Travel Tales

Leaf Peeping & Wine Tasting in Connecticut's "Quiet Corner"

Vermont & New Hampshire has nothing on Connecticut's "Quiet Corner"

   As a tenth generation son of Connecticut, I was amazed at the Fall foliage in this "Quiet Corner"  when my wife and I visited over Columbus Day weekend. This is Roseland Park Lake in Woodstock.

And you won't believe the restaurants and wineries two hours west of the Cape

Text by Walter Brooks, photos by Pat Brooks

Our first port of calories in the "Quiet Corner" was a truly remarkable bistro called The Vanilla Bean in Pomfret which boasted as eclectic and exciting a menu as we'd ever seen. I had the award-winning "Killer Chili" and maybe the best Reuben Sandwich ever. That's owner Barry Jessurun standing in front above.

Next we got lost in a spectacular Corn Maze in Thompson after shopping in the antique center of Putnam.

Dinner the first night at The Harvest in Pomfret offered the best Gyoza ever, and I finished off a great Chateaubriand.

And fell into the sleep of the innocent at The Mansion In Woodstock.

The second day after an enormous breakfast at The Mansion, we toured the colorful country roads like Route 169 and spent time at Safe Haven Alpaca Farm and store in Hamton on Route 6.

A few miles away in Lisbon we were regaled by Chef Harry and his beautiful wife and editor Laura.

I was born in  the other end of the Nutmeg State in Litchfield County, and my family has been in Connecticut since they arrived from Cheshire, England, in 1894. But somehow I'd never made it to the opposite corner of this relatively small state correctly called "The Quiet Corner".

That's a shame because the Windham County area in the northeast corner snuggled up against Sturbridge, MA and Chepachet, RI is as pretty a countryside as New England offers.

What we did & when
We left on Wednesday morning, October 8 and got off I-195 in Providence to take old Route 44 which is how we drove to the Cape before the super highways were finished in the 1960s. See the detailed map below the photo at the very bottom.

Wait until you get past Taunton to fill up because  gas prices there are even lower than Wareham or Christy's.

We could have reached this bucolic backwoods in two hours, but we weren't in a rush, and lunch wasn't till noon  at The Vanilla Bean Cafe  in  Pomfret at the corner of Routes 44, 97 and 169. 

Despite our relaxed pace, we still had time to mosey down Route 169 past the Pomfret School and this lovely village.

The Bean was mobbed at noon on Wednesday, and there isn't a large population base within forty miles.

A-mazing afternoon
After lunch we staggered over to Fort Hill Farm's "Appalachian Trail Educational" Corn Maze at 260 Quaddick Road in Thompson, see map at bottom.

Maze mistress Kristin Orr told us we could see Rhode Island from the bridges inside the maze. She created this huge maze herself using a big weed whacker with a GPS attached. The design includes a cow and a hiker.

We still had time to explore Putnam's Antiques Marketplace on Main Street and other shops which surround it.

The Audubon Properties at Bafflin Sanctuary and Trailwood, 189 Pomfret Street, Pomfret, have many lovely wooded trails.

Dinner at The Harvest:
We dined this first evening at the  Harvest Restaurant, where we were pleasantly surprised at the Japanese influences on their menu. I also had a Chateaubriand to die for - four melt in your mouth slices of great quality.

Our inn the first night was the
Mansion at Bald Hill, Woodstock, tel. 860-974-3456, 29 Plain Hill Road South Woodstock, where we were also served a Herculean gourmet breakfast the next morning.

A Scenic Drive
On our drive south towards Lisbon on Scenic Route 169 for lunch we took the time to visit the shops in Pomfret like Majilly, 56 Babbitt Hill Rd.,  Martha's Herbary, 589 Pomfret  and Celebrations Shoppes, 330 Pomfret St. and Hazelwood Fine Crafts, 12 Putnam Road (Route 44), all in Pomfret.

We even had time to visit the Safe Haven Alpaca Farm and shop on Route 6.

Lunch in Chef Harry's winery
Heritage Trail, 291 North Burnham Highway, Lisbon, is a good hike down 169 and the scenery was lovely. Harry and Laura Schwartz have written a half dozen well-received cook books, and he is Chef Harry on both NBC's Today Show and the Hartford Fox TV station.

After a short nap in our next  inn, The Cottage House, a part of the Lord Thompson Manor in Thompson, we were able to visit the Taylor Brooke Winery on Rte 171 in Woodstock for wine tasting and walk in the vineyard.

Dinner our second night was at 85 Main Street , an excellent restaurant named for its address in Putnam, 

Final morning
After breakfast at The Cottage House, we headed north to Southbridge and home. See map below this photo.