East Haddam Day Trip
Gillette Castle - East Haddam, CT
Yesterday, my wife and I decided to take a nice day trip around Connecticut. It was Labor Day, almost everything was closed, and the traffic was very light (at least in the morning when we left).
I looked online for “Best day trips in Connecticut” and the internet suggested East Haddam, a 50-minute drive from our house. I looked for pet-friendly places and packed our dog, Ollie in the car and away we went.
The drive over was really pleasant. There was a high level of humidity so it felt hot and muggy. We had to drive with the AC on. We were listening to music from the 80s and the day was beautiful.
Our first stop was Eagle Landing State Park.
We parked our car on a very empty parking lot (due to the holiday, I presume) and got off to stretch our legs and have the dog relieve himself.
My wife was probably not wearing the proper footwear (and that was totally my fault as I neglected to tell her where we were going). I made an effort not to make her walk on uneven paths or grass.
Eagle Landing State Park is a small urban par right next to the Connecticut river. We walked all around the periphery, stopping at times to take in the views of the river side.
Ollie was having the time of his life!
He was really excited and kept pulling my wife and me to get to every corner of the park and the different piers around the shoreline.
My wife and Ollie at the Gazebo in Eagle Landing State Park, East Haddam, CT
Both the dog and my wife were getting hot so we hopped back in the car to enjoy some more AC and drive around East Haddam.
So we bid adieu to Eagle Landing State Park and continue our little trip.
Eagle Landing State Park, East Haddam, CT
We went over the Swing Bridge over Connecticut River, which looked like it was getting some needed repairs.
After we went over the bridge, we kept seeing signs for the Gillette Castle State Park. It was a place I had always wanted to visit, since hearing about it on one of my favorite podcasts (Morbid). I wasn’t sure it was open because of the holiday, but we kept driving on, enjoying the beautiful forest around the area.
After a few minutes of diving around, I decided to turn us around and see if the park was indeed open.
Lucky for us, it was.
William Gillette's "castle", was called Seventh Sister and renamed "Gillette Castle" by Connecticut State in 1943. (You can read more about it here)
The castle was wonderful. You can walk around the property and buy a ticket to visit the inside and get a tour. We decided against it as we wanted to travel some more around the area.
The Castle has an incredible view of the Connecticut river…
The view of the Connecticut River from Gillette Castle, East Haddam, CT
After our walk around the property, we decided it was time to grab lunch, so we started to look for pet-friendly restaurants in the area that were open on Labor Day. A very tall order if you asked me!
Contrary to my way of thinking, we found a few in the town of Clinton, a 45-minute drive from Gillette Castle. Away we went!
On our way there, I decided to cut through the Connecticut River instead of driving all the way around it. In order to do that we needed to take the Ferry.
We had taken the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry once before when our kids were young, so this time it was a little more memorable because we had cameras and phones to record the crossing.
A quick trip through the river and we were on our way to a delicious lunch!
The place we went to visit turned out to be closed so we had to improvise. Luckily for us, we found Shank’s Waterfront Dining and they are Pet-Friendly. They even bring you a bowl of water for your doggy.
My wife ordered some fish and chips and I went for the 6” Lobster roll. A New England staple. Both were delicious and plenty. They also give you free soda fountain refills. We sat right by the water and really enjoyed all the boats that were cruising right next to us on their way to the sea.
Overall a great Day trip. The only inconvenience we had was on our way back we had a flat tire and I had to change in the middle of the highway!!
We are planning more day trips like this one. Maybe I will go back to taking pictures… 😃
