Today is September 22nd, the first day of fall and we are so impressed with the changing of the colors. Looks like this fall, New England will produce a show of color the travel agencies encourage everyone to come see. We noticed colors changing the last week of August, and within three weeks, there is no doubt fall is here.
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| End of September colors |
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| End of August Colors |
We leave our temporary summer home tomorrow and will begin to wind our way west by first heading a little further east. More about that in later posts.
Being here in the Northeast was enjoyable and our location of NE Connecticut gave us an opportunity to see a lot of the 6 states that comprise New England. The only state we did not touch was Vermont. Mostly because what was of interest to us, was in the northern part of the state, and was more than a days drive. We also did not visit New Hampshire, but we did technically ‘touch and go through it’ on our way to Maine.
Our location has been in a rural area of Connecticut and some of the little towns around here were established as early as the 1600’s. Pretty amazing to think of the European settlers that came to this country to start a new life, and wonder what made them pick a specific area to build their towns. To assuage our curiosity, we would Google the town name to discover its history and see where their names came from.
We found another town named Portland here in Connecticut. We all know Portland Oregon was named after Portland Maine. But Portland Ct. was known for its brownstone quarries. Brownstone from Portland was shipped as far away as San Francisco. Portland Connecticut was named after Portland England, also known for their brownstone.
We did manage to get one last trip in before we left. My brother Harry, his wife Mary, her mother and fiancée Bill were vacationing in Cape Cod Mass. We met them in Newport RI for the day and had a great time touring the city, one of the many mansions and of course having lobster for lunch.
The mansion we visited was called The Breakers and is owned by the Vanderbilt family. This was the home of one of the grandsons who built the Biltmore in Ashville, NC. All I can say is the Vanderbilt's had more money in their day than one could imagine. The house was opulent and in some rooms, every inch of the walls and ceilings were covered with something. No pictures were allowed within the home, so you will have to visit it for your self to see. The house sits right on the Atlantic Ocean where you can watch and enjoy the waves breaking over the edge of their property. |
| View from back of the house |
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| Lobster lunch |
We need to say a few words about the park where we spent our summer. Charlie Brown RV Park in Eastford, CT.
The park is situated in a bend on the Natchug River and the sites extend from the riverside across a |
| View of campground from club house |
meadow and up a hill to the club house. During our stay, musical entertainment was provided on most Saturdays, a local family came into the campground each Saturday to market their fresh vegetables, homemade jams and maple syrup produced from their sugar maple trees. The river is stocked by the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and lays claim to being the 2nd best fishing river in the state.
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| Pam & Steve St. John |
The owner/operators of the park are Steve and Pam St. John who are a little younger than us. One of their adult sons Chris, worked with them in the park. A second son, Erik is a certified RV Tech which made life for us a little easier, as we needed to have some repairs made during our stay.
The entire family was pleasant, easy going and fun to work with. Steve and Pam treat you like family and we met their grandchildren and cousins. They went out of their way to express their appreciation for
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| Chris St. John |
our efforts. If anyone reading this is interested in Workamping in the NE, we would highly recommend Charlie Brown Campground as a base. Also, anyone heading this way and camping, give this campground a consideration if it is on your way.
Our memories of our time in New England:
