A Little Piece of Connecticut...Harkness

Sorry about my absence last week.  I was down due to computer problems, and it will probably happen again before it's over.  So, moving on to what I was doing while the computer was out.  I took a little day trip to a park that I'd heard of but never been to--Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, CT.

The centerpiece of Harkness park is the Eolia Mansion, named after the island home of the Greek God of winds.  The mansion was built in 1906 and was the home of the Harkness family thereafter.  The grounds cover 230 acres and run right up to Long Island Sound.  The downside to this place is that you cannot currently tour the house.  You can look in the windows and see that it's not furnished much anyway.  They say that they are working on getting the tours started again, so hopefully that is fixed soon.  But, that's the only downside here.

The gardens are some of the best parts of this one.  I found Harkness because I was searching for some nice gardens to visit.  They have a greenhouse that is more active for visiting in early spring.  They have Italian gardens with arbors and fountains, sculptures and ponds all around three sides of the house.  They are beautiful, fragrant, and a great place to enjoy a beautiful day.  They also open up to a great view of the rest of the grounds.

The grounds are wide open, with amazing views all up and down the shore of Long Island Sound.  There's a beach available for sunbathers.  There's a picnic and family area that's huge and has plenty of amenities that's right off the beach.  There's a huge lawn that goes right to the rocks along the shore in other places.  There's even a rocky beach that's full of nesting birds part of the year, so you can bring your dog to the park, but please do not take dogs on the bird nesting area of the beach.

Harkness is a beautiful spot, with beautiful buildings, gardens, lawns, shore, and beach.  It's a restful and photogenic place to spend the day.  Next to the park there is a camp for autistic children, so if you have that need, check it out.  The park costs $10 to get in per car, so come and enjoy a day with amazing views.

Then again, if you like cars, or love cars, come visit Harkness on the first Sunday in June.  If you love British cars, this is a must.

Every year the Connecticut MG Club sponsors British By The Sea.  It's all cars and Land Rovers British.  There are so many cars that you won't be bored or disappointed.  I can vouch for the fact that Connecticut folks love to have car shows, so we've all been to a thousand of them, but this one is different.  Most of the time you see the same old cars that just spend the summer and fall touring the state and stopping at all the shows, but these are different.  I saw things there that I'd never seen anywhere.  I saw things I'd never heard of.  It was great and it was a learning experience for me.

So, cars, architecture, and nature.  It's a well rounded day, and something for everyone.  It's a great place to spend a little time and unwind.  It's also particularly great for shutterbugs.  There are many things to do in the area though, being one of the busiest tourist areas in the state.  Mystic, both Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Casinos, Groton Submarine Museum, Dinosaur Park, Eugene O'Neil Theater, and Ocean Beach Park are all right in the area.  It's also not far to the Long Island Ferry in New London.  So, spend a day or a week having fun in the sun in Connecticut.  Take some time and stop by Harkness Memorial State Park and have a great time.  Enjoy!

http://www.ctmgclub.com/BBtS.html
http://www.waterfordct.org/discover-waterford
http://www.theoneill.org/
http://www.stateparks.com/harkness_memorial.html
http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?A=2716&Q=325214
http://www.harkness.org/
https://www.autismspeaks.org/resource/camp-harkness
http://ocean-beach-park.com/
http://ussnautilus.org/
http://www.mystic.org/
http://www.mysticseaport.org/
http://thisismystic.com/
http://www.mysticaquarium.org/
http://mohegansun.com/?utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=mohegan%20sun%20casino&utm_campaign=RAIS_Brand_Other
http://www.foxwoods.com/default.aspx
http://www.dinosaurstatepark.org/
http://naturesartvillage.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://pixels.com/profiles/terri-dixon.html?tab=artwork
https://www.fictionpress.com/u/530752/Nina-Kindred
https://www.facebook.com/adventuresforanyone

Who Ever Thought of Newburgh?

I've driven over the Beacon-Newburgh Bridge on the Hudson River in New York State probably 300+ times in my life.  In all those times, I never went to Newburgh or Beacon.  I first drove through the area in 1984 on my first road trip to Connecticut.  I was stopped at Sing Sing because there was an escape in progress.  I later met a man who did some work with hazardous waste in Newburgh, and told me all about the industrial side of the city.  After 9/11 my boss tells me that he had to guard the bridge due to terrorist threats.  I do know that ships come through the area all the time, and that at some point in history, it was a whaling community.  I know that there is a passenger railway for Metro North on one side of the river and a freight train line on the other.  I have stopped in at Orange County Choppers, but that's barely in the area.  I never investigated Newburgh, because it didn't sound that interesting from a tourism point of view.

From the bridge I could see that the valleys were pretty.  But, what was down there?  I never pondered it, until recently.  I'd heard that somewhere along the river were boat tours, and I thought that maybe it would be fun on my day off, because I had to work most of the holiday weekend.  So, I hopped online and started doing some research.  I found that there was more than one tour on the Hudson River, and some of the best looking ones were in Newburgh, NY.  I was surprised.

After looking around, I thought that the River Rose was the way to go.  What I didn't know until I got on the boat was that this is an authentic river boat built in 1934 and brought to Newburgh in 1999.  It's a great little river boat and the guys who run it do a great narrated tour of the valley from the dock in Newburgh to West Point.  On the way back there's a gentleman who plays tunes on his guitar and harmonica for the guests.  There is food available and a bar as well.  It's something that I would never have thought about Newburgh.  But, is that really special?  Is that an adventure for anyone?  No.

But this is.  Newburgh has one of the cutest waterfronts I've ever seen.  This recently rebuilt neighborhood, has restaurants, day spas, parks, and marinas, as well as the docks where you catch the various tour boats, water taxis, and river ferries.  I was expecting an industrial neighborhood with warehouses and shipping docks in it when I went.  I took my map, because I'm not a fan of satellite navigation.  I prefer the old fashioned explorer way of doing things.  However, when I crossed the bridge and got off the highway for the first time ever, I immediately encounter signs that led me straight to the wonderful waterfront.  They have done it up right with plenty of parking and murals on the train's support walls.  There are kids riding their bikes and people pushing baby strollers all over the place.  You can eat inside or outside at each and every restaurant.  It's absolutely fabulous and it's all only a hop skip from the historic part of town and all the historic homes and buildings and not far from the park where the George Washington Headquarters Historic Site and Monument is.  The boat tours are the main event, but the waterfront makes it a nice day all around.  It was not something that I expected.

Then there were the other surprises.  There's a castle and an island, and there used to be a moat around it.  Not kidding.  Bannerman Castle sits on Pollopel Island in the middle of the river just south of Newburgh.  I had to ask, because it's not really well known outside of the waterfront world, but there are tours and there are a lot of them.  They have weekend day tours to the island to see the castle and the island and hear the story of the place.  They also have tours that go out for shows, like the Iliad.  They have tours that go out to look at the stars.  It's a great place to go and wander around just to look and take some really great pictures.  So, pick your tour and book in advance and be aware that it is not for baby strollers or handicap.  I'll probably talk about it more when I get to go, but I didn't know about it until I went on the other tour.  But, even a drive by is cool.

You never know what you'll see on a river cruise, but you can bet that if someone has gone to all the trouble to have multiple cruises on a section of a river, it's probably good stuff.  We saw the castle and island as well as some great cliffs with people climbing right up the sides of them.  There was a beach, a small village, some roadside stops, some beautiful old houses, and West Point Academy.  The guys on the boat told us that part of the Wizard of Oz was filmed there.  Did not know that.

The tour was two hours and cost $22.  The restaurants along the waterfront have various cuisines, but they are all reasonably priced.  I had some of the best service ever at the Riverfront Grill.  In the end, we had a great afternoon in Newburgh, which was something that I had never considered before.  We saw some big ships and some sailboats, and I'm pretty sure that you can rent a jet ski at the marina.  There's music on weekend nights at Billy Joe's Ribworks as well.  It's just a great area, and I thought it deserved to be mentioned, because I'm sure that if, in all the times that I crossed that bridge, I never thought of stopping in Newburgh...well I'm probably not alone.  So, get off the highway, check out the surprises in Newburgh, NY and have a great time on and along the Hudson River.  Enjoy!

http://www.bannermancastle.org/island-tours.html
http://www.riverrosecruises.com/
http://www.prideofthehudson.com/
http://www.riverfrontmarinanewburgh.com/
http://www.orangetourism.org/
http://newburghonhudson.com/
http://www.cityofnewburgh-ny.gov/
http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsview/3110632/waterfront-restaurants-in-newburgh-ny
http://www.newburghhistoricalsociety.com/
http://www.newburgharmory.org/historical-newburgh/
http://www.nysparks.com/historic-sites/17/details.aspx
http://www.nywaterway.com/NewburghTerminal.aspx
http://www.usma.edu/SitePages/Home.aspx
http://www.go-new-york.com/West-Point/
http://www.mta.info/mnr
http://www.ribworks.com/
http://www.therivergrill.net/ordereze/default.aspx
http://captainjakeswaterfront.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://pixels.com/profiles/terri-dixon.html?tab=artwork
https://www.facebook.com/adventuresforanyone
https://www.fictionpress.com/u/530752/Nina-Kindred

Where's the Most Amazing Place to Go Swimming?

I don't like beaches.  We all know that.  I do love to swim however.  As a matter of fact, I used to run a swimming pool and teach lifeguards.  I can tell you that swimming and going to the beach are almost entirely unrelated.  So, last year for the summer, I included some beaches that most people would never have thought of.  It's my way.  For my third anniversary of writing this blog, I thought that I would help people see one of my favorite places in an entirely new light.  I thought that I would help you see it more like I do.  That wonderful place is Iceland.  Geysers, Waterfalls, the Leifer Erickson Memorial, and Reykjavik are all things that we know are in Iceland.  We also know that there are glaciers and volcanoes, hence the tag line of it being the land of fire and ice.  But, let me tell you something that you didn't know about Iceland.

Iceland is one of the most ruggedly beautiful, yet completely civilized countries in the world.  The midnight sunsets are something unique that you can't see anything quite like anywhere else in the world.  Iceland has over 300 significant waterfalls and over 40 volcanoes, including Eyjafjallajökull which shut down a lot of airports back in 2010.  There are also 13 glaciers in Iceland, led by Vatnajokull, the largest glacier in Europe.  But here's some things that you may not know about Iceland.

That myth about there being no trees in Iceland?  False.  There are not an overabundance of them, but they are more plentiful in the Eastern part of the country.  Iceland has only been an independent country since 1944.  The fact that they expressed their thoughts that they should be independent to the Danish rulers and the decision was reached in one of the most amicable transfers in history is one for the record books.  Icelanders are only second in the world to their former rulers in Denmark for happiest people in the world.  The Icelanders love where they live, they love their lives and they love who they are.  It makes one wonder what it is about northern latitudes that create such happy people.  You would think that people would be happier in the southern climates with the beach at their disposal all the time.  Well, let's see.

Iceland has figured out how to harness that thermal energy coming from all those volcanoes.  The government has piped it into every building in the country to provide heat.  So, heating costs aren't much.  That's one thing that would make us all happy.  But, better yet, they've channeled that thermal heat into recreation.  We've all heard of the Blue Lagoon, one of the world's premiere spas.  We've all had that thought about how we would like to go there, because it would be a hoot to don a swimming suit and go outside and swim in Iceland.  How cool would that be?

Pretty cool, let me tell ya.  If you like to swim, Iceland is the place for you.  There are hundreds of pools all over the country that are open from early morning until late at night all year round.  They are outdoors, indoors, and combos.  They have pools, hot tubs, waterslides, kiddie play pools, saunas, health clubs, and all kinds of stuff.

Once the thermal heat was conquered in Iceland, these places started popping up all over the place.  Reykjavik has a bunch of them.  People in Iceland love to swim, soak, and get out no matter what the weather is like.  In the city, every subsection has one.  It's where the Icelander goes to relax and have some fun.  You don't even have to drive in Reykjavik.  You can take the bus to several of their pools.  If you want to try out local culture, go for a swim.

Some of these swimming complexes are enormous, but they are all well patroned.  At this point in time, the local beaches here in New England will be opening for the summer, but the water and the air are too cold to make it worth getting in the surf.  Strangely, we could all be swimming in the pools in Iceland, and we could have been doing it all year long.  It's something to think about as we go into the throes of climate change.  The people who live in the north love to live there.  The statistics tell us that.  Why?  Who knows.  Maybe it's because of the swimming.

There are tons of us each year who go to Iceland to see the glaciers, the icebergs, the northern lights, the city of Reykjavik, the volcanoes, and the waterfalls.  It's one of those great places where you don't really have to worry about the language, and you don't need to book a tour.  You can just go and wing it pretty easily.  But, just for the fun of it, bring along a swimsuit and visit the pools.  You want your friends to think that you've lost your mind, while you've actually found a great find.  Tell them you went to Iceland to go swimming.
Enjoy!

http://www.swimminginiceland.com/reykjavik-and-capital-area
http://www.infoiceland.is/swimming-reykjavik.html?itemid=08ee4be5-3186-4fc6-9a31-304ddf2860e3
http://www.hafnarfjordur.is/
http://www.visitreykjavik.is/swimming-reykjavik-0
http://totaliceland.com/best-swimming-pools-in-reykjavik-iceland/
http://www.planiceland.com/swimming-in-iceland/
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/iceland/254363#sthash.3W5ryOki.dpbs
http://www.trip-to-iceland.com/what-to-do-and-see/reykjavik-area/swimming-in-reykjavik/
http://iceland.nordicvisitor.com/?rf=m01-113&utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=iceland%20tourism&utm_content=iceland%20tourism%20113&utm_campaign=IS%20m01%20iceland%20travel
http://www.iceland.is/
http://icelandnaturally.com/article/worlds-first-ice-cap-glacier-opening-iceland-next-month
http://wowair.us/
http://www.icelandair.com/
http://www.hotels.com/co99/hotels-in-iceland/?PSRC=G21&dateless=true&rffrid=sem.hcom.US.bing.003.00.02..kwrd%3DZzZz.3zaRrlmD.0.6245086031.102079w18244.d.c
http://www.hotel.is/
http://www.icelandmusic.is/live/festivals
http://secretsolstice.is/
http://solstice.is/
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://pixels.com/profiles/terri-dixon.html?tab=artwork
https://www.fictionpress.com/u/530752/Nina-Kindred
https://www.facebook.com/adventuresforanyone