Road Trip Along the Coast of Connecticut

Check out the first half of our road trip through Rhode Island: RHODE TRIP from Providence to Newport, Rhode Island.

Mystic Pizza

Mystic Pizza, established in 1973 in Mystic, now has a second location and line of frozen pizzas. In 1988, Mystic Pizza starring Julia Roberts was released leading to the pizza shop’s fame.

Well’s Dinosaur Haven

Lifelike dinosaurs have overtaken the backyard at 2464 Route 32 in Uncasville and visitors are welcome to explore. Well’s Dinosaur Haven, is located on private property. Call ahead at: 860-848-0616 for permission to enter. It’s Always Visible and Always Free.

The Griswold Inn

The Griswold Inn, open since 1776, is one of the oldest continuously run taverns in the United States. Dine in the gun room surrounded by antique firearms, the famous taproom decorated with nautical photos and pirates, or among ancient books in the library. The Griswold Inn also offers lodging with 34 rooms and a Goods and Curiosities shop across the street.

Gillette Castle

The Gillette Castle, located in Gillette Castle State Park, was once home to the legendary Sherlock Holmes stage actor and playwright, William Gillette. He built the castle in Old Lyme, Connecticut where he was reminded of Germany. The castle has hidden passageways, doors, rooms, and trick locks for William Gillette to suddenly appear in front of his guests. Visitors can drive to the castle and self guided tours are available.

Ted’s Restaurant

Ted’s Restaurant has been serving steamed burgers since 1959. The meat is hand packed into small rectangular trays and placed inside a large steamer for 10-12 minutes. About 2 oz. of cubed cheese is also packed into a tray and steamed for 3-4 minutes before being placed onto the rectangular burger. Ted’s offers many free toppings.

Castle Craig

Castle Craig is an observation tower built in 1900 located in Hubbard Park, Meriden. A spiral staircase inside the tower is open to visitors. On a clear day it’s possible to see as far as New Haven and maybe even Long Island. It is possible to drive to the castle or hike one of the many trails throughout the park.

New Haven

Food Truck Paradise: More than 20 food trucks line up at Long Wharf serving Mexican, Southwest, Middle Eastern, Latino, Southeast Asian, Thai, Latino, Colombian, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and more.
The Shops at Yale offer a variety of shopping and more than 30 dining options.

Louis Lunch

Louis Lunch is one of the oldest family run businesses in the United States and the birthplace of the steamed hamburger. Louis’ great grandson now carries on the traditions from 1895. Burgers are made from a blend of 5 different meats, steamed in a cast iron skillet, and served on white toast with cheese, onion, and tomato. Potato salad, potato chips, and pie are the only other food items on the menu.

Traveling Gingerbread Note: There are a lot of great dining options along Crown Street and Chapel Street near Louis Lunch including Mexican, Asian, Ethiopian, Cuban, Mediterranean, barbecue, and more.

Little Italy

New Haven style apizza is a coal fired, Neapolitan style pizza with a charred, thin, chewy, crust with minimal use of sauce and a thin sprinkling of cheese. The most popular are Sally’s Apizza (pictured above with cheese) and Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana. We’ll stick to New York, Chicago, Sicilian, Greek, California…

Two Roads Brewing Company

Two Roads Brewing Company has a warehouse size taproom, outdoor seating, a gift shop and nearly 25 beers available (including drafts from Area Two). Check the calendar for events and a food truck schedule or bring your own food into the brewery or Area Two. Area Two Experimental Brewing focuses on barrel aging and sours. Tours are available for $5 per person and take about 30 minutes in Area 2 and 1 hour in Two Roads. We recommend the Persian Lime gose.

Lordship Seawall

The Lordship Seawall, also known as the Stratford Seawall, is the perfect place for a morning walk. There is free parking and a couple seaside restaurants along Beach Drive.

Traveling Gingerbread Note: Surprisingly, we were stuck in a lot of traffic, roadwork, and behind some very slow moving vehicles while driving through Connecticut. Regardless of the distance, it seemed to take at 45 minutes to get anywhere.

July 2020