Locations: Hartford and New Milford
When: Last week of November
Miles traveled: 450
Price of gas: $3.19 to $3.49
Camping style: TA Travel Center
High point: Relaxing in the warm sun with a good book, and open studio.
Low point: Feeling homeless
One thing learned: Posting on this blog changes feeling "homeless" to
"traveling adventure!".
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my car ornament
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Many campgrounds in Connecticut are closed in November, and with a desire to stay within my budget, I decided to sleep at a TA Travel Center (truck stop). These truck stops are designed with extra parking space, laundry machines, fitness room, and showers for professional truck drivers and other overnight guests. Parking is free, but laundry and showers are not. By the middle of the week, I recognized people and cars who were also staying there multiple days. One car had half their possessions tied to the roof with a tarp and rope, with damp clothes hanging off side mirrors in an attempt to dry out. I started to feel homeless. Comparing myself to others (which is never a good idea, but also hard to not do), and feeling like my coat and habits pointed me out as using the travel center for multiple nights, lowered my morale. I've decided not to camp for more than one night at truck stops in the future. Thankfully posting on this blog helped me change my perspective from homeless to adventurer. Also knowing that I would only be sleeping there a few more days, helped me persist in my day time explorations.
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| Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Arch |
Bushnell Park in Hartford, has free outdoor ice-skating during winter. This was my first time ice-skating outside! It was small but enjoyable and not crowded in the early afternoon. The park also contains a vintage 1914 carousel (closed for the season), fountain, statues, and an arch that honors 4,000+ Hartford citizens who fought in the Civil War. Walking around the park takes an hour or two. The surrounding town buildings are mostly businesses without a lot for a tourist to see. I'm glad I paired my visit to the park with an evening board game Meetup, 20 minutes from the park.
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Flea Market
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New Milford hosts the
Elephant Trunk Flea Market every Sunday from April to December. In warm months, the market often has over 500 vendors. In November, less than 100 vendors were present. It was an interesting mix of clothes, furniture, antiques, toys, cookware, art, and Christmas decorations. I bought a few Christmas gifts and a little tree ornament (see first photo) that became my car's decoration for the holidays.
Sunday evening, I went to Village Center for the Arts, a nonprofit community fine art center. It is the first art studio I've found that truly has open studio time. Other locations require signing up for a class or advanced registration, but not here. Anyone can drop in and use paint, wood, paper, fabric, odds and ends, clay, and drawing materials! It is geared more for kids with tools that require minimal supervision, like hot glue guns rather than wood lathes and sewing machines. However, their lower level contains a fully functional ceramic studio! After spending an hour in the ceramic studio, I went upstairs and joined the excited participants in the main studio. Most of them were building ancient civilizations for school projects. I made a small collage out of sheet music, birch bark, and potpourri. I would love to go back.
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Ceramic studio. I don't know who forgot to take a break.
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