Our Journey Across the Country
Connecticut stay #1: Branch Brook Campground | 4/8/22 - 6/1/22
We entered Connecticut and made our way to Branch Brook Campground in Thomaston. We were given a spot right across the drive from the large pond area of Branch Brook, and we had a full view of the pond through our front window. We arrived the day after a big rain storm and the water was pretty high in the brook, but not threatening to flood. A pair of geese live at the campground and spent most of each day there at the pond. Each evening they did a low fly-over through the park and across the adjacent woods, honking. What goes through the minds of a pair of geese? We noted they were not unlike us, spending every minute of every day together, hanging out, doing the routines of life.
We had decided to stay at least 2 weeks in Connecticut to give us time to explore the state and the housing market. We had in mind that we might stay all summer. We narrowed down our choices to 2 campgrounds: Branch Brook in Thomaston and Grandview in Moodus. Grandview doesn’t open for the season until April 15, while Branch Brook opens on April 1, so we booked a site at Branch Brook for 2 weeks. When we arrived in early April, nearly all of the trees were still bare. We were able to see through the woods and get a feel for what is beyond the roadside. This also allowed the sunshine to warm the rig, as it was still pretty chilly overnight. We drove out to explore several times a week, and as we did we noticed that each day there was a little more green on the trees.
Connecticut is a small state so from Thomaston we could get out to any part of the state within an hour and a half. In California terms, at only 70 miles tall by 110 miles wide Connecticut is like a swath from Sacramento to Modesto, from the coast to the Sierra foothills! The reason we even began looking into Connecticut as a potential place to resettle was that Essex CT appeared on several of the online lists of Best Villages in the US. Then as we checked all our other criteria, CT began to rise to the top of the list. The southern edge of the state borders Long Island Sound and is sheltered somewhat from the Atlantic storms by Long Island, which parallels the CT shore (that’s the term they use out here for “coast”). This coastal exposure tempers the climate quite a bit from what most of us Westerners think of as New England, and we are both drawn to the quaint coastal seaports. There are 3 main river inlets along the CT shore: the Quinnipiac River/New Haven; the Connecticut River/Essex; and the Thames River/Norwich. The Connecticut river comes right down the middle of the state, originating all the way up at the Canadian border in the northeast corner of New Hampshire. It constitutes much of the border between NH and Vermont. Our first 2 weeks in Connecticut were like scouting trips - quick passes through each area to get an overview and see where we’d want to spend more time visiting. We used real estate listings to help direct our routes. This had the benefit of getting us off the main freeways and onto the minor highways and roads, through the more rural areas and towns. Just about everywhere we went we were oohing and aahing over the scenic settings, the historic architecture, the old stone walls and rolling hills, and the WATER! Even with all the trees bare - and there are trees everywhere in CT - we still had the feeling of greenery and lushness. We appreciated that what we most often encountered were small towns/villages with all the necessary businesses and eateries in converted houses or new construction built in the historic vernacular. Only in the larger burgs do you get the huge parking lots in front of strip malls and big box stores - but those are always within an half hour drive when those services are needed. It took us a while to understand that Connecticut Towns flow one into the other, just like Counties do in CA. A Town may consist of other Villages, for example UCONN (University of Connecticut) is located in Storrs which is a village within the Town of Mansfield, but there is no land that is only County and not within a Town jurisdiction. This may conjure up the image of a typical California metropolis - towns merging together, but the difference in New England is that the average residential lot size is .75 acres (versus .14 ac in the West and .25 ac in the South), and most of the land is wooded and feels like nature, rather than like development. We love that each town supports its own local businesses and small farms. It feels that life here is about Living rather than about Consuming; about Nature rather than Development. Preferring that is probably blasphemy coming from an Architect!! (disclaimer: our impressions may be skewed somewhat by the fact that we are living in campgrounds and not going out to a job every day) I would have expected that, having 200 years more of western civilization than the West, the East would be more over-developed and exploited, but we are feeling just the opposite. Perhaps it’s 200 years more time for nature to fill back in? For sure the ample water plays a big part - the undergrowth fills in very quickly in the spring. If you look away it might take over your property!
We spent most of April and into May driving around Connecticut and looking at houses for sale. The more we looked, the more we were sure we didn’t need to go to other states to find our next home. There were hundreds of nice homes in our search parameters of price, lot size, and home size. And we found places we loved all over the state - we were not limited to a certain area. We met a realtor at an open house, and when we found a property we wanted to see we called her to show it to us. The first place we fell in love with we dubbed the “serenity house” in Mansfield. It sat on 6.8 gently sloping wooded acres with a pond, and was a modest original-owner mid-century ranch house with finished basement. Only a kitchen remodel and cosmetic upgrades would be needed to make it perfect. Everything about it was serene. The house had wonderful picture windows looking out over the property and down to the pond, and an open floor plan and 5 bedrooms meant there was plenty of space for family & friends to visit. However, we had not yet met with a lender, and once we did we learned that without a current income flow we were limited to all-cash offers. Unfortunately this house was clearly going to go for more than we were willing to do in cash, and it ended up selling for $40K over asking. It did help us focus our search for a bit of property with that wow-factor that made us fall in love with CT: natural landscape, old stone walls, in or near a thriving town; a house with character but not too much of a project.
The next house we loved was in Glastonbury, not far from Mansfield. It was an antique Cape Cod style house originally built in 1760 (classic CT house), which had been renovated by a contractor in the 1960s. It was a little small but had great charm and wonderful attention to detail. The 2 acre property included a huge barn also from the 1700’s and the surrounding neighborhood was just gorgeous. We put in an offer with escalation up to our cash max comfort, and were told there was another offer almost identical to ours, so they asked us both to resubmit our “highest and best” offer. We went back for a second look to help fine-tune our counter offer, and we decided that the location on a busy corner was just too noisy, and the neighboring high-end residence construction included drainage mitigation that made us a bit uncomfortable, and so we withdrew our offer.
The housing market in Connecticut is HOT. The good houses are in contract within a week, and go for well over ask.
Next we found a wonderful original-owner ranch house on 2.35 acres in Tolland (another village east of Hartford) which had a 3-level barn and wonderful natural grounds. (gentle wooded slopes, natural granite outcroppings, plus nice stacked stone retaining walls and terraces near the house, and even an old apple orchard and berry bushes). We again submitted our cash offer with escalation to our max (above asking), but were told there was a higher offer more in line with the price the seller was really wanting. In the end we were fine with that because this property was also on a fairly busy corner and the adjacent property was zoned commercial, which were issues of some concern for us. That house recently closed at $20K over our max offer.
We decided to slow down, narrow our search, and focus on properties that would really work for us (just say no to busy corners!). We figured we had all summer to find that perfect home. We extended our stay at Branch Brook, but also wanted to get down to Grandview Campground closer to the shore. Grandview was fully booked for the Memorial Day weekend, so we paid for a spot for the month of June, and extended Branch Brook thru June 1. The original site we were given at Branch Brook was already reserved for the summer season beginning May 1, so we had to move to a different spot in the park, away from the brook but in a lovely shaded spot. We soon found, however, that looking at properties on Zillow can be addicting (!) and each week there was a new inventory of homes on the market. After touring several homes that were wrong for one reason or another, we decided to drive by properties first before bringing in the realtor, and we used open houses as a framework for our drives. Our original “sweet spot” had been the triangle between the Quinnipiac River/New Haven and the Thames River/Norwich, from the shore up to about Middletown. Mike dubbed it the Golden Triangle, bordered by highway I-91 to the west, CT-2 to the east, and the shore along the southern edge. We chose this area for the moderate coastal climate and multitude of scenic riverside villages, but we found that we could get more for our money up higher in the state and that some of those areas still had a more moderate climate than Massachusetts, so we kept our options open. We saw a few homes in the Simsbury/Avon area which is west of Hartford, and we really loved that area. By early May, Mother’s Day to be exact, we found ourselves at an open house in Unionville, a village of Farmington (which neighbors Avon). This home is on a couple of acres on a private drive serving just 5 homes. We pulled of the road onto the driveway and felt we had entered a park. The ranch house/cape has a lovely open yard with natural woodlands around the perimeter, giving it a feeling of privacy yet having neighbors close by. The living room captivated us with is huge picture windows on both walls looking over the parklike property. The partially finished basement and attic provide extra living space that is not reflected in the reported square-footage, and so the house is simple and well-sized for the 2 of us, yet able to accommodate guests within the home and the property. The detached garage has a full unfinished room above with ground-level access (the garage is set into the hillside) which lends itself to a project room/studio and additional guest spaces. The house needs some upgrades we can manage but is also move-in ready. Farmington is outside of Hartford, so has easy access to ample job opportunities, the airport, and any major shopping we might need, yet retains its village feel. There are several state parks and walking trails nearby, and the Farmington River is natural and lovely. We decided to put in an offer that day. After a couple of days we got a call saying that there had been “a bunch” of offers on the home, and one was well above our max, but the seller decided to go with our all-cash offer! They asked for a closing at the end of July because their daughter was going off to college out of state and they were moving there also. We already had reserved our camping site through July so that was acceptable to us. We went through our inspections and negotiations, and we are buying a house in Connecticut!!
Memorial Day weekend (which is also our anniversary) was fully packed at Branch Brook. Our new site was right across from the pavilion and pool, and someone had booked the pavilion for a kids birthday party. There were at least 20 kids there, and all the family to go with! They had a roaring party all day and into the evening! That weekend was also the warmest we had experienced yet: forecast mid-90’s with high humidity. We were thankful that the RV has 2 AC units which work really well, and the tree-shaded spot we moved to helped greatly to keep the temp down in the rig. We planned activities in air conditioned businesses such as the movie theater, just in case the heat was unbearable in the RV. As it turned out, the temp only reached the high 80’s and though it was muggy it definitely was not that “step outside and instantly wet” humidity that we Westerners are always told about East Coast heat. So far, so good!
On June 1 we packed up the rig, left Thomaston and drove the hour south and east to Grandview Camp for the month of June.
our first glimpse of the iconic New England town of old Americana paintings
near Middlebury CT
industrial-era town of Waterbury is near Thomaston
seen in Waterbury
also near Waterbury
loving the lower gas prices here!
We booked this campsite across from the pond at Branch Brook for our first 2 weeks in CT
Branch Brook
Branch Brook, early April
early April
love the way the lawn is mossy and lime green
looking back at our campsite
one of the pair of resident geese at Branch Brook Campground
this cat...
this map illustrates how the Towns connect one to another, rather than being isolated areas within the county
found this illustration comparing the size of Connecticut to the Los Angeles area, with the coast lines aligned
while shopping in Waterbury near Thomaston, we wondered if this might be the Branch Brook pair of geese, warming up on the sunny asphalt? Funny sight either way!
crossing the Quinnipiac River at New Haven CT
Granite Bay in Branford CT. This area is very upscale, there was no public parking, only private residences on narrow roads. We parked just long enough to get some photos, then moved on to find a public beach.
Looking out toward Long Island Sound, the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club is on the right. Yale University is in New Haven CT
Bradley Point Beach in West Haven
We found a public beach with expansive views of Long Island Sound, across the inlet to the west in West Haven.
a view of Sea Bluff Beach, West Haven
The weather in CT is changeable. Our short time at Bradley Point started out overcast and gray..
Bradley Point Park, West Haven
...and ended up sunny and bright
maybe this is Witch-Hazel rather than Forsythia blooming brilliant yellow.? Very common shrub in CT
the pond at the "serenity house" in Mansfield. The light green house is in the center background, up the hill. Too bad the timing wasn't right to buy this one!
The early 1700's barn at the Glastonbury house we considered buying
Goodspeed Opera House on the right and Gelston House Restaurant on the left, along the Connecticut River in scenic East Haddam
Goodspeed Opera House
another chilly April day at the shore, this time in Old Saybrook, where the Connecticut River meets Long Island Sound
Saybrook Point Marina
We had a very nice seafood dinner at Fresh Salt at Saybrook Point. The tree stumps all around the parking lot had been carved with various nautical themes
mid-April snow/hail storm
hail build-up
Carmine has Vinny's head completely smothered!
Our first try at seafood shack in Mystic was completely disappointing - Mike didn't even eat most of his. But the scenery was great!!
views of the Mystic River from the Seafood shack on a glorious day at the end of April
Mystic River
looked around the grounds of the Mystic Seaport Museum
Mystic Seaport
it's a hard life for a cat
We were able to extend our stay at Branch Brook Campground through the month of May but had to move to a different spot. Although we did not have the water views, we appreciated the filtered shade at this spot. The spring leaves are finally appearing!
the bank behind our 2nd campsite at Branch Brook helped maintain a sense of space and privacy from the upper campsites, even when the campground was filled, which was pretty much only on weekends
love the way the light filters through the leaves!
basking in the spring sunshine
so much Green!
by May the leaves have fully filled in on the Connecticut hillsides
our soon-to-be new home town!
Blue Back Square in West Hartford is a nice shopping area with stores like West Elm, Crate & Barrel, and Cheesecake Factory. It's about 15-20 minutes from the Farmington house
after attending our home inspection, we asked the seller for lunch ideas and he recommended Wood N Tap in Farmington, on the Farmington River. Our realtor joined us and we had an excellent lunch and enjoyed the vacation-style setting that will become our home neighborhood!
Our realtor joined us at Wood N Tap and we had an excellent lunch and enjoyed the vacation-style setting that will become our home neighborhood!
Nepaug Reservoir in Canton is a water supply, so there is no access to the water, but there is a trail around it and nice views at the dam
an example of a local market with fresh produce and local foods and crafts inside, this one in Canton
Stone church dedicated in 1856, in Collinsville, Canton, CT.
This former axe factory building, located on the Farmington River, now houses antiques shops and many artisan workspaces and galleries. This photo is from the internet
A beautiful photo from the internet of the Old Collins Company Axe Factory
a funky find at Antiques on the Farmington, located in the Old Collins Axe Factory
We came to Collinsville in the town of Canton to check out the large antiques store, and to our delight we also found a vibrant village with artist studios, antiques, eateries and boutiques sited in the beautiful historic buildings
cute little nook for the kiddos in front of Mamabear Organics
the name of this shop, "The Findery - gathered goods for life and home" sounds like something David Rose from the show Schitt's Creek would have come up with ;-)
this view down a side street/alley reveals the Canton Town Hall (brick building with the white pediment porch) - very out of the way! Maybe this helps illustrate what small towns these villages are
this building has been converted to condos. It sits across the street from the town green and just down the block from the boutique shops and galleries
Mr. Cool for the glamour shot
Rozzi's is just down the road from Branch Brook Campground and quickly became one of our favorite places to eat. All of the staff is always friendly, the food is good, and there is a diverse clientele that always seems cheerful.
Rozzi's lobby
"Did you say exercise? or extra fries?"
Thomaston CT was home to a clock maker, and there are several clocks and clock towers around the small town.
Thomaston town square.
my favorite flowers - peones - en masse in the town square (and many places around CT)
Thomaston Opera House shares the building complex with Town Hall
Clock Company factory building
Here's a great example of a newer shopping center (on the right) designed to tie in with the historic vernacular (on the left). The strip mall includes a wide variety of businesses, including bakery, a dentist, and an Edward Jones office.
The Seth Clock Company building is being converted into businesses such as Clocktown Brewing Company and a couple of fifitness centers, as well as several manufacturing companies.
inside the Clocktown Brewery in Thomaston
They paid good attention to the interior design of the Clocktown Brewery inside the old clock factory building. Unfortunately, we had a terrible experience with the service. We waited literally an hour to get our wood fired pizza, and then it was only because Mary got up and told the staff. At that point they told us they'd been having problems with their pizza oven all day (would have been nice to have been told at when we ordered the pizza!). When it did come out a few minutes later Mike's pizza was BLACK. not just the bits of char you expect with wood fired oven pizza - the whole thing was charred. So disappointing.
St Peter's Trinity Church founded in 1869, right next door to the Thomaston Opera House
downtown Thomaston
Small hardware stores actually exist in Connecticut like this one in Thomaston
We loved the clever name, but never tried Sushi Q Japanese Restaurant in Thomaston
we enjoy the unique architectural detailing on the homes, these ones in Thomaston
"where'ya been?"
the Memorial Day weekend birthday party at the pavilion directly across from our campsite was well-attended!
Branch Brook in May
