Issues → March/April 2009 → Travel →

Last Green Valley: Northeastern Connecticut

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(page 2 of 3)

Back on 169, we head past Lapsley Orchard (in early May, an explosion of blossoms) to Pomfret. This crisp, tiny, pre-Revolutionary War town, with its wide, Champs Elysees-like boulevard, is pretty and stately, with two top-notch prep schools spreading through the center. At the southern tip of town, the gallery/gift shop Celebrations, housed in a former Victorian B&B, highlights the work of 36 different artists: gifts on the first floor, fine art on the second, and an entire room devoted to tea. Take a moment to check out the Pomfret School's little Gothic gem, too: a stone chapel with lovely stained-glass windows.

Quiet as Pomfret is, it's also the local hotspot: specifically the confluence of Routes 169, 44, and 97, or even more specifically, where the The Vanilla Bean Cafe meets Martha's Herbary. One is a jumpin' java joint/restaurant, a favorite of motorcyclists enjoying the call of 169. (They make zingy lemonade fresh daily, with crushed-up ginger.) The other is a tumble of a garden-and-gift shop, with items ranging from frog door knockers to herbs to colorful clothing.

Pomfret is also a great central location for jumping off the main road and exploring the subtleties of the Last Green Valley ... which we do, veering over to Sharpe Hill Vineyard in Hampton, and perhaps the best-spent $5 of the trip. At the foot of a 40-acre rise of grapevines, it's a refined scene right out of Brideshead Revisited. Five tastes for five dollars ("Ballet of Angels"--don't miss its grapefruit snap), sitting on wicker chairs under wide old shade trees on a sunny Saturday afternoon. A hike to the top of the vineyard reveals panoramic views to Rhode Island and Massachusetts. That afternoon, on the terrace, diners spontaneously applaud a young couple's engagement.

Naturally as we meander northeast to make our way back to 169, we sample the homemade selections at We-Li-Kit ice cream in Abington--then stop to admire the majestic Roseland Cottage in Woodstock, a bold, salmon-colored Gothic Revival confection with its own bowling alley and Victorian garden. A leisurely dinner on the patio behind The lnn at Woodstock Hill is the last thing I remember before falling into a plump canopy bed in a cozy corner room.

After all this effortless prettiness, we're slightly unprepared for a side trip into Putnam. Billed as an antiques mecca, the town is comparatively gritty, but then it's a fine line between shabby and chic these days, isn't it? Putnam is well worth poking around in. Check out Antiques Marketplace, right in the town center; it's got everything, from a samurai hat for $280 to Christmas ornaments from the late 1800s. Granted, a stream of motorcyclists zooms by our outside table at 85 Main (think of it as the noisy section of "The Quiet Corner"), but the place is hopping, the food is good (oysters are delivered fresh three times a week), and it's the kind of spot where a biker dude will tear into a salmon salad.