The Beauty of Connecticut
Connecticut stay #2: Grandview Campground | 6/1/22 - 7/2/22
For the month of July, while we waited for our escrow period to pass, we moved down to the southern area of Connecticut to be nearer to the shore and river port towns we wanted to visit. We stayed at Grandview Campground and Cottages, a large hillside site in the area of Moodus, in the town of East Haddam. This area is more rural than the Thomaston area, and cell service was really poor - we had trouble carrying on phone conversations from our campsite. This was problematic because our internet is also based on our cell service, and we use the internet for our TV watching also. Luckily, we had plenty of options for things to do. Since we had no other particular agenda, we began a daily routine of exercise. The campground is quite spread out, with small groupings of a handful of sites or cottages with driveways all around, as well a a large grassy hill up to the ridge behind the grounds. This provided a great place to walk, with plenty of opportunities for hill climbs for extra exertion. We also set up the shade with a couple of privacy walls for Mary to do some workouts. From Grandview we took excursions to East Haddam, Colchester, Hadlyme, and Old Lyme along the eastern shore of the Connecticut River, and Haddam, Chester, Essex and Old Saybrook on the west side. We journeyed 45 minutes over to New Haven to check out Yale University and eat at the famed Modern Apizza. On our way home from errand shopping in Norwich (we had to drive 40+ minutes to find a Walmart for our RV toilet paper!) we stopped by the Devil’s Hopyard State Park which had been recommended to us by a very friendly young man we met at Two Wrasslin’ Cats coffee house. Here we discovered Chapman Falls, which was a very popular spot for photo ops. The origin of the name Devil’s Hopyard is uncertain, but one story is that the Devil made the potholes as he angrily hopped down the waterfalls. That trip inspired us to check out other waterfalls in the area, so on another day visited Wadsworth Falls in Wadsworth State Park near Middletown.
Fun Fact: we see pizza places EVERYWHERE. Turns out the state with the most pizza restaurants per capita is Connecticut with 3.65 pizza restaurants per person! There is a large Italian population in CT so there are many Italian eateries around.
Our arrival at Grandview Campground and Cottages in Moodus, East Haddam, CT
the view across the road was bucolic (even some horses grazing)
our site and this grouping of 6 sites sits up above the rest of the campground.
our site was in the very upper corner of the campground with no site behind or to our left.
lucky for us, the site next to us was vacant most of the month. The large building in the background is a hall for wedding receptions, etc.
There's an altar in the lawn for outdoor weddings. Our first weekend there was a big wedding that lasted most of the weekend.
some of the many cabins, with some (vacant) camping spaces in the foreground
We are parked to the far left. This property had previously been a resort. The building in the center is an activity room; in front of that is the pool and pavilion.
the view from the very top of the hill behind our sites. It was a great place to begin our exercise routine of daily walks, with plenty for driveways to walk and lots of hills! Behind me here the hill drops down to a golf course, so 360-degree views
Some fun discoveries and excursions!
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, The Comstock Bridge, also known as the Comstock Covered Bridge is one of the three remaining covered bridges left in the state of Connecticut.
Originally built in 1785, the bridge was a simple uncovered, structure. The Comstock was used for traffic to pass over the river en route to church services, business ventures, and general pedestrian needs.
notice the chisel marks in the granite foundation stones
a delicious salad from The Plum Tomato in Colchester.
Lovely garden next to a stream at the Two Wrasslin Cats Cafe
We stopped at Two Wrasslin' Cats for coffee and pastries, and because we HAD TO! The owners were so friendly, as we have found nearly everyone we've had occasion to talk to in Connecticut.
It was a bit of sensory overload in Two Wrasslin Cats! Just about everywhere we looked there was something interesting and funny.
The garden at Two Wrasslin' Cats Cafe was quirky and fun.
Mary enjoying the scene at Modern Apizza in New Haven.
The pizza was pretty good at Modern...but honestly, we don't know what all the fuss is about. I mean, it pizza- no big deal.
Chapman Falls at Devils Hopyard State Park
An old headstone in a small cemetery of East Haddam. This is the Ackley Cemetery which was established in 1726. Connecticut is dotted with many "neighborhood" gravesites probably just for the locals of that area or town.