Connecting with Connecticut... ~ The Americana Kitsch and Culture Tour ~ originally posted 1 Jun 2011

 

Aloha MM's,   I started writing this today from a lovely RV park in the Litchfield Hills in Connecticut The place was lovely, very restful—other than the CAT who insists on going out for walks every 2 seconds! The CAT has decided that suffering in silence is not his way and everything he's been sitting on for the last month, is now being voiced. LOUDLY.   Mum and Dadddddddddd... I want this camper to stop...it's too hot...it's too cold...I want to go for a walk...I want some biscuits...I want to go for a walk...I want a cuddle...I want to go for a walk... (Mummmmm and dadddddddd, you're not LISTENING to meeeeeeee) I want to......... to just complain in general. It's my god given right as a CAT!!!     I have to say, that's he's been exceedingly good over all.   But going for walks on his harness is the new THING! Yesterday he walked up the rock pile to the top of the wee hill. Needless to say, Mummy went with him, swearing and cursing and hoping like hell that I didn't brush against poison ivy, oak or a snake. Not to mention the mozzies out here, which are the size of barn cats! He then found a long log, that he could walk to the end of and turn his back on me, doing his morning meditation. On Walden Pond...we are just about in that neighborhood.   Perhaps his 'say it like it is' recent vocalization is because he is picking up the energy from the North. The Northerners 'say it like it is.' No California PC out here! And I like that. I just wish they weren't so gruff and abrupt. It's a shock after the South. Where people speak slo.......w.........ly... but gently, they laugh, they are engaged, interested and interesting.     I will be interested to see, as we climb north away from the New York energy, if this changes. I remember once having a New Yorker friend and she was a bit like this. I got to understand the saying, 'in a New York minute,' meaning quick smart, now, Now, NOW!!!   We once went to a place for Sunday brunch and the server had brought over a glass of soda with no straw. She said she'd bring over the straw.  Sheryl waited for all of 45 seconds before she snapped, "Can I have a straw!"   I almost audibly gasped. I leapt back and pressed myself against the seat in case she took a chunk out of me, as well.   Yikes. Abrupt, rude, impatient.   We encountered this when we drove through a small place called North Canaan yesterday and stopped at the Collins Diner. We're on our Americana Kitsch and Culture tour. Or as it comes out sometimes the Kitchen Culture Tour, so things like this classic are lovely to see.   The diner is a original metal carriage diner. They look like a railway carriage that is 'double-wide' size across. They were often built as a whole unit. They got delivered to your site, sometimes complete down to the cutlery and napkins. The interiors are all leatherette bar stools and booths. This one was in blue with red piping trim - very pretty. Rather lovely old blue Formica on the ceiling. A black marble counter, which later I found out wasn't usual for these diners. But Jim Collins insisted on something a bit different. It had been the floor from an old house. It even had some old fossils in it. A jellyfish and a beetle!   I love this kind of stuff and started to snap pictures. The owner Flo then snapped at ME for taking photos unless they were personal use. I snapped back and not with the camera. Don't get on my wrong side before my first meal of the day!   She explained that lots of the photos had been used for non-personal use. I asked her what sort of things. Apparently one dreadful person had done a water color of it and put it on line! The heathen!   I thought, goodness me, here you are, running a classic diner, that is an iconic Americana piece of kitsch. And you are getting snappy—no pun intended—at people taking piccies of it! Good lord! Get a grip, I wanted to say. Free advertising is FREE, and word of mouth is excellent and the best you'll get in terms of advertising and promoting a business. She even seemed a bit put out that I'd read an article about the diner and seen it on Trip Advisor!  I reluctantly snapped a couple more photos, feeling like I was illegally shooting the body of Christ in the holy chapel of Mecca. Sacrilege!!!   We ordered a meal and Aarons was lovely. Liver, onions and bacon. Really well cooked with a pile of mash potato and gravy. Mine was the roast beef, that looked suspiciously like deli meat sliced very thinly, that had been reheated and some gravy clonked on it. I guess annoying the chef isn't a good idea.     Once she thawed out a bit and I could ask her about the diner—she was much better. I realized in the end, it was partly that Northern attitude and manner. It didn't endear me much though. The diner was built in 1945 and was owned by Jim Collins. I think he sold it to her dad and now she owns it. There are not a lot of them left but every so often you will find them around. And if you're going to own a 'classic' diner. Treat it as such. Promote it, sell 'stuff' for it, have fun with it!   I suspect fun was not big on Flo's list. But she must have felt a bit bad because she got quite chatty and gave me a postcard and a mug for free. That was nice...   Speaking of nice...  It was soooooo nice to leave Joyzee, or more to the point, the RV park we stayed at. I think it rates up there as THE worst RV park so far. Not only had the lawn 'art' store exploded, the pool was packed with screaming kids AND parents!! Okay, it's Memorial Weekend—this happens. What probably finally did me in was that the showers were one of those push in the button and tick, tick, tick—eventually it pops back out and the water stops flowing. The word eventually is a key word now.   Aaron comes back and tells me that the showers only run for about 20 seconds at a time. I purse my lips. It takes me 2 days to work my way up to facing these showers. I need to color my hair. It's down to my waist. Christ!   I decide that I'll just have to brave it. I go and inspect the showers. I leave, go and get my gear and come back with a roll of duct tape. I will not be defeated!   I find that Aaron is exaggerating about the length of time the showers run...   It's actually 8 seconds.   I counted...  I put the color in my hair, set the timer and work out how I can duct tape the timer button, so it stays on. I wrap a length of duct tape around the back of the pipe (it's very old, so the plumbing is all exposed...) and I push in the button and tape like mad, then hold my breath. It works. I grin like an idiot. I've outwitted the shower Nazi's—YES! Needless to say—we packed up early the next day and hightailed it out of there at warp speed. Already the Jersey Shore was like a sauna. Time to go.   We stopped at our favorite farm market and grabbed 2 pounds of peas in their shells. Yum. And a beautiful freshly homebaked strawberry pie. YUM. Then we headed for Connecticut on the Jersey Parkway, which was bumper to bumper traffic, 3 lanes across - on one side. So, we manage to eat about a pound and a half of fresh peas as we drive to Connecticut. Delicious! They are so sweet and moreish. Just a few more—okay, we say, as I pop pods for Aaron as he is driving. Hard to stop.       We decide to ignore Thelma (our Garmin) and cross into New York, going up through Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens. There is a sign that says. Road Work—your tax dollars at work. We pay 16.00 for the toll. An extremely expensive toll on the Turnpikes. The roads are atrocious! The pot holes could have housed a family of four.   We decide they are still collecting enough taxes, so they can START the work!  We shake, rattle and roll across Staten Island and are not actually seeing much. The camper is shaking herself to bits. I think a few of my fillings might have dislodged themselves too.   We give up. We say sorry Thelma! And cross back over to Jersey, and go on the Turnpike. We can see New York city across the river, in all her hazy glory. The Empire State building is clearly visible and the Statue of Liberty in the distance. Eventually we cross over into New York again at the Bronx! The not so charming part of New York city. It's packed with people and traffic, apartment buildings, bridges, roads.  Wow. Aaron says, "OMG, I'm actually driving in New York!"      We head up to Connecticut as the camper continues to rattle—a LOT.   Part of Leo's day bed, crashes down on my head—clonk! It's shifted the base of it so much with the dreadful roads. I stagger around repairing it with—what else—duct tape!   We finally stop at the Stew Leonards supermarket and go into to have a look. It's a really fun place. They even have a rock outside that says, Rule #1 - The Customer is Always Right. We like that.          They have lovely food and we stock up on lobster (10.00 for a whole tail and 3 claws) wow, (and it's so red and very sweet here—the cold water!) very tasty chicken salad, fresh guacamole, a big wedge of blue brie, roasted rosemary lamb chops and cooked chicken tikka marsala from the hot bain maries. Sooooo good. Lamb is not a big meat eaten here in the States but getting more popular—especially here on the East Coast. Nor is Indian food, but here it looks like an everyday item. I'm impressed.     We manage to eat all the chops before we even get to our RV park. :-)   I even manage to buy 3 green tomatoes but no cornmeal. I convince myself I'll get some later. Needless to say—the tomatoes are going to go red before I manage this! But anyway, the rest of the food IS getting eaten!     We loved this place, such yummy food and cool displays As you walk around, they have dancing 'things.' Milk cartons, juice cartons, butter sticks, eggs, chickens, a parrot! So fun. I especially liked the Choquita banana lady display. Clover the mooing cow and even a talking horse! And an acrobatic lobster. How can you beat an acrobatic lobster!   I love a proper New York bagel. To make a bagel properly, you have to boil the bagel ring in hot water for about a minute and a half and then bake them in the oven. That's what gives a proper bagel it's chewy crust. YUM!!!         When we get back to the camper to unload the loot—I notice the fridge is hanging off it's hinges. OMG. Those pot holes were shocking! Aaron screws it back together. Good grief!  We finally park up at a very nice RV Park in the Litchfield Hills. Very peaceful, quiet and decent showers! Yay!!!   The next day we go for a wee drive around the Litchfield Hills circuit. This is supposed to be the prettiest part of Connecticut. We find Connecticut is very nice...but not very exciting. Very bucolic and pretty. Lots of leafy verdant rolling hills and pretty wee houses. Most of them white with black shutters and rhododendrons! So incredibly pretty! I love Rhodos, my Gran always grew them. I have nicknamed them the Connecticut State flower because just about every house has one! Just lovely.      We visit the Collins Diner, the start of a dreadful day in general. We drive around hoping for a boost of energy from the Connecticut hills. All the wee villages were incorporated in the 1700's. So it's a fairly old part of New England. We stop at West Cornwall to see a covered bridge. I remember saying I was going to West Cornwall this year in the Spring. This wasn't quite what I meant. I meant West Cornwall, ENGLAND. Oh well, I suppose, NEW England is close enough. Be specific with the Universe!!!         Sir (Leo Ray the CAT) decides he MUST go for a walk here! His dad puts him on his harness and off he goes into the bushes. He's dragged back and put back in the camper.   We then set off to see Kent Falls, which was probably the best part of the day. It's really beautiful. Cascading triple falls that are quite wide. We snap some piccies and push on again. We then go to seek out the Sugar House and the Cider House which I'm looking forward. The Cider House is pretty uninspiring. Ok, next. The Sugar House is even worse! It's barely there. We go into the shop and we wait...and wait...and wait...Obviously it's help yourself day. Finally Aaron locates someone and we pay for some maple syrup and other things. There's no tastings... Oh yes, they are going to get around to that...          Okay, never mind. We are done. We have a big row on the way home. A perfectly awful end to a perfectly awful day.   Sometimes, living in close quarters in a camper and constantly on the road pushes things a bit sometimes.   We sort it out.   Tomorrow is another day.   Today, we both felt horrible. Both with headaches and general malaise. I say to Aaron that maybe we'll just stay here another day. NO—he is vehement. We are going South to Mystic. 'Lucky' we did and lucky I listened to him. Where we were has severe Thunderstorm watch and the next county over has Tornado Watch. In Connecticut? Eek!   Always move away from bad energy and towards good. Trust your feelings.   We are now in Southern Connecticut in the town of Mystic. Yes, like on Mystic Pizza, one of Julia Roberts very first movies. And it's sooooo pretty. We are utterly charmed. It is picture perfect. The energy is better here. We are looking forward to exploring the seaport town of Mystic tomorrow and having a piece of pizza—of course!  I think we finally might have made a connection with Connecticut!   A local in the shower block - handsome boy The best part of the sugar house. These maple syrup candies are gorgeous. Surprisingly, not too sweet  A yummy lobster roll. I was hooked on these things. Yum.