Going to Gillette

It was a dark and stormy morning, with fog rolling up on the hills of the Connecticut River, when first Kelli and Auntie Nettie set off to explore ... Gillette's Castle in East Haddam, CT.

The site of a childhood visit by Auntie Nettie and her brothers, Kelli had been told a bit about this unique building prior to our visit. The bros and I remember the rocky exterior of the house and vaguely remember how the docents used to tell us to be on the look out for Mr. Gillette's collection of ceramic frogs and penguins. The bros were also excited to hear the train whistle from across the river and to run and play along the park grounds.

Kelli had hoped for better weather for impromptu photography stops throughout the backroads of Norwich leading to East Haddam, but the grey cast to the day had us simply do a scouting run on our way to the Castle.

Once we arrived and parked, we had to have a "refreshing" experience before heading up to the "rock." There is a practically brand-new Visitors Center as part of the State Park, with exhibits on Mr. Gillette, a model train engine, a souvenir stand (closed for lack of volunteers), a large concession stand, but most importantly, a huge, clean, open bathrooms, with "green" toilets -- no flushing.
It looks like a normal toilet, but since the building is up on a hill, with drainage down below, the air up your woo-hoo does make you pause for a moment and pray that nothing is climbing back up the greenways.

Kelli thinks I'm a goober for taking these photos, but I don't care. Hygiene is important. And if I can warn anyone about the willies up the woo-hoo sensation, I've helped humanity.

After "refreshing" ourselves, paying our entrance fee, and finding out that there is no touching and no flash photography inside the Castle*, away we went.

Entrance to the driveway

Looking up the front stairs

Wait! If I knew that I could commute to THIS Grand Central Station,

my life would be much less stressful.

Peeking down on the Station from the CastleThe Castle was "green" before it was hip.

Many of the fixtures and windows around the Castle were made of glass from the estate.

Stained glass from his private ship

*Remember what I said about flash photography ... that explains a great deal about the lack of sharpness in many of these pictures.

Tea near the conservatory, anyone?

Farm sink

Vintage Kitchen

Favorite Niece's Bedroom

My bathroom isn't even this big!Travelling gear

View from a bedroom window of the Connecticut River

I've decided I want my own little portrait nook like this in my next apartment. Doesn't everyone have their own floor of their castle dedicated to paintings?

Engarde -- you toad!

(FINALLY! Something I remember from my first visits. The frogs!)

View from the back porch

How did I forget to take the Shushing Librarian

out of my bag and pose her with this guy?

I do have to say, like many things that you revisit as an adult that you remember from your childhood, the Castle wasn't as big as I remember. There's also been a large renovation in the intervening years and many of the floors and rooms are now off-limits to tourists. Of course, once you say something is off-limits, I want to go there.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLI! Thanks for being patient with the bathroom pictures. If I was going to have a woo-hoo experience with anyone, I'm glad it was with you!

Signs of the Times

Who: Auntie Nettie and Jenn spotted this...
What:

Congratulations Juan Carlos!

The baby's not yours!

When: Sunday, October 11, 2009, mid-afternoon
Where: In a Walmart parking lot in a town in eastern Connecticut
How: About that!? No child support payments after all.

Someone is very happy for Juan Carlos, or is passive agressively relaying the results of a paternity suit. I can't decide.

Either way, thanks to Jenn for doing a slow drive-by so I could document this "joyous" news.

Fall in New England

Over the river,

and through the woods ...

Hey, there --

Grab your wagon!

If you don't like the weather, don't fret.

Pray about it,

wait five minutesor play in the leaves and jump in the puddles.

Homesick for Hosmers

FTC Disclosure: The author did not receive any promotional consideration from the vendor mentioned in this post, nor were complimentary goods or services obtained from the vendor, or exchanged in trade by the author. All items were purchased at fair market value at a retailer. The opinions and views mentioned below are solely of this blogger, and are not the views of the vendor, its parent, affiliate, and/or subsidiary companies. yada yada yada ... whatever people! Happy now?

It's only been a few days, and I'm already homesick for Hosmers. That would be Hosmer Mountain Sodas to those of you not from the Quiet Corner of the Nutmeg State.

Before there was a whole movement around locally made, artisanal, "green," gourmet "brews," almost 100 years of Connecticut folks were enjoying this soda maker. I was fortunate to grow up in the town where it is still made. In the staff room of my high school, there was one of those old 1950s era vending machines, where soda was just a quarter. During late night play and musical rehearsals, we would sneak into the lounge and buy a bottle. Cracking the cap and sucking down an ice cold orange soda or an authentic root beer was just the best thing to wet your whistle after a long session.

The soda is the kind of small-town, old-fashioned treat that you really begin to miss, and greatly appreciate, once you can't get it very readily. Other regions of the state and country may have their own brews and blends, but I remain loyal to my Hosmers. Every once in a while I get a serious craving, and although I can purchase something similar by a competitor, for me the best is still Hosmers, especially their Birch beer. YUMMY wintergreeny delight in a bottle. [You can buy cases to be shipped to you too, but since you're shipping glass, the freight costs are prohibitive!]

Last Saturday my visiting out-of-town sister-in-law and I found ourselves on the back road leading to the bottling center, just as my brother happened to call in from Nevada. She had been exposed to the joy of Hosmers thanks to the family, and we decided to taunt him (and please ourselves) by dashing in right before the store closed. We grabbed three apiece:

Strawberry, Cream Soda, and Peach for Kelli,

and Grape, Root Beer and Birch Beer for me!

(MINE, ALLLLLLL MINE! My Precious!)

Let me tell you, nothing was better that Sunday afternoon, after a long day on the road, than coming back to watch football on the couch with Dad and cracking a couple of "beers!"

UPDATE: I just found this Hartford Courant article about the possible future of Hosmers. They will be 100 in a few years, and could potentially entertain buyers as soon as 2012! Please guys, don't sell out. It's a great little family company that should stay in Romantic Willimantic.

How many days until Thanksgiving break? Um, Hosmer's Customer Service? Can I have a case pre-picked and packed for pick-up when I get off the bus? 'Kay? Thanks!

A-ha, O-NO!

'80s Pop Sensation A-Ha to Call It Quits

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 15, 2009
Filed at 10:14 a.m. ET

OSLO (AP) -- Norwegian pop band a-ha says it plans to call it quits at the end of 2010. A statement on the Norwegian trio's Web site Thursday announced the move, which comes after a 27-year career interrupted by a seven-year hiatus in the mid-1990s.

The band became an international sensation in the mid-1980s following the release of its 1985 debut album, which included the hit ''Take On Me.'' Although the group went on to release eight more albums, a-ha remains best-known for that song.

Thursday's statement says that band members want to follow other pursuits, ''be it humanitarian work, politics, or ... new constellations in the field of art and music.''

The band plans to arrange a world tour in 2010, playing its final concert in Oslo on December 4.

I guess that means I need to start looking at the 2010 dates and get me a ticket before it's too late. This time Jenn, seat locations are not an issue. Until then, I'm "crying in the rain."

"Fun" or something like that!

Seems like an awful lot of pressure to be placing on the people of Pumpkintown. What if "hell" raisers show up?

Maybe they should have stuck to the old fashioned fund-raiser!

Quote of the Day

The words the happy say

Are paltry melody

But those the silent feel

Are beautiful

~ Emily Dickinson (n.1750)