New England State Road Trip.....Part 9: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts

After a decent nights sleep we woke up, checked out of our hotel and headed to find coffee. We visited Muddy Waters Cafe in New London, CT. I found it interesting that the river that runs along New London is called the Thames. It's said that the english colonists wanted to pay tribute to their english roots thus the names New London and the Thames River. 

One thing we did notice throughout the NE States were the amount of stone walls that ran the length of peoples property. From what I understand it made the most sense as farmers were preparing their land and turning up stones. They would use them to build walls. It's estimated that there are over 240,000 miles of stone walls. Here's one article regarding the reason for the walls. Here's another. How much work went into building those walls, and they're still standing. I failed to get any photographs of them. 

Enjoying our morning at Muddy Waters Cafe. I loved the vibe inside this cafe. 

The back section had couches, chairs and more tables and then opened up to an outdoor patio area. It was very eclectic. I took some video but not many photos. 

This area of New London seemed to be struggling to survive. Many empty, buildings and an overall look of being run down. Yet there was still some charm to it. 

From there we headed towards Mystic, Ct. We weren't planning to spend time here, there were just a few spots I wanted to check out. Of course, if you're familiar with the movie Mystic Pizza, you'll know why I had to stop here. My hubby, bless his heart, had no idea what this movie was about. The movie was inspired by the actual Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Ct but much of the filming was done in neighboring towns. I also wanted to try out some donuts from Young Buns. They did not disappoint. From there we walked around a few of the shops. 

I tried so hard to get just the right picture up the road of this church. I didn't quite succeed. I'm wanting to work on my perspective in order to get those leading lines, that really draw you to the item you are focusing on. 

There was a paparazzi stalking me out of the donut shop. AKA my hubby.

It was actually the 100th anniversary of the Mystic River Bascule Bridge. Here is a link to some fun facts. So crazy how huge those counter weights are. 

After the bridge went back down we went over it. 

From Mystic we headed on towards Rhode Island, stopping in Newport. They happened to be having the Bowen's Wharf Seafood Festival. This festival has run for over 32 years. We miraculously found parking and wandered around. 

A popular seafood dish in this region is stuffed Quahog clams or sometimes known as "Stuffies". Quahog clams are large clams that are typically stuffed with clams, herbed bread crumbs and often peppers, sausage, onion and spices. The stuffing is put back in the clam shell and baked. It was very unique. We also had fried calamari. 

We didn't really have time to go in shops and it was so busy, I don't think we'd want to. 

I loved the old buildings and the different colored ivy climbing up it. 

From there we traveled on and had planned to "find" Cape Cod. At this point, a year later...haha, I can't remember what we actually found. I feel like we didn't really know what we were looking for. 

We did stop in Narrangesett at Rose Nulman Park. If I remember right, we visited here and then just headed up to Massachusetts (do you know how many times I've had to look up how to spell that state? Too many...EVERY time I go to type it).

From there we headed up to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Did you know that it is spelled two different ways. Plymouth, and Plimoth. Plimoth is an old fashioned spelling used by Governor William Bradford. Plymouth is used to differentiate the museum from the modern town of Plymouth. This was a great post about this area. I'm sure we stopped here and there along the route. I just don't remember where. We arrived, checked into our hotel and then drove down to check out the waterfront and find a spot to eat. We opted for Dillon's Local. I mentioned in other posts that one of my goals was to eat what is popular in that region. In this area, Shepards pie is popular and this restaurant served Shepards Pie Croquettes. Oh my word!! Basically they were Shepards pie filling, encrusted in Panko bread crumbs and topped with gravy and cheese curds. I don't remember what we had for our entrees. I think one of them was Bourbon steak tips. Note to self...don't wait almost a year to write your blog posts. After dinner we went and walked along the waterfront for just a bit. The sunset was beautiful.   

These Scallop Shells were found throughout the city as part of a public art display. I wish we had more time to find all 29. They were so unique. You can find more about them here. 

Two more days left of our trip. 

With Joy Unquenchable,
Kirstin