Connecticut

We decided to take a weekend trip to Connecticut. We had only been through on our way to other places, so it seemed high time we did something about that!

We love the show, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” on the Food Network. We went to a restaurant featured on the show called Wilson’s BBQ down in Fairfield. Hubby enjoyed the smoky flavor of the ribs and thought it had more of a smoky flavor than most. I no longer eat any animal product, so I didn’t have any! All the sides are vegetarian. That helped – a bit. I requested sides that were dairy-free and got the beans and rice and black-eyed pea salad. It turned out that the beans and rice had butter (why?) so I didn’t have that. I got a garden salad with lime-chipotle dressing and pecans instead. The black-eyed pea salad was nice and mildly spicy, but had too much oil in the dressing for my taste. The garden salad was good, though I expected more spice in the dressing. I finished it off with sweet tea, which was refreshing and delicious. Hubby also got coleslaw, which was non-dairy! It was tangy, sweet, and crunchy. I bet it was delicious with those ribs!!

Our next stop was our hotel, the Mystic Hilton. It is smaller than most Hiltons, naturally, but it was a nice little hotel. The food there was pretty good. I got the linguine and vegetables (without the Alfredo sauce and parmesan cheese) and hubby got the BBQ chicken sandwich. Hubby enjoyed his sandwich and the fries were deliciously crispy. I enjoyed my pasta dish. The pasta was a little more than al dente and they gave a lot of it. I would have been happy with just the veggies, which were yellow and green zucchini with sundried tomatoes.

The next day we drove downtown. It was great to find on-street parking! Hubby wanted to have coffee, so we found a little café called Bartleby’s. Wow, what a find! They have a delicious wrap on the menu called the Goddess. It has lettuce, tomato, red onion, tahini sauce and veggie burger chunks. YUM! I enjoyed each every last bite. I was also able to find a chocolate chip cookie from the Alternative Baking Company, which is headquartered in Sacramento. It was the best vegan cookie I’ve had. (Of course, I have not had Sharona’s yet.)

We walked around and found Mystic Pizza – yes, the one from the movie. I doubt they have vegan pizza, and we had just eaten, so we didn’t bother going in. I hope I can get something to eat there next time. We walked around the neighborhood a bit. It is so nice and quaint and quintessential New England. It’s quite hilly, too, so the walk was good to burn off some calories.

We walked around some more and looked at shops. We found a Tim Horton’s, which we had seen only in Canada. Interesting that they are making their way stateside. Hubby thought the coffee wasn’t too bad there, so it will do when his beloved Dunkin Donuts is not around. I also found a store called, You’ve Got to be Beading, which sells beads and jewelry making supplies. Cute name and fabulous stuff inside. They also have kits, which I thought was a great idea! I bought a couple of things, but not as much as I would have liked. I don’t have too much time to start making jewelry again. When I do, however, I will get some things at that shop! I found Mystic Yarns, but they were closed! It looked like a fabulous store for yarn, supplies and books. I am looking for some yarn and I’m sure I could have found something there. Oh well. I have a reason to go back!

It’s September now. I can’t believe it! We only had a few weeks of summer this year. I am going to enjoy the bright, sparkling days we usually have this time of year and try not too think too much about the upcoming cold!