. Stew Leonard’s is designed to look like an old general store with whimsical characters throughout that sing and dance when you push a button. This combined with the samples (loved the donut holes!) was quite a hit.
Biggest Surprise: You can drive anywhere in the state of Connecticut in one hour! We stayed in the middle of the state the entire week and drove wherever we needed each day. It was certainly a welcome change after all the driving in Pennsylvania and the West.
Biggest Disappointment: Internet access in the hotel lobby only…maybe I should have expected that from a hotel that doesn’t change the sheets.
Biggest Twinge of Homesickness: We met up with friends from Lincoln, who are living in CT now. They gave us a personal tour around Yale and New Haven. It was nice to see them, but it also made me miss (briefly!) the normal routine of life when we saw them at church every week.
My CT Hike: Walk to the Mystic drawbridge. It was several miles to the drawbridge and back from our hotel, so I’m calling it my hike. Talk about nice timing! We arrived at the drawbridge just minutes before the scheduled lifting. With the heat, Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream was a refreshing treat before heading back. I guess most real hikes don’t include an ice cream break in the middle, do they?
What We Did Miss: Mystic Aquarium, Essex steam train, Shady Glen Dairy Stores, Branford Trolley Museum, and much more all recommend to us.
In Summary: Connecticut, we had a great time discovering your state, and there's no need to keep that a secret.
The Mom
FYI In the 70’s Akron, Ohio built a garbage burning plant to steam heat downtown buildings. Never did work right, and was shut down in the 80’s after numerous law suits.
ReplyDeleteEWH!!! Gross on the sheets!
ReplyDelete