State #47 - Connecticut plus New York and a New England Cruise

(We probably won't be able to blog from the cruise ship - we'll catch up when we can!)

Day 2 (10/27/07) - click here for pictures: This morning we headed toward Wilton, Connecticut (only delayed by an extra hour because of a wreck on I-95) and Brachville for a quick visit to Weir Farm National Historic Site. It was a nice drive through the countryside. We actually hit the leaves around their peak plus we saw some huge homes. Our next stop was Hyde Park, New York where we visited the Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library, his home, Springwood, the Vanderbilt Mansion and Van-Kil Cottage, Eleanor's home. It was a pretty rainy morning but it cleared up as we left for New York City. We made a quick stop at the Culinary Institute of America, hoping to grab a late lunch, but all of their 5 restaurants were closed since it was Saturday afternoon. We took Highway 9 all the way into New York City. We were surpised how scenic it was the entire drive into Manhattan. We found a great parking spot on 42nd street and walked up to Times Square where we bought tickets from TKTS to see Curtains the Musical, starring David Hyde Pierce (of Fraiser fame). Before the show, we walked around and grabbed some Dale & Thomas Popcorn and Robby grabbed a hot dog from a street vendor. A little more souvenir shopping and then we headed to the show. We enjoyed it - it was funny! We walked back to our car and made the 45-minute drive back to Stamford.

Day 1 (10/26/07) - click here for pictures: It's hard for us to believe but we are tackling state #47 this weekend and then capping it off with a New England cruise starting Sunday. Stephanie, Tara & I left on a 6:00 AM flight this morning from Little Rock to Atlanta and then on Hartford, Connecticut. (Reagan and Anderson are having their own vacation with Nonna/Pops and Grannymom/Grandpa while we are gone.) The Hartford flight was bumping almost the entire way but we touched down right on time at 11:30 AM. We picked up our Budget rental car (Chevy Impala) and headed to downtown Hartford. We visited the State Capitol and Bushnell Park where we road the Bushnell Park Carousel just like any big kid (click here for a quick video). We then visited the Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe houses. We drove south visiting the towns of East Haddam (home of the Goodspeed Opera House) and Essex (home of Griswold Inn) with view along the water and colorful leaves. A little further south down the road we visited Mystic Seaport plus picked up some yummy fudge. We then drove to New Haven where we took a quick tour of Yale College including the Phelps Gate and the outside of the Skull & Bones society "tomb." After visiting the Yale bookstore, we stopped for supper at Frank Pepe Pizzeria for some delicous pizza. We drove onto Stamford where we checked into our hotel and called it a night.