Thursday, September 17, 2009
Diana's Pool * Ribbits
A visit to Chaplin’s town website made no mention of anything of significance to see in that small town. Somewhere, however, in our collection of clippings and notes, we recalled Diana’s Pool was a natural pool in the Natchaug River. It’s located off Rt. 198 right near a bridge that crosses over that river.
We parked in a parking lot on a dead end street for a short trek. The water was a little low since we haven’t had much rain recently, but the rock ledge formations are interestingly carved out by the river. Near the bridge, we thought we were looking at the pool, but after exploring a bit and heading a bit north on the rocky shore and woods, we discovered Diana’s Pool upstream a short distance. The noise of the water was loud enough, considering the low volume of water, and we could imagine the sounds of rushing water if there was a full flow. It would be fun to come back after a good rain or a winter snow melt as we know from our own Fenton River.
There are various legends regarding the naming of the pool. One is that a young girl’s heart was broken by her lover and Diana jumped off a high ledge to her death; or she slipped on the tears she cried. Or maybe the pool was just named after the Diana family who owned the pool. Take your pick.
For lunch, we headed for lunch toward Rt. 6. We had four choices from our web search and we spotted Ribbits first (no website, but various reviews on the web). The place was clean and the décor had a neat frog theme. We were there around 1:00 and the place wasn’t at all busy—they do lunch and dinners. The menu is extensive. Jan had a toasted chicken salad sandwich and French fries and I had a special, grilled chicken cordon bleu sandwich with sweet potato fries. ($20) (Bob)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Town #51 Colchester
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Diane's * Gallery Cinema
Being a rainy day with tropical storm Danny off the East Coast, I decided to take us to lunch and a movie, though I kept Jan in the dark about specifics. Since we’d been to Harry’s Place (a very well known and neat place for clams, fries, burgers, ice cream, and more), I had to select somewhere else to eat to qualify as a new place for our CT travels. We had a list of diners where Joe Liebermann had eaten, and Diane’s Restaurant was listed as one. They do not have a web site, and online reviews were sketchy at best. Some reviews, however, provided some very favorable comments. Their hours are 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. and, although one page of their four-page menu was for lunch items—almost as an afterthought, they have an extensive breakfast menu. The only specials on the boards at noon were for breakfast. We took the hint. We found the place in a small strip mall and almost missed it; there is a sign around a corner, but no sign on the building. It’s definitely a mom and pop place, visited mostly by local people. It definitely has a hometown flair. I had a delicious seafood benedict and Jan had stuffed french toast with peaches and strawberries that was not overly sweet as stuffed french toast can be. That and coffee set us back only $18. Afterward, we went to the nearby Gallery Cinema and saw Julie and Julia. It was a cute picture, about Julia Child, and Julie Powell’s blog about cooking all 524 of Julia’s recipes in 365 days. It was a good way to spend a rainy afternoon. ($10, “matinee special.”) (Bob)
Diane's * Gallery Cinema
Being a rainy day with tropical storm Danny off the East Coast, I decided to take us to lunch and a movie, though I kept Jan in the dark about specifics. Since we’d been to Harry’s Place (a very well known and neat place for clams, fries, burgers, ice cream, and more), I had to select somewhere else to eat to qualify as a new place for our CT travels. We had a list of diners where Joe Liebermann had eaten, and Diane’s Restaurant was listed as one. They do not have a web site, and online reviews were sketchy at best. Some reviews, however, provided some very favorable comments. Their hours are 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. and, although one page of their four-page menu was for lunch items—almost as an afterthought, they have an extensive breakfast menu. The only specials on the boards at noon were for breakfast. We took the hint. We found the place in a small strip mall and almost missed it; there is a sign around a corner, but no sign on the building. It’s definitely a mom and pop place, visited mostly by local people. It definitely has a hometown flair. I had a delicious seafood benedict and Jan had stuffed french toast with peaches and strawberries that was not overly sweet as stuffed french toast can be. That and coffee set us back only $18. Afterward, we went to the nearby Gallery Cinema and saw Julie and Julia. It was a cute picture, about Julia Child, and Julie Powell’s blog about cooking all 524 of Julia’s recipes in 365 days. It was a good way to spend a rainy afternoon. ($10, “matinee special.”) (Bob)
Town #49 Brooklyn
Saturday, August 9, 2009
Brooklyn Country Fair
We watched horses get new shoes. That was a fascinating process!
Brooklyn Country Fair
Country fairs are fun but one a year is really enough. We decided to visit the Brooklyn Fair this time. We picked a beautiful, sunny day and headed over (admission $14). We browsed the booths and watched some demonstrations, then got hungry. We'd passed some food booths with bad-for-you but yummy-looking things and started backwards, with dessert. Fried dough with powdered sugar. Hhmmm. A little farther on we saw waffle french fries with ranch dressing and bacon bits, which we shared. Deadly but delicious. The last thing that we got was a maple milkshake, which we also shared. It was only mildly mapley.
Then we headed for the fiber and craft demonstration buildings and I was fascinated with the weaving competition. Two teams of women had four hours to take raw wool from a sheep, clean and spin it, make yarn out of it, and weave it into a table runner.
The women were happy to inform visitors of their experience and the competition. The members of the team I spent most of the time watching were younger than the other team and less experienced; they didn't really expect to win this year but enjoyed the competition. They'll practice and try again next year.We watched horses get new shoes. That was a fascinating process!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Town #42 Winsted (visit #2)
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Organ Crawl at Church of Christ
This second visit to the Organ
Centennial Celebration at the Church of Christ, Baptist-Congrega-tional, consisted of an informative lecture and tour of the George Sherburne Hutchings pipe organ. We had heard about the tour at the March concert but it was announced for church members only. We mentioned we were disappointed that we, as non-members, couldn't enjoy the tour, so Martha Rein, chariman of the music committee, asked for our names. On Juy 12, we got an email "written 
invitation" to the event.
We were greeted in the church parking lot by Chris King, the organist, who said, before we could say a word, "You must be the Bittners." There were nine of us for the tour, which started in the choir loft with an excellent, basic talk about organs and the pipes that make them work, given by Choir Director Willard Minton. He provided a handout and showed us
actual pipes so we could see and hear the open flue pipe and the reed pipe. We learned that it takes about four inches of pressure for their organ pipes to speak, but Mr. Minton said there are some pipes that take over 100 inches of pressure in other organs. Those 64-foot pipes are rare, with about two organs in the world having them, ine in Sydney, Australia. Imagine the deep rumble of a 64-foot organ pipe!
We were shown the organ and console and had an opportunity to get partially inside. The view was limited but interesting. We had seen much more of Mike Foley's Mighty Wurlitzer.
Chris King finished the event with an informal selection of music emphasizing different divisions and ranks of pipes. Refreshments followed. We love all the stained glass windows, especially the Tiffany one. It doesn't have a religious theme but is a lovely garden scene with a waterfall. (Bob)
Organ Crawl at Church of Christ
This second visit to the Organ
Centennial Celebration at the Church of Christ, Baptist-Congrega-tional, consisted of an informative lecture and tour of the George Sherburne Hutchings pipe organ. We had heard about the tour at the March concert but it was announced for church members only. We mentioned we were disappointed that we, as non-members, couldn't enjoy the tour, so Martha Rein, chariman of the music committee, asked for our names. On Juy 12, we got an email "written 
invitation" to the event.We were greeted in the church parking lot by Chris King, the organist, who said, before we could say a word, "You must be the Bittners." There were nine of us for the tour, which started in the choir loft with an excellent, basic talk about organs and the pipes that make them work, given by Choir Director Willard Minton. He provided a handout and showed us
actual pipes so we could see and hear the open flue pipe and the reed pipe. We learned that it takes about four inches of pressure for their organ pipes to speak, but Mr. Minton said there are some pipes that take over 100 inches of pressure in other organs. Those 64-foot pipes are rare, with about two organs in the world having them, ine in Sydney, Australia. Imagine the deep rumble of a 64-foot organ pipe!We were shown the organ and console and had an opportunity to get partially inside. The view was limited but interesting. We had seen much more of Mike Foley's Mighty Wurlitzer.
Chris King finished the event with an informal selection of music emphasizing different divisions and ranks of pipes. Refreshments followed. We love all the stained glass windows, especially the Tiffany one. It doesn't have a religious theme but is a lovely garden scene with a waterfall. (Bob)
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Town #39 Tolland (visit #3)
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Tolland Garden Tour
Tolland Garden Paths presented Gardens of Visions and Inspira-tion, a self-guided tour of nine private gardens in Tolland. We picked up our “tickets” in the form of a descriptive booklet, with an excellent map. Each involved driving to a well marked
property with organized parking. We were handed a site map with notes of highlights for which to search.
We saw five of the nine gardens, all excellent. We saw many plant varieties and creative garden designs, all of which showed a great investment in time. The booklet described each site’s garden in detail,
giving a brief history of its beginnings. The hosts were friendly and informative and answered questions readily. We asked about their deer problems which everyone agreed was an issue. Their ways of handling deer destruction varied. Listed are the gardens we enjoyed. Descriptions are in the booklet.
The Leonard gardens
The Shirley gardens
The Ludwig gardens
The Feller gardens
The Couture gardens
Tolland Garden Tour
Tolland Garden Paths presented Gardens of Visions and Inspira-tion, a self-guided tour of nine private gardens in Tolland. We picked up our “tickets” in the form of a descriptive booklet, with an excellent map. Each involved driving to a well marked
property with organized parking. We were handed a site map with notes of highlights for which to search. We saw five of the nine gardens, all excellent. We saw many plant varieties and creative garden designs, all of which showed a great investment in time. The booklet described each site’s garden in detail,
giving a brief history of its beginnings. The hosts were friendly and informative and answered questions readily. We asked about their deer problems which everyone agreed was an issue. Their ways of handling deer destruction varied. Listed are the gardens we enjoyed. Descriptions are in the booklet.
The Leonard gardensThe Shirley gardens
The Ludwig gardens
The Feller gardens
The Couture gardens
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Town #4 West Hartford (visit #5)
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Celebrate West Hartford Festival
Celebrate West Hartford is an annual, “two-day, family-oriented event that features top notch entertainment, a fabulous food court, an amusement park, a 5K road race, and a juried arts and crafts show. It’s also a showcase for West Hartford’s civic, school, and service organizations.” It takes place on the Town Hall Common, 50 South Main Street, Saturday from 10-6 and Sunday from 12-6, rain or shine.
This event caught our attention and we worked it in after visiting Lyman Orchard. We browsed around the arts and crafts displays and found some nice work from the artists. Early on, we spotted an artist’s work involving woodburning and painting/staining nautical and shore scenes on wood. Jan suggested I choose something for Father’s Day, so I kept that in mind as we continued our rounds. I selected a new hand-tooled leather dress belt for my wardrobe and Jan picked up a few trinkets for herself. We got to the point where the food court sounded very appealing, so we headed there. Wanting to sample some different food items, we started with Afghan chicken kabobs. They were good and we shared one order. Then we continued to some Armenian food, enjoying an order of stuffed grape leaves. They were different for us, but very tasty. We wound up choosing a tried and true American dessert, strawberry shortcake, and found a place to sit while we ate that. It was quite good, as well. We went back to Woodburnings by Thom Cassotta and bought a 6-foot-long scene done on pine. We will mount it on the dining room valence. We headed home by midafternoon.
Celebrate West Hartford Festival
Celebrate West Hartford is an annual, “two-day, family-oriented event that features top notch entertainment, a fabulous food court, an amusement park, a 5K road race, and a juried arts and crafts show. It’s also a showcase for West Hartford’s civic, school, and service organizations.” It takes place on the Town Hall Common, 50 South Main Street, Saturday from 10-6 and Sunday from 12-6, rain or shine.
This event caught our attention and we worked it in after visiting Lyman Orchard. We browsed around the arts and crafts displays and found some nice work from the artists. Early on, we spotted an artist’s work involving woodburning and painting/staining nautical and shore scenes on wood. Jan suggested I choose something for Father’s Day, so I kept that in mind as we continued our rounds. I selected a new hand-tooled leather dress belt for my wardrobe and Jan picked up a few trinkets for herself. We got to the point where the food court sounded very appealing, so we headed there. Wanting to sample some different food items, we started with Afghan chicken kabobs. They were good and we shared one order. Then we continued to some Armenian food, enjoying an order of stuffed grape leaves. They were different for us, but very tasty. We wound up choosing a tried and true American dessert, strawberry shortcake, and found a place to sit while we ate that. It was quite good, as well. We went back to Woodburnings by Thom Cassotta and bought a 6-foot-long scene done on pine. We will mount it on the dining room valence. We headed home by midafternoon.
Town #48 Middlefield
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Lyman Orchards
Lyman Orchards advertised a Strawberry Fest for this weekend. They open
early for breakfast, so we both had Belgian waffles with strawber-ries and whipped cream. For $13, two waffles, two coffees, it was very good. We sat on the deck overlooking a pond with a fountain and plenty of an assortment of water fowl. The morning was cool, but we ate out anyway; there is dining inside as well. Inside the shop, there was a large selection of fruits, 
vegetables, preserves, etc. to purchase.
Being strawberry pickin’ season, we drove the quarter mile or so to the top of a hill and picked four quarts of juicy strawberries at $1.75 a pound. Picking was good and the berries were tasty. We didn’t want to take too many berries for the first picking, so we paid for our bounty and left. We set the GPS for West Hartford and turned off “quickest route,” and “highways,” so we could enjoy the back country roads. It was worth it as the rural area was picturesque and we passed many nice homes. (Bob)
Lyman Orchards
Lyman Orchards advertised a Strawberry Fest for this weekend. They open
early for breakfast, so we both had Belgian waffles with strawber-ries and whipped cream. For $13, two waffles, two coffees, it was very good. We sat on the deck overlooking a pond with a fountain and plenty of an assortment of water fowl. The morning was cool, but we ate out anyway; there is dining inside as well. Inside the shop, there was a large selection of fruits, 
vegetables, preserves, etc. to purchase.Being strawberry pickin’ season, we drove the quarter mile or so to the top of a hill and picked four quarts of juicy strawberries at $1.75 a pound. Picking was good and the berries were tasty. We didn’t want to take too many berries for the first picking, so we paid for our bounty and left. We set the GPS for West Hartford and turned off “quickest route,” and “highways,” so we could enjoy the back country roads. It was worth it as the rural area was picturesque and we passed many nice homes. (Bob)
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