The Best of My Fall Photos...In Connecticut!

I can only describe the beautiful foliage in my neck of the woods so much.  As fall comes to a close is Connecticut, I find myself celebrating over 150,000 views of this blog.  I also find myself in the middle of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and being diagnosed with breast cancer.  If you are one of my regular readers, know that I will write when I can.  I have to have some things done, and I will be excited when I can get back to my blog.

In the meantime, I thought I would post some of my best foliage shots from this amazing fall that was actually enhanced by a drought.  Life is strange.  No water, but great foliage and warm, sunny weather.  The above pictures are from Apple Hill Trail at White Memorial in Litchfield, Connecticut.  This is a non state funded land trust with dozens of trails, lakes and ponds, a museum and nature center.  Programs for the kids and conservation happen there as well.  White Memorial has some really great trails, but Apple Hill is my favorite.  You can stop in at the main park and get trail maps pretty much any time of the year.  Fall is my favorite though.

We went to Bethlehem's Garlic Festival and Riverton's Country Fair this year.  Bethlehem is one of Connecticut's tiny towns where there are a lot of festivals, a great flea market, and huge lines of people mailing their Christmas Cards in December.  There is nothing but cute in this little berg and a bunch of friendly people to make your visit great.  Their country fair takes place the weekend after Labor Day and the Garlic Festival takes place every Columbus Day Weekend.  They are two of my favorite local events.

Riverton is a historic town, and if you've ever heard of Hitchcock Furniture; that's where it comes from.  Riverton holds it's country fair every Columbus Day Weekend, and it is one of the smallest fairs in the state.  It's still a great time, and the town adds craft fairs and community theater as part of the attraction.  If you've ever wanted to take the weekend, stay in a historic inn, eat some great food and homemade ice cream, go to a fair, shop a craft fair and just relax; you need to spend Columbus Day in Riverton, Connecticut.  The foliage on Columbus Day is very dramatic as well.

Another jaunt that I took was to Meriden and Hubbard Park and Castle Craig.  I've mentioned this place before, but in mid October they put on a carnival and food truck festival in Hubbard Park to celebrate fall, and the cliffs above around Castle Craig are some of the most beautiful spots in the whole state.  I love to look at the foliage from up there.  Can you blame me?  The park is also one of the most beautiful city parks in the state, and Meriden is a friendly community with a lot of theater, food and their mall is mostly a discount place.  That's great because I can afford to shop there.  In the winter, come and see the amazing drive through Christmas Light display in Hubbard Park as well.

It's Collinsville, Connecticut.  This is my favorite little hidey hole in the whole world I think.  I love to got to Collinsville to rent a canoe and take it on the river, see some theater, shop for antiques, walk along the amazing river walk, take pictures, and eat at Lasalle's.  This is the quintessential small town full of quiet people and hipsters.  The scenery is some of the best around, and in the fall it is simply off the charts.  It's close to Canton and Avon where there is plenty of shopping and restaurants as well.  It's one of my favorite places to take pictures.

Haystack Mountain is one of the prettier state parks in Connecticut and sits in Norfolk.  There are several state parks in and around that town, which I discussed earlier this summer.  Check the blog entry about Norfolk to read more.  I finally got a chance to hike to the top of this amazing mountain, and found a great tower built in 1929 to celebrate Connecticut's lands above 1,000 feet in elevation.  The tower has stairs up the inside that go to an amazing observation area and the views of the surrounding areas is fabulous.  I always wondered where the aerial views of Norfolk came from.  I think they just come from that tower.

So, the area that I live in is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.  Especially in the fall.  I hope you get a chance to enjoy it some time like I do.  I will leave you with some shots that I also took in Mass this fall around the Bridge of Flowers in Shelbourne Falls.  I hope to be back soon.  Wish me luck!

Have a great fall and Enjoy!

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Meriden/MeridenNews/7163523-154/food-truck-fest-draws-thousands-to-meridens-hubbard-park.html
http://ctweekender.com/things-to-do-in-connecticut/outdoor-activities-ct/parks-forests-ct/local-parks/castle-craig-at-hubbard-park/
https://www.facebook.com/events/867335420004533/
http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?A=2716&Q=325216
http://www.meridenlandtrust.com/Hubbard_quad.pdf
http://www.trivago.com/?sLanguageLocale=US&iSemThemeId=4227&iPathId=104688&sem_keyword=meriden%20connecticut&sem_creativeid=12556603371&sem_matchtype=be&sem_network=s&sem_device=c&sem_param1=&sem_param2=&cip=1224500601
http://www.americantowns.com/ct/meriden
http://www.stateparks.com/haystack_mountain.html
http://www.myrecordjournal.com/news/meriden/
http://www.cityofmeriden.org/
http://berkshirehiking.com/hikes/haystack_mountain.html
http://www.norfolkct.org/town-government/
http://www.rivertoninn.com/
http://www.rivertonct.com/
http://www.rivertonfair.org/
http://www.infinityhall.com/
http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?A=2697&Q=322764
http://www.ctvisit.com/articles/connecticut-fall-foliage-report
http://www.ctvisit.com/getaways/ultimate-foliage-tour-central-connecticut
http://www.visitconnecticut.com/file-not-found
http://www.torringtonct.org/Public_Documents/index
http://www.registercitizen.com/
http://www.bookingbuddy.com/hotel.php/?source=msn_g1_xml_collinsville_ct&city=2688743&arrival_city=Collinsville%20CT&suppress_dart_ads=1&taparam=EBBMsnUS_K17223156_A253655103_NS&supmt=e&supai=707611458
http://www.collinsvillect.org/
http://visitcollinsville.com/
http://www.townofcantonct.org/
http://www.41bridgestreet.com/
http://www.collinsvillect.org/photo-gallery
http://cckstore.com/
http://www.traillink.com/trail/farmington-river-trail.aspx
http://fvgreenway.org/pages/default.asp
http://www.townofcantonct.org/content/19186/20385/20397/default.aspx
http://www.farmingtonrivertubing.com/
http://www.lasallemarket.com/
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
http://terri-dixon.pixels.com/
https://www.facebook.com/adventuresforanyone?fref=ts
https://www.fictionpress.com/u/530752/Nina-Kindred
http://www.whitememorialcc.org/

Fall in Lake George New York

It's fall, and those in the know come to the Northeast to look at the foliage.  We have it all out here when it comes to color, but as I've said many times, we also have activities.  Lake George is a great stop in the fall.  You would think that after Labor Day, things would slow down, but not so.  There are still a lot of things to do here in the fall and it goes until sometime in October.  The leaves are really the judge of that.

It's true that my latest visit to the Lake was dreary, so the pictures aren't perfect, and it's true that I was working; but it was gorgeous.  The boats are running, there are festivals every weekend, the activities in Lake George Village are still up and running, and the leaves are beautiful.  It's important to remember that even if the resort town of Lake George doesn't get your motor running, then the rest of the area might.  Lake George is just the gateway to the mighty Adirondack Mountains.  This is one of the most scenic mountain ranges anywhere.  The granite peaks are outstanding, and a lot of them are accessible without the overnight hike.  There are tons of places where you can enjoy their splendor by tram, train, gondola, or road.  There are fabulous places to visit like Ausable Chasm and Lake Placid.  Then there are the lakes like Lake George, Lake Luzerne, Lake Placid, and Lake Champlain.  If you love nature, you shouldn't miss this show in the fall.

Then there is the history.  There are two forts in the Lake George area.  There's Fort William Henry which is right along the waterfront in Lake George Village.  They have live history for you and they even fire off their cannon.  That fort also comes with a resort hotel that has great prices in the off season.  It leaves you just up a set of stairs from the waterfront and downtown and makes your parking a lot easier.  But, for my money, the fort to visit is Fort Ticonderoga.  Sure, you have to drive to the other end of the lake, but it's one of the most scenic drives in the northeast and the Fort is fabulous.

This behemoth of a fort operated in the 1750's.  It's huge, it sprawls all over and it has a great view of the north end of the lake.  There are all kinds of demonstrations on the weekends through October.  They have cows and chickens running about and when we were there they also had horses and alpacas.  They have festivals into October and it's fun.

There's a myth that the north just shuts down and freezes over after summer.  But at Fort Ticonderoga and most of the northeast, the vegetables are still growing, the formal gardens are still blooming and the people are still celebrating the season.  The horse festival at the Fort even had live entertainment.  It was a really good time and well worth the drive for any number of reasons from the view to the great little restaurants along the way, the Teepee Gift Shop which I love to peruse and some outdoor stuff as well.

The town of Ticonderoga has a great city park with covered bridges and gazebos and such.  It looks particularly pretty this time of year with the foliage kicking in, but it also has some fabulous.  It has a great waterfall.  For any of you waterfall hunters out there like me, this is one worth going to see.  I really enjoyed it.

There are a million things to do in the Adirondack Region in the fall, and it should not be missed.  I didn't really care about the weather, although I did want more pictures.  But, the food is good, the live entertainment is still going, the House of Frankenstein is still going.  A & W Root Beer is still open.  All the mini golfs are still open.  They have a haunted house that's open all the time, so Halloween is great around there.  You can still ride all the boats and eat on all the decks as well.  It's a great time to go and see the trees, enjoy the discounts, and have some fun before winter really does come and shut it all down until spring.  Don't miss Columbus Day Weekend here.  It's truly about the last bash of the year, and the trees are the stars of the show.  Enjoy!

http://visitadirondacks.com/
http://newyorkstateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/lake-george-battleground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NY&parkId=122
http://www.adirondack.net/
http://ticonderogany.com/
http://www.adk.org/index.php?
http://adirondack-park.net/
http://www.fortticonderoga.org/
http://townofticonderoga.org/
http://www.lgpc.state.ny.us/
http://www.lakegeorge.com/hiking/prospect-mountain/
https://www.hotels.com/?pos=HCOM_US&locale=en_US&PSRC=G21&rffrid=sem.hcom.US.bing.003.00.03..kwrd%3DZzZz.4kcurMqY.0.10418915358.10208iy29341.d.c
https://www.sixflags.com/greatescape
http://thefunspot.net/
http://www.waterslideworld.net/
http://lakegeorgesteamboat.com/
http://www.fwhmuseum.com/
http://www.lakegeorgeresorts.com/
https://mommypoppins.com/content/lake-george-with-kids-30-things-to-do-on-an-adirondack-family-vacation
http://www.lakegeorge.com/
http://www.lakegeorgeguide.com/attractions/
http://www.lakegeorgechamber.com/
http://www.lakegeorgeny.com/
http://www.booking.com/city/us/lake-george.en.html?aid=346685&label=msn-5sIbD4TUxgjiurZ0qzGpQA-8874528414&utm_campaign=NY:+New+York+State&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing&utm_term=5sIbD4TUxgjiurZ0qzGpQA
http://www.lgislandboattours.com/
http://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-york/prospect-mountain-trail
http://travel.usnews.com/Hotels/Adirondacks_NY/
http://www.resortsandlodges.com/lodging/usa/new-york/adirondacks.html
http://www.adirondackexperience.com/discover/tours-excursions
http://www.adirondacksusa.com/
http://www.adirondack.net/adk/bus-tours.cfm
http://www.lakeplacid.com/explore/tour-adirondacks
http://visitadirondacks.com/attractions/scenic-byways
http://www.lakegeorgerestaurants.com/
http://www.adirondackextreme.com/
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
http://terri-dixon.pixels.com/
https://www.facebook.com/adventuresforanyone?fref=ts
https://www.fictionpress.com/u/530752/Nina-Kindred