Fall The CT Wine Trail to Kent

Kent is a small town in Connecticut that not many Connecticut residents know a lot about. It is home of two wineries along the Connecticut Wine Trail and is full of things to do in the wintertime. A weekend in Kent is an ideal romantic getaway, so bring a date on this trip.

The CT Wine Trail is made up of 14 vineyards. The trail will take you through some of CT’s most scenic and historic towns such as Brookfield, scenic New Preston, and the historic village of Litchfield.

Wineries are popular around the area of Kent such as White Silo Winery, a small winery in the rural town of Sherman right around the corner from Kent. The Wines include Raspberry, Blackberry, Rhubarb and Sour Cherry wines, both Dry and Semisweet and are produced and bottled at the winery from unsprayed fruit grown at the farm. You can have a glass of wine on their terrace, overlooking the mountains and ponds or cozy up inside by the fire on a cold winter day. Their specialty is Blackberry sangria coupled with homemade Connecticut farm cheese or chocolate truffles. Take a tour of the 1850’s barn, the art gallery, or just sit at the wine bar and enjoy the wine tasting.

Hopkins Vineyard is another winery, family owned Connecticut Century Farm and one of Connecticut’s first winery-established wine-bar. It is located in the hayloft of a 19th Century barn with a casual atmosphere of cafe tables overlooking the beautiful Lake Waramaug.

When visiting Kent in the winter, you can also take a ride on a horse-drawn sleigh with a big cozy blanket to keep warm while you sit back and listed the sound of sleigh bells jingling as you slide across Connecticut’s winter wonderland. After you take a ride through a field and into the woods, you will be lead back to the Long Meadow Farm house where you will be served a delicious, steaming cup of hot mulled cider awaits you. Your sleigh ride will last about 40 minutes costing $95 for two persons, $125 up to four, and $160 for up to 10 people.

Kent is also the home of Kent Falls, the largest waterfalls in CT. If the weather permits, take a drive to the falls where you can pack a picnic, take a hike to the top of the falls, or just take in the gorgeous scenery and serenity of the falls. Just down the road from the falls is the center of Kent where there is a handful of stores and restaurants that are a perfect fit for this rustic town in the hills of Connecticut where you can have a hot chocolate at the Kent Coffee and Chocolate Company or a slice of delicious homemade pizza at Kent Pizza Garden and Restaurant.

Whatever your Taste, Northampton is the Place

With music, art, theatre, shopping and great restaurants, Northampton, Massachusetts is an artsy town right around the corner.

For thousands of years, Northampton was originally inhabited by Native Americans and was called Norwottuck, or Nonotuck, meaning: "the midst of the river." It is now a popular destination for tourists who are attracted to the city’s arts and culture. The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America, by John Villani named Northampton the number one small town for arts in the country. Northampton is a special place with small-town quaintness and big-city liveliness. It is full of activities, eclectic shops, busy europeanesque sidewalk cafes, and youthful nightlife.
Northampton is also the perfect gem for either a romantic dinner or a night out on the town. Grab a beer with friends at the Northampton Brewery, a slice of Joe’s famous pizzas, or bring a date to see a show at Calvin Theatre or a concert at the Iron Horse Music Hall.

Being home of many Iron Horse Entertainment Group live music venues, Northampton is well-known for its music scene. The venues include the Iron Horse Music Hall 20 Center Street, which has a scheduled filled with live rock and blues acts. The Pearl Street Nightclub host mostly rock performers. Also located in Northampton is The Elevens, which has live acts encompassing "independent, local, regional, national and underground performers" playing blues, jazz, rock of various categories.

Visit during Northampton's Art's Night Out and check out the city's 23 open galleries and studios the 2nd Friday of Every Month. Walk around the streets and drink refreshments while gazing work of local artists. Artists create jewelry, American craft, handmade wearables, Chinese antique furniture, photography, landscape expressions and more.

Northampton has a lot of outdoor beauty to take advantage of when visiting. Look Park is a one hundred & fifty acre park in Northampton located on the Berkshire Trail. This is another venue for concerts and several special events. The Old State Mental Hospital grounds, where “Cider House Rules” was filmed, once overgrown is now being developed. Residents and visitors walk around the beautiful area that takes you through the farm fields and woods of Northampton. Take a bike ride on the Norwottock Rail Trail is an 8.5 mile path linking Northampton, Hadley, and Amherst along the former Boston & Main Railroad. It is pathway created for wheelchairs, joggers, skaters, bicyclists, and cross-country skier of all ages.

Gillette Castle State Park

With this sudden Indian summer weather that has hit Connecticut, now is a perfect time to take a ride to Gillette Castle State Park in East Haddam, CT. The Castle overlooks the Connecticut River and is surrounded by 200 acres of scenic grounds along the River. Ever since its restoration reopening in 2002, the park gets 100,000 visitors each year. The park has a museum, hiking trails, and a picnic area, and the castle itself puts on several theatrical celebrations.

I have visited the castle several times and I always go during the fall because that is the most beautiful time to view the scenery and hike around the park. It is also free to walk around the outskirts of the castle from October to April and the castle's scenery allows for great photo opportunities.

The castle was originally the home of William Gillette, an American actor who also designed the castle and a Hartford native who descended from the city’s founder. He first found the location to build Gillette Castle during a boat trip on the Connecticut River in 1912.

From there, Gillette spent $1 to build the famous castle that was completed in 1919. Inside the castle are a number of hidden mirrors, a lock-protected bar and intricate, hand-carved door latches on each of the castle's 47 doors. As part of William Gillette’s original design, the castle grounds used to have a railroad track with a working steam engine that visitors could ride on. Lake Compounce in Bristol later purchased some of the track to transport guests around the lake. The rest of it was converted into walking trails for tourists to hike at the park.

The town of East Haddam also has alot to offer including several quaint restaurants and shopping on main street. After a few hours at the castle, hiking and sight seeing, you could have lunch or dinner at one of East Haddam's restaurants like the River Tavern or the Blue Oar.

Gillette Castle is located at 67 River Road in East Haddam, Connecticut-an easy drive, right off of Route 9

Mount Washington

I have been fortunate enough to experience climbing the highest mountain in the Northeast, as well as one of the most beautiful areas in the Northeast. Mount Washington is one of the most breathtaking spots in New England. It is a perfect fall getaway for a day of hiking of a day of shopping and lunch at the summit. Located in Sargent's Purchase, NH, it is the Northeast's highest peak surrounded by the extensive 750,000-acre White Mountain National Forest also part of the Apalachian Trail, a 2,000-mile footpath that extencds from Main to Georgia trail that runs On a clear day visitors can stand at the 6,288-foot summit and see beyond New Hampshire as far as 130 miles to Vermont, New York, Quebec, Massachusetts, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean.

If visitors do not choose to hike the mountain, they can drive their own cars to the summit or ride in one of the many vans that provide guided tours for visitors. The Mt. Washington Cog Railway, the first rack-and-pinion mountain-climbing cog railway with a three-mile route, which is one of the steepest railway tracks in the world. When I visited Mt. Washington, I hiked up the mountain and road the train back to the bottom, which was relaxing with a beautiful site to see.

It is important to remeber when visiting the Mount Washington is the summer that the summit will be much colder and windier than at the base and snow can fall any month of the year. There are about fifteen hiking trails up Mt. Washington. When planning your hiking trip is it important to be aware of Mt. Washington's spontaneous weather, which is considered to be the "worst in the world". Mt. Washington holds the highest wind velocity ever measured on earth, which was 231 miles per hour in April. Wind on Mt. Washington can exceed hurricane force, but the average is 35 mph with an average temperature of 27.1 F. The weather on Mt. Washington is so sever because it is located in the midst of a major storm track routes that affect the entire Northeast.

One of the most interesting features to Mt. Washington is the several distinct ecological zones. When I hiked the mountain, I remember vividly passing through several very distinictly different ecological areas. First I hiked through a forest of northeat redwoods, then a forest of spruce and fir, and as I got higer in elevation trees become small and stunted. Soon they looked like short and narled, which meant I had reached the sub-alpine zone. Eventually I hit the tree line, the elevation above which trees do not grow (about 4,400 feet) and still nearly 2,000 feet below the summit of Mt. Washington. Once the hiker reaches the area above tree line, they have reached the alpine zone. This experience, to me, was unforgettable.

Mount Washington was made in 1642 by Darby Field and was feared to climb. In 1852 the first summit house was built, and shortly after the Carriage Road and Cog Railway were completed on opposite sides of the mountain, which made New England's highest peak accessible to visitors of all ages. With an increasing amount of structures buily at the summit, Mount Washington was deemed the 'City Among the Clouds'. In 1932, four men pioneered the Mount Washington Observatory, which has since kept a daily record of the summit's ever-changing weather. On April 12, 1934, the scientists recorded a wind gust of 231 MPH, the highest wind speed ever observed on the surface of the earth.

Built in 1979, the Sherman Adams Summit Building serves as the central visitors' center atop Mount Washington. In the best weather, visitors can see up to 130 miles from the rooftop promenade or inside the Summit Building where through large windows, visitors can see the magnificent views to the north and east. If you don't want to hike to the top, the view is beautiful while riding the cog railroad as well.

The large indoor facility at the summit of Mt. Washginton has telephones, restrooms, gift shops, pack rooms, a post office, food courts, exhibits, and a museum run by the Mount Washington Observatory. Weary hikers seeking a fun ride down can also purchase Cog Railway tickets near the main entrance. Also, next to the Summit Building is the Mount Washington Observatory, whose trademark weather tower can be used as a variety of meteorological and scientific gauges and instruments.

A trip to Mount Washington is an unforgettable experience. You can hike to the summit or take the train: you can hike in the summer or fall, on a clear or foggy day. Not matter what, New England's highest peak will seem a different place with every visit.