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Brooklyn - Part 3
Written by: Janet Pope
Photography by: Donald
Shhh! Back to the "Quiet Corner" of Connecticut.
Return to Connecticut:
We had such a wonderfully peaceful time in our short stay in Brooklyn, Connecticut that we decided to revisit the "Quiet Corner." With so many places to see, returning to a destination is something we rarely, if ever, will do.
We picked a perfect time to head back to Connecticut, during the Fall when all of the leaves were changing. As we left the traffic of the city behind, I sat back and enjoyed the scenery of the autumnal dance of the tree colors. I find it fascinating to discover, in every sense of the word, the mysteries and treasures of a town or area. For instance, everyone knows that Disney World is full of rides, children and Mickey Mouse, while Las Vegas conjures up slot machines, the strip and showgirls, but when we visit a small piece of America, I feel like there is a true adventure that lay ahead. Although, we may research an area, we still feel as if the unknown is waiting to be experienced. Every state and every town, no matter how small, has something unique to offer as far as museums, local history, restaurants, shops and most especially - the people.
So here we find ourselves, once again, leaving the noisy city and entering the quiet corner of Connecticut. Perhaps there’s an enchanted spell over this northeastern section of the state because when we approached the area, not only did the trees turn more vibrant colors of red and oranges, but the atmosphere seemed to whisper "relax."
We drove through Willimantic, Connecticut and stopped at the Willimantic Brewery Company and Main Street Café. The café opened in 1991, but is now in its third location; an abandoned granite and limestone 1909 United States Post Office building. Donald loved the retrofit of the old postal design. The inside, though modernized, used a lot of wooden beams and Post Office memorabilia. In a continuance of the postal theme, the menu featured many items with a reference to the building’s former life - "air mail wings," "returned to tenders," and "letters and tomatoes." I appreciated the sense of humor. I had the corn chowder and a build-your-own sandwich, where you could pick a hamburger, veggie burger or grilled chicken breast and add your own toppings to your liking. After driving all morning, they both hit the spot.
Adjacent to the main dining room, which was once the mail-sorting room, is the in-house brewery. Donald ordered the "aero post-ale," from over a dozen ales to choose from and a tuna steak sandwich. This seemed like a lively place that specializes, not only in good food, but good beer and an atmosphere of bringing people together. They are known for movie nights, beer tasting, brewery tours, four-course beer dinners and live music. The time we chose to visit the quiet corner was the Columbus Day Weekend and it happened to also be their 14th Annual Walking Tour Weekend. Over 30 free walking tours were offered throughout and the area was very busy with visitors, as well as extra activities. I thought it was a great way to showcase the area.
Like many towns built up along a river, Willimantic was originally a mill town. A huge mill, Windham Textiles, produced thread here for over 130 years and the stone facility still stands. Unfortunately, like many American businesses, production relocated to a foreign country, citing the cheap labor there. Across from the factory, stands the Willimantic Textile Museum, which opened 15 years ago in order to preserve the great mill background and history of this area, called appropriately "Thread City."
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From Post Office to Brewery | |
This was, at one time, one of the biggest thread mills in the world, producing 40,000 types of thread. Now, if you are like me, you can’t even fathom that many types of unique threads, but evidently they created a distinct thread for seat belts, fire hoses, sailing ships, baseballs and much more. Of course, there were threads of every color as well as larger spools for businesses and smaller ones for home use.
The building stands rather majestically made from stones built with hand chisels and hoisted with ropes. The façade is dotted with window after window and our museum tour guide reminded us that at the turn of the century they still relied on natural light in order to work.
The museum is housed in two buildings across from the structure – one being an original storage area, built in 1877, and the other one being the mill’s general store, where traditionally workers often bought their supplies before receiving the balance of their pay. This building houses a small gift shop and two floors of changing displays. The upstairs is designed with two period rooms indicative of the late Victorian style of living. One showed the two room hovel-like housing of the workers and their living conditions; the other illustrated the finer home of the company bosses, complete with more refined decorations and opulence.
The factory was 1.3 million square feet and is historical, not just for its size, but for the rich stories of the workers. Work in a mill was hard and tedious. Often people lost hands or fingers working on the large looms. Tuberculosis and other air-borne diseases also ran rampant due to the high humidity in the air, which was maintained in order to keep the thread from breaking. Workers, mostly lower paid immigrants, even lost hearing due to the excessively loud machines. This museum stands, not only as a tribute to the thread mill, but to honor the experiences of the workers who toiled there.
Across the street from the museum stands the Frog Bridge. What do frogs have to do with thread you might ask? Well, all good towns deserve a legend and Windham has one to call its own. As the story goes, in June 1754, the townspeople were awakened in the middle of the night by strange sounds. They feared an attack was coming so they grabbed their guns and in the early morning headed up a road in the direction of the odd noise. When they got to a nearby pond, they were shocked to see hundreds of dead bullfrogs. Explanations were speculated, but never determined and the pond became known as Frog Pond. To this day, you can see frog symbols throughout Windham and the largest symbol of all being the Frog Bridge. Here, four bronze frogs, each 10 feet tall are sitting askew on the top of four spools of thread on each corner of the bridge. The bridge serves as a centerpiece for the community, a memorial to the "Battle of the Frogs," a unique tourist attraction, as well, of course, as a bridge. After staring at the frogs and their golden bulging eyes, we set out to contemplate them, the meaning of life and find our B&B; we just wanted to find the Bird in Hand Bed and Breakfast.
The problem with locating a small B&B on a country road is that invariably, you pass it before you notice it. It was initially built in 1731 down a winding private road. Our host, Susan Crandall, greeted us and gave us a small tour and history of the property. After several additions and updates to this historic home, Susan now has four guest rooms, each with a distinct flair. We stayed in the Anna White Room that was decorated with a queen-sized canopy bed, a working fireplace and a two-person whirlpool tub. I took one look at the bathroom that is the size of my bedroom at home and thought I was in heaven. Besides two other guest rooms, there is also a "cottage," which is perfect for an extended stay as it has a kitchen, TV/VCR and even a telephone.
We had dinner reservations at the Altnaveigh Inn and Restaurant and Susan helped us with directions so we wouldn’t pass it. The Altnaveigh Inn was originally the Isaac Sergeant House, built in 1734. Gail and Douglas Parks are the current owners with Gail doing the welcoming and overseeing and Douglas creating in the kitchen. There are three dining rooms and the atmosphere was quiet, but elegant as diners talked intimately at each table.
Don sampled the grilled fillet of salmon, which was topped with a cucumber salad and peach salsa and I enjoyed the Chicken Provincial with palm tomatoes and mozzarella. Now, Donald loves to eat. He loves food more than a lot of things that I will not mention, but what he likes even more than good food is good food that looks outstanding. To put it simply, not only did Donald finish everything on his plate, but he took a picture of it before he started. Now that’s appreciation!
We had theater tickets to the UCONN campus to see Julius Caesar and, as Donald summed it up, no big surprise - he died, but besides already knowing the outcome, I thought it was an interesting interpretation. The director placed the story in jail, with the inmates performing the play, implying a tragedy within a tragedy. The Connecticut Repertory Theater is the producing offshoot of the University of Connecticut’s Drama Department and brings the dramatic arts to this area.
After seeing all of Caesar’s cronies wiping their hands in his blood, I was reminded of the jacuzzi waiting for me back in our room. What a segue way! Ahh, sleep perchance to dream... of another day in the Quiet Corner.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
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