Thanksgiving in Connecticut

My brother Eric and his family came too to my parents' house in Connecticut for Thanksgiving Day. We all went for a walk at Hammonasset Beach State Park.


When we got home Jane made a skirt out of fabric in my mother's studio.


Group hug before dinner.



On Saturday TD and I walked around the Guilford Green. Guilford is a really pretty town, and the Green is lined with nineteenth and eighteenth century houses. We had a nice chat with Kathyrn Greene at the Greene Art Gallery.


Then we drove to Stony Creek to one of our favorite stores, Taken for Granite. The owner there, Michelle, has a great eye. Down at the harbor, we stopped to have lunch at the Stony Creek Market; I like the chicken curry sandwich. In the distance, the Thimble Islands dot the horizon.


That night with my parents we took a little birthday trip pour moi. First we drove to Essex, Ct, a really charming town on the side of the Connecticut River. One central street, which was lined with street lights decorated for Christmas, slopes down to the water, which reminds me of Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard. The street and the shops sparkled at night. This store, below, was called River. It had a lot of antiques but also a modern chandelier glowing with naked bulbs, which you can see here. I love that combination of antique and modern.


The houses in Essex also reminded me of Cooperstown, NY.




In Essex, we had a drink at the Griswold Inn. Then we drove to Westbrook to a favorite restaurant of my parents called Boom. It's located in a huge marina, and we drove and drove in the dark past big boats raised up over us on platforms for the winter like beached whales. At the restaurant I had risotto with lobster, shrimp and scallops, and we had a piece of flourless chocolate cake. Delicious in every way.