Greetings from Vermont!
Shae, Truffles and I arrived in Colchester, VT last night and will be in the state for the next 3 weeks. After that, we’ll be heading to Connecticut for 3.5 weeks, so it’s already time for us to start planning our time there.
Through our own research and suggestions from other people, we have quite a few activities listed on our spreadsheet, but would love to get more suggestions to make sure we don’t miss out on anything amazing.
Where We’ll Stay
Although we haven’t booked our accommodation yet, I have a pretty good idea of where we’ll be staying. There are three category 1 Hyatt properties in Connecticut – one Hyatt Place and two Hyatt Houses. Being category 1 means they all cost 5,000 points per night which is excellent value, so we’ll likely stay at those hotels during our time in Connecticut unless there are hotels in other chains that are even better value when using points.
Those three Hyatt properties are in Hartford North/Windsor, Shelton and Milford/New Haven. Shelton is fairly close to Milford/New Haven, so I’m not convinced it’s worth staying at both those locations. That gives me a dilemma though – Milford/New Haven seems to be a better location as it’s closer to the water and several of the items on our list of things to do. That’s a Hyatt Place property though, whereas the hotel in Shelton is a Hyatt House which means our room would have a kitchen. We might also be able to get an upgrade to a one bedroom suite at the Hyatt House thanks to my Globalist status. That would make our stay much more comfortable and it’s not a room type that’s available at the Hyatt Place.
Hmm….decisions, decisions.
Our Initial List Of Things To Do In Connecticut
As I mentioned earlier, we already have a list of some things to do in Connecticut – here’s what they are:
- Mystic Seaport Museum
- Gillette Castle State Park
- Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
- Whale sculpture hunt in Mystic/Groton
- Travelers Restaurant
- Milford Harbor
- Milford Duck Pond
- Silver Sands State Park
- Gulf Beach
- Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center at Milford Point
- Milford Point Brewing
- West Haven beach
- Stonebridge Restaurant
- The Sundae House
- The Corner Restaurant
- Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl And Grill
- Castle Craig
- Hubbard Park
- Saville Dam
- Chapman Falls
- Thimble Islands cruise
Your Suggestions
I’ve plotted all of those locations on Google Maps and the vast majority of them are in the Milford/New Haven area in the southwest part of the state.
We’d therefore love it if you had additional suggestions of things we should do while in the state. I’m sure there must be loads of places worth visiting in Hartford and the rest of the northern part of the state, so please let us know in the comments below if you have any suggestions.
Hartford State Capitol is beautiful and unique both outside and inside. Looks like a castle outside. Mark Twain’s house and museum in Hartford is a must do as well. One of the nicest home tours I have taken during my travels – neat to see where this author spent so many years and wrote his famous novels. I enjoyed visiting New Haven and walking around the old part of the Yale campus, one of the oldest in the U.S.! Can’t miss having pizza in New Haven. We enjoyed eating at Frank Pepe’s, a famous spot in the Little Italy section of the city – delicious white clam and fresh tomato pizzas! Stop in at the PEZ candy center outside of New Haven – such a fun place and great for taking photos. You will love Mystic Seaport – what a fantastic place! Enjoy your time in Connecticut!
Thanks for all those suggestions Beth – I’ve added them to our list of things to do 🙂
I second Frank Pepe’s in New Haven. Best pizza in the state and definitely among the best in the nation! Also if your in Mystic, The Oyster Club is excellent and is one of the top bars in the nation, along with The Griswold Inn in Essex. You have chosen some great spots! I’m biased to the shoreline (as that’s where we live) but there are beautiful spots throughout the state. Enjoy!
Excellent, thanks for the suggestions 🙂