As I have mentioned before, Connecticut is the place to be if you like parks, hiking, mountain biking and recreation in general. We are learning that people around here take this stuff very seriously. When driving around, it’s hard not to see people jogging, riding bikes, playing golf…whatever.
Last week, we decided to drive down to East Haddam to visit Devil’s Hopyard State Park. I looked at this park’s trail map online and it looked good. The thing that really attracted me was the waterfall. As usual, I opened up Google Earth and checked it out from above. Well, all it looked like was woods. I don’t know, after seeing the satellite view, I didn’t think it looked all that great. We went anyway. I am usually wrong about these things.
I was really wrong about this one. I have been to many state parks in my life and I have to say this one was the best so far. The water does it for me. It’s a very low-key park. There are no highways around and it’s tucked back in the woods. The waterfall is great and the river adds a lot to the hike. This park is going to be on our list for a long time. They also offer camping, which is cool.
I took a bunch of pictures and will add captions where I think they would fit.
Today, Laura and I had to bring Holly the dog to the vet. She had to have her teeth cleaned and some minor surgery. The vet had to put Holly under (not down, as Rob mistakenly thought today), so we had to burn about six hours of the day. Since we live an hour away from the vet, we decided to head up to Millbrook, NY for a visit. It got to be about 68 degrees and sunny today, so it was the perfect day for a little road trip.
Millbrook is a nice little town in Dutchess County. It has some farms and a nice little main street. I’m sure many people would like it if you brought them there. Believe it or not, I actually know someone who grew up in Millbrook. It must’ve been fun.
Anyway, The first thing we did was to cruise down Main Street. We parked the car and walked down to a little park at the end of the road. Paul would know the name of it. I’m sure he’ll write a comment for me.
I gotta say, it is a very nice park indeed. We walked up the zigzag sidewalk and then back down. Of course, I had to stop to take a few pictures.
There was a nice bridge over a small pond. The pond waterfall wasn’t running though. I am going to write someone a letter about that.
I call this the “chair of thought.” I sat in the chair of thought for about 30 seconds…just long enough for Laura to take this photo of me. I wanted everyone to know exactly how smart I can really look.
After we were done with the park, we walked up and down the main street again to check out all the little shops. I think the town is quite content with itself. Everyone looked very satisfied. That’s a good feeling if you live in a little town. We found a good restaurant to eat in, but they weren’t ready to serve until noon, so we decided to go to the Trevor Zoo at the Millbrook School. This has been on our agenda for some time and we figured it would be a great thing to do before eating lunch.
On the way to the zoo, I pulled over to look at a horse. Then, I thought to myself that a picture of the nearby farm would be a good thing to show my loyal readers. That would be the picture above.
As we drove down the road, I realized that we were coming upon the Millbrook School itself. I had no idea that it was a fancy private school. I was picturing those plastic slides like they have in the backs of some nursery schools. Um, not so much. After we parked the car, we took a stroll up the road because I saw some purple flowers I wanted to take a picture of.
Now, I didn’t know what to expect with this zoo. I even went as far as telling Laura that I didn’t want to go because I feared it would be just some pig in someone’s backyard. She expressed to me how important it was for us to go, so I agreed. This is the second time that I was wrong about someplace and she was right. The first time was Block Island. Boy was I wrong about that one. You know, it really hurts a guy’s ego to be wrong twice in a relationship. Good thing it was only twice.
As we walked up, we saw a nice waterfall and a bridge. It was the entrance to Trevor Zoo. Oh, how neat. It looked much bigger than I thought it would. After we went in, we saw how many animals they had.
They had birds and turkeys…
…and they even had this big bird that wouldn’t put its wings down. I guess he was getting some sun. We also saw rabbits and lemurs, a deer and a bunch of other stuff. There weren’t many people there, so it was really pleasurable. That, mixed with the nice weather was really making this a day after all.
This is just a great last shot I took of the Millbrook School from the Trevor Zoo. Obviously, I am on the other side of the pond.
After we left the zoo, we headed back into town for that lunch I was telling you about. We ate a nice meal and headed out to our next destination…the Millbrook Vineyards & Winery. At this point, it was about 1:30PM, so we were spreading things out nicely.
We rolled up to the winery with some wine tasting in mind. Good thing in was a Thursday in April, because there were only a few people there.
We paid $14 for the both of us to taste seven wines. We also got to keep the wine glasses we drank out of. To follow our tradition, we bought a bottle of wine before we left. I guess that’s what people do. I think we got a Cabernet. I am not such a huge fan of that type of wine, but Laura seemed interested, so again, I agreed. I know, I know…yes, I am a catch.
I thought I would throw those last three shots in there. I had to do something while we were waiting for the tasting guy. Besides, I was trying to show off my “angles” to my lady.
I went up to Paul’s house this past weekend to pick up some fiberglass insulation he wanted to get rid of. Perfect! I needed a few pieces to finish up the basement.
We decided to make a half-day of the visit and take a hike to the hidden waterfall in the Ridge. There was a very special little lady who decided to join us. We needed a good guide.
I can’t give you the exact location of this waterfall, but I will give you a hint. It is off a road off a road off of Rt.44/55 going through the ridge. Is that clear enough? It is about the height of Awosting Falls…well, maybe a little higher. I promised Paul I would keep mum about its exact location to respect the privacy of the area. Nuff said.
We started on our way and our guide was doing quite well. I am not sure she used a telescope or any other equipment, but I can tell you that she had a very keen eye for detail and direction.
We made it to a wide open area that is used for part of the Catskill Aqueduct System. There was an opening of a few acres and even a helipad. Some digging had gone on there for shale. Also, on the right side, there were a few exposed pipes…part of the water system.
Just past the clearing, the trail to the waterfall started. It is a really nice area. It reminded me a lot of where I used to hike at Grimes Glen, when I lived in Naples, NY.
I just love waterfalls and creeks. A short hike through some semi-rough terrain brought us to a pretty amazing hidden treasure. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. I also couldn’t believe that this is so hidden. Well, at least now I know where it is.
The coolest part is that you can jump around on all of the really large rocks at the base of the falls to cross the river and look through the caves. The one thing that can kind of freak you out is the steep cliffs that surround the area. You could just imagine if anything ever gave way. Anyway, if you ever find this place, make sure to bring some lunch and hang out for a while…it’s worth the hike.
Well, browsing might be a better word for it. We couldn’t really hike because the trails up in back were very muddy from the rain the night before. It’s just as well, because we got to spend more time in front looking through the butteryfly gardens and at the animals.
What a surprise! This place was great. We have passed by a few times driving up the Connecticut border with New York, heading towards Sharon and Lakeville, but never gave it serious thought to go in. I guess we felt inspired this time. It is really kept up well because it is owned and run by the National Audubon Society. Believe it or not, we were the only ones on the entire property during this visit. Remarkable, because the weather was prefect and just about everything was in bloom. Did I mention the butterfly gardens? Here, take a look…
I mean, if you are into this kind of stuff, you can’t get much better than this. There was a pretty cool barn and a lake with a waterfall.
This is my blog. Welcome to it. I write a lot of stuff that doesn't pertain to anything in particular, but you may find a common theme in here somewhere. Enjoy. More
