id dreamt of driving through Connecticut, so when my best friend talked about Salem, Ma and seeing her kid in Jersey three times in one convo, it seemed as good an excuse as any to hit the road for a minivaca. we'd been planning one for ages and hadn’t seen each other in over four years, but i’d saved up. also, i dream weird and perhaps more weirdly, i follow them. she was all-in, so we booked flights. the Salem trip is it’s own dreamstory where i got lost differently but found myself. sometiems we have to step out to be in again.

so we spent a couple of days in Salem with a rental car & set out to drive. i started planning, which isn’t something i usually do, but, we had three main points: Salem, Stamford & Jersey, so why not make the most of it?

it was a four hour twenty minute path to see as much as we could en route. i admit, i plan weird. id chosen to take the scenic route 15 instead of going through Rhode island as Google kept suggesting. i remembered someone asked why would anyone vacation in Connecticut and took that as a dare. on the way out of Massachusetts, we stopped in Sturbridge for a bite and passed the Old Sturbridge Village, which is definitely on the bucket list for when we have more time. the Publick House Historic Inn was an interesting drive-by. somehow the air felt cleaner there, peaceful even. the legendary ghosts seemed to be taking midday naps. when i close my eyes, i can still feel the cool crisp air of the Hardee’s parking lot. how often we find peace in the ordinary.

the drive from Sturbridge to Hartford was an array of brightly bold leaves in late fall. in South Carolina, we have southern magnolias more than sugar maple & palmetto more than red oak. i find them all beautiful in different ways. i love trees. though i admit i missed any “Welcome to Connecticut” sign as i was awe~struck from the color~bursts.

Hartford was more quiet than i expected. usually i get antsy driving in cities, though traffic was surprisingly light for a Friday afternoon. Twain’s home was right next to the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in the serene West End Neighborhood. the architecture there is both stalwart and stunning. i thanked Harriet for her hard, thoughtful work & Mark for his limitless humor. that kind of critical balance between light & seriousness helped shape me in my youth, & now i find beauty in tears and laughter. i said this was a pilgrimage, but it shaped into an homage. it felt good to say hello even though they’ve both moved on.

we didn’t have much time or funds to do the touristy things, but driving through the Heroes Tunnel of the Wilbur Cross Parkway was its own panoramic experience. it opened our eyes to an entirely different state of the world. the tunnel is 1200 feet long and led us to a breathtaking view of the sun and endless treescapes. there’s a restriction on advertising on this route- no billboards for miles and miles, almost like stepping back in time. there are gas stations conveniently located on little side ramps, but exits are few and far inbetween. the Wilbur Cross Parkway was an extension of the Merritt Parkway, which is legend, completely separating tourist and commercial traffic. it opened in 1938 with a vision to keep as much of nature as natural as possible with growing populations and more and more goods being transported & advertised. genius, really, at least in my eyes, as ive always loved road trips but seeing so much repetitive business becomes joyless where every city looks the same from the highway.

in New Canaan, we found Philip Johnson’s “The Glass House” structures, built between 1949 and 1995. the area is stunning, and worth another day trip to see the art works alone. the buildings themselves are a statement to how we blend nature and architecture, like a snapshot of where the golden rule meets the golden ratio.

from the Glass House we found nearby Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens. we only had maybe twenty minutes here, though it felt like a lifetime. im still standing beneath a tower of trees in the most vividly bright colors ive ever seen and feeling both small and infinite, full of hope and light. i have back issues and have a hard time walking, yet there i felt so very tall, and so very whole. i wanted to nap there under the canopy of trees, though my friend told me i was weird, which i am, so we drove on.

the Bartlett Arboretum has a wilder history which drew me in though~ Gene Wilder loved it. he was a big supporter. he moved to Stamford, Ct when falling in love and marrying the beautiful ballerina and comedienne, Gilda Radner. i can’t tell you how much i’ve always loved them, though most people have at least some history with Willy Wonka or Roseanne Roseannadanna. i grew up in awe of their shine. Gene’s widow, Karen, donated land in the area to the city of Stamford as the Gene Wilder Preserve, an absolutely stunning gift. driving through felt like being in the presence of a friend who you’ve missed for a long while and though they’re away, you feel them all around you and know everything’s going to be okay.

i spent time at Gilda’s tree, though that’s a bit more personal. i needed her reminder: “Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity.”

& im still at that tree now, even though we got back in the car, drove past the Avon Theatre, got food. we checked into the hotel, found the newly clean & sparkling Macys & got lost in multiple parking garages.

my friend & i saw Rainn Wilson that night at Stamford’s Palace Theatre, which also mirrored a dream- tho in the dream he was in a precariously angled circus tent with a stairway to Oz & i kept getting lost. his performance was as hilarious as ever though our moods had shifted a bit. before the theatre, we found out her kid got Covid, which was sad. they’re okay now and im so very thankful! but by the time we settled into the hotel for the night, we were worn out. our Jersey plasn had changed and the government shut down was creating massive flight cancellations. we were flying out of LaGuardia the next day. i got sad again, not about the flights; to that i said the serenity prayer~ but about how time slips, one moment you’re in & the next you’re saying goodbye to your best friend & the world is on fire & the people who say they’re in charge would turn the Merritt Parkway into a department of war parking lot… but i digress.

the trip’s not really over, at least not yet. it drives me forward, even now, home again, finding pieces of peace.

i loved Connecticut. def would do again. 10/10

id dreamt of driving through Connecticut, so when my best friend talked about Salem, Ma and seeing her kid in Jersey three times in one convo, it seemed as good an excuse as any to hit the road for a minivaca. we'd been planning one for ages and hadn’t seen each other in over four years, but i’d saved up. also, i dream weird and perhaps more weirdly, i follow them. she was all-in, so we booked flights. the Salem trip is it’s own dreamstory where i got lost differently but found myself. sometiems we have to step out to be in again.

so we spent a couple of days in Salem with a rental car & set out to drive. i started planning, which isn’t something i usually do, but, we had three main points: Salem, Stamford & Jersey, so why not make the most of it?

it was a four hour twenty minute path to see as much as we could en route. i admit, i plan weird. id chosen to take the scenic route 15 instead of going through Rhode island as Google kept suggesting. i remembered someone asked why would anyone vacation in Connecticut and took that as a dare. on the way out of Massachusetts, we stopped in Sturbridge for a bite and passed the Old Sturbridge Village, which is definitely on the bucket list for when we have more time. the Publick House Historic Inn was an interesting drive-by. somehow the air felt cleaner there, peaceful even. the legendary ghosts seemed to be taking midday naps. when i close my eyes, i can still feel the cool crisp air of the Hardee’s parking lot. how often we find peace in the ordinary.

the drive from Sturbridge to Hartford was an array of brightly bold leaves in late fall. in South Carolina, we have southern magnolias more than sugar maple & palmetto more than red oak. i find them all beautiful in different ways. i love trees. though i admit i missed any “Welcome to Connecticut” sign as i was awe~struck from the color~bursts.

Hartford was more quiet than i expected. usually i get antsy driving in cities, though traffic was surprisingly light for a Friday afternoon. Twain’s home was right next to the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in the serene West End Neighborhood. the architecture there is both stalwart and stunning. i thanked Harriet for her hard, thoughtful work & Mark for his limitless humor. that kind of critical balance between light & seriousness helped shape me in my youth, & now i find beauty in tears and laughter. i said this was a pilgrimage, but it shaped into an homage. it felt good to say hello even though they’ve both moved on.

we didn’t have much time or funds to do the touristy things, but driving through the Heroes Tunnel of the Wilbur Cross Parkway was its own panoramic experience. it opened our eyes to an entirely different state of the world. the tunnel is 1200 feet long and led us to a breathtaking view of the sun and endless treescapes. there’s a restriction on advertising on this route- no billboards for miles and miles, almost like stepping back in time. there are gas stations conveniently located on little side ramps, but exits are few and far inbetween. the Wilbur Cross Parkway was an extension of the Merritt Parkway, which is legend, completely separating tourist and commercial traffic. it opened in 1938 with a vision to keep as much of nature as natural as possible with growing populations and more and more goods being transported & advertised. genius, really, at least in my eyes, as ive always loved road trips but seeing so much repetitive business becomes joyless where every city looks the same from the highway.

in New Canaan, we found Philip Johnson’s “The Glass House” structures, built between 1949 and 1995. the area is stunning, and worth another day trip to see the art works alone. the buildings themselves are a statement to how we blend nature and architecture, like a snapshot of where the golden rule meets the golden ratio.

from the Glass House we found nearby Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens. we only had maybe twenty minutes here, though it felt like a lifetime. im still standing beneath a tower of trees in the most vividly bright colors ive ever seen and feeling both small and infinite, full of hope and light. i have back issues and have a hard time walking, yet there i felt so very tall, and so very whole. i wanted to nap there under the canopy of trees, though my friend told me i was weird, which i am, so we drove on.

the Bartlett Arboretum has a wilder history which drew me in though~ Gene Wilder loved it. he was a big supporter. he moved to Stamford, Ct when falling in love and marrying the beautiful ballerina and comedienne, Gilda Radner. i can’t tell you how much i’ve always loved them, though most people have at least some history with Willy Wonka or Roseanne Roseannadanna. i grew up in awe of their shine. Gene’s widow, Karen, donated land in the area to the city of Stamford as the Gene Wilder Preserve, an absolutely stunning gift. driving through felt like being in the presence of a friend who you’ve missed for a long while and though they’re away, you feel them all around you and know everything’s going to be okay.

i spent time at Gilda’s tree, though that’s a bit more personal. i needed her reminder: “Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity.”

& im still at that tree now, even though we got back in the car, drove past the Avon Theatre, got food. we checked into the hotel, found the newly clean & sparkling Macys & got lost in multiple parking garages.

my friend & i saw Rainn Wilson that night at Stamford’s Palace Theatre, which also mirrored a dream- tho in the dream he was in a precariously angled circus tent with a stairway to Oz & i kept getting lost. his performance was as hilarious as ever though our moods had shifted a bit. before the theatre, we found out her kid got Covid, which was sad. they’re okay now and im so very thankful! but by the time we settled into the hotel for the night, we were worn out. our Jersey plasn had changed and the government shut down was creating massive flight cancellations. we were flying out of LaGuardia the next day. i got sad again, not about the flights; to that i said the serenity prayer~ but about how time slips, one moment you’re in & the next you’re saying goodbye to your best friend & the world is on fire & the people who say they’re in charge would turn the Merritt Parkway into a department of war parking lot… but i digress.

the trip’s not really over, at least not yet. it drives me forward, even now, home again, finding pieces of peace.

i loved Connecticut. def would do again. 10/10