Category: Connecticut Travel

The groundhog predicts an early spring this year, but even if he is wrong, one early sign of spring is certain. Fragrant plumes of steam rising from sugar shack chimneys throughout Western Connecticut always herald the arrival of maple syrup season, New England’s traditional signal that winter is on the way out.

As soon as days are above freezing and the sap begins to run, the fascinating process begins: tapping the maple trees, collecting the sap and boiling down the thin watery sap to turn it into thick, fragrant syrup. Clouds of white smoke show that the boiling kettles are in action.
Western Connecticut, where sugar maple trees abound, offers more than a dozen sugar houses in Fairfield County and the Litchfield Hills where visitors are invited for demonstrations and tours, along with sweet tastes and take-home purchases.

While many sugar houses welcome visitors every weekend when syrup is boiling from late February to late March, (see list below), some museums and nature centers in the region plan a special day or weekend to celebrate the season. Many festivities include pancake treats. They are served, of course, with delicious local maple syrup.

A SWEET HISTORY LESSON
Maple syrup making is a long-time tradition in this region and several special sites will offer interesting demonstrations of how methods have changed over 300 years, from the first Native Americans through Colonial times to today. The Institute for American Indian Studies will be showing examples of early techniques at the Flanders Nature Center Sugar House at Van Vleck Farm Sanctuary in Woodbury on March 6 and 13 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.. Demonstrations also will take place at the New Canaan Nature Center on March 19 and at the annual Open House at the Great Brook Sugar House in New Milford on March 19 and 20.

TASTY CELEBRATIONS
The first weekend in March brings the annual Maple Sugar Festival at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center. On March 5 and 6 there will be demonstrations at the little red sugarhouse on the museum’s Heckscher Farm and many activities for families as well. Saturday’s Chef’s Challenge features maple recipes and Sunday everyone is invited for the museum’s annual pancake brunch (www.Stamfordmuseum.com)

The Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center http://ansonianaturecenter.org
located on 10 Deerfield Lane in Ansonia is also holding their annual Maple Festival on March 5 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants are invited to enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast with real maple syrup from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. The cost of the breakfast is $8 per person. The fun continues with a pancake eating contest, demonstrations on how to tap a tree plus Native American and modern day maple sugaring methods along with live animal presentations.

The 10th annual Maple Festival at Sweet Wind Farm takes place in East Harland on March 12 (sweetwindfarm.net) and the Sharon Audubon Center has its big day on March 19 (www.sharon.audubon.org). Pancakes will be served at the New Canaan Nature Center Syrup Saturday festivities on March 19. (www.Newcanaannature.org).

VISIT ANY WEEKEND
The Lamothe family started farming in 1971 with a few pigs and a vegetable garden. They began making maple syrup for their own use with a modest 7 taps. As word got around, so did requests from far and wide to purchase the precious maple syrup they made.

Lamothe’s has come a long way since their first 7 taps; today, Lamothe’s is Connecticut’s largest sugarhouse with more than 4,000 taps and a state-of-the-art sugar house.

On weekends, in February and March, Lamothe’s offers free tours on their farm from 1 pm to 4:30 pm. Visitors will learn how maple syrup was discovered and how it developed over time and is made today. Visitors will see how maple syrup and sugar are made and enjoy delicious samples. Complimentary coffee and hot chocolate is also served. Store hours are Mon. – Thurs. 10-6, Fri.-Sat. 10-5 and Sun. 12 – 5.

Lamothe’s Sugar House, 89 Stone Road, Burlington, CT (860-675-5043) www.lamothesugarhouse.com.

The following locations welcome visitors on any weekend when smoke from the chimney says that the syrup kettles are a-boiling. Many of these sugarhouses are located on scenic farms. The first three weekends in March usually are prime time, but weather can alter schedules and a warm winter means an early season. A call ahead is absolutely necessary to verify openings, hours and directions before making a trip.
For more information about maple syrup destinations and a free copy of Unwind, a full-color, 152-page booklet detailing what to do and see, and where to stay, shop and dine in the Litchfield Hills and Fairfield County in Western Connecticut, contact the Western Connecticut Visitors Bureau, PO Box 968, Litchfield, CT 06759, (860) 567-4506, or visit their web site at www.visitwesternct.com

Maple Syrup Sugar House Sites:

Brookside Farm, 79 East Chestnut Road, Litchfield, 860-567-3805

Brothers and Sons Sugarhouse, 998 Saw Mill Road, Torrington, 860-489-2719

Coolwater Sugarhouse, Great Mountain Forest, Windrow Rd., Norfolk, 860-542-5422

Dutton’s Sugarhouse, 28 Sunny Ridge Road, Washington, 860-868-0345

Flanders Nature Center Maple Sugar House, Church Hill Road, Woodbury, 203-263-3711,

Great Brook Sugarhouse at Sullivan Farm, 140 Park Lane (Route 202), New Milford, 860-210-2030. mid-February-March, http://youthagency.org
Kasulaitis Farm and Sugarhouse, 69 Goose Green Road, Barkhamsted, 860-738-9492

Hilljack Sugar Shack, 74 Wilson Rd., Litchfield, 860-482-6052.

Lamothe’s Sugar House, 89 Stone Road, Burlington, February 21-March 30. 860-675-5043,www.lamothesugarhouse.com

Laurelbrook Farm, 390 Norfolk Rd. & Route 44, East Canaan, 860-824-7529

Sweet Wind Farm, 339 South Road, East Hartland, 860-653-2038, sweetwindfarm.net (Saturdays only)

Warrup’s Farm, 11 John Read Road off Route 107, Redding, 203- 938-9403, warrupsfarm.com

West Hill Sugarhouse, 525 West Hill Road, New Hartford, 860-379-9672

Woodbury Sugarshed, 41 Washington Road, Route 47, Woodbury, 203-263-4550, woodburysugarshed.com

If you are tired of winter but can’t afford a cruise to the islands, consider the next best thing, the Caribbean Cruise series of cooking classes being offered by Jones Family Farm in Shelton!

Jones Family Farm located on 606 Walnut Hill Road in Shelton is a popular vineyard as well as a pick your own and Christmas tree farm. In keeping with the farm to table movement, Jones Family Farm has been offering cooking classes over the past few years that are limited to just 12 lucky participants.

To kick off 2016, Jones Family Farms is offering a Caribbean Cruise Series of cooking classes that will take place in April and May. Registration is open and each class offered is $90 and runs from 12 noon to 3 p.m. Participants will receive an apron to take home as well as recipes. Classes fill up quickly, so if you want to go on a cooking “cruise”, sign up soon by visiting the website.

The concept for these classes are to explore the “pepper pot” of various island cuisines. Jones Family Farm’s instructor will highlight the local food specialties that evolved from their heritage countries of influence.

The first “cruise” is Celebrating Passover in Curacao on April 23, 2016. Participants will make Charoset Balls, Fried Red Snapper, Hot Cucumber and Radish Salad, Baked Plantains, Stuffed Dates, and Panlevi Cookies.

Next, in the series is the beautiful island of Jamica on April 30. Pumpkin Soup, Curried Lamb with Mango Chutney, Coconut Rice and Peas, and Duckunoo (Sweet Potato Dessert) are on the menu.

The French Island of Martinque is the next island on the cooking cruise that takes place May 7. Participants will learn how to make such specialties as: Hearts of Palm Vinaigrette, Callaloo with Crab, Sautéed Corn & Snow Peas, and Beignets de Banane.

The final stop in the cruise series is the island of Cuba on May 14. Specialties on this menu includes: Pollo con Pina (Chicken with Pineapple), Moros y Cristianos (Beans & Rice), Roast Calabaza, and Coconut Flan.

Please note that the the menu items above are tentative, and subject to change based on what’s seasonally available! For more area information on where to go and what to see and do visit www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Venture out on Sat., March 5 for a rare close-up look at five historic lighthouses in central Long Island Sound during a special boat outing offered at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.

Participants aboard the Aquarium’s unique new hybrid-electric research vessel, R/V Spirit of the Sound™, will make passes by five century-old beacons: Peck Ledge, Greens Ledge and Sheffield Island lighthouses in Norwalk, Penfield Reef Lighthouse in Fairfield and Stratford Shoal (Middle Ground) Light.

This 4.5-hour Central Long Island Sound Lighthouse Cruise departs at 10 a.m. Advance reservations are required.

“As we see firsthand with our annual ‘Festival of Lighthouses Contest,’ people have a special fondness for lighthouses,” said Tom Naiman, the Aquarium’s director of education. “There’s a respect there for the role that lighthouses play in our maritime history, and an appreciation for the different ways that they were designed and built. These cruises are a great chance to see these unique structures up close and from the water.”

The cruises will pass by:
• Greens Ledge Lighthouse, a cast-iron “sparkplug” lighthouse southwest of the Norwalk harbor (and south of the Five Mile River). It was built in 1902 and automated in 1972.
• Sheffield Island Lighthouse, one of Norwalk’s iconic structures. Built in 1868, the granite-block lighthouse with a white lantern tower was deactivated in 1902 upon the debut of Greens Ledge Lighthouse. The Norwalk Seaport Association bought the lighthouse in 1986 and re-lit it in 2011, though not for navigational purposes.
• Peck Ledge Lighthouse, a cast-iron “sparkplug” lighthouse at the southeast approach to Norwalk Harbor. It was built in 1906 and automated in 1933. A recent online auction to place the lighthouse – but not the light’s operations – into private hands drew a top bid of $235,000.
• Penfield Reef Lighthouse, a charming granite-block lighthouse with a short lantern tower rising from the white mansard roof. It was built in the early 1870s and automated in 1971.
• Stratford Shoal Lighthouse, a granite-block house whose location is still debated: is it actually in Connecticut or New York? Built about 8 miles off Bridgeport on the Sound’s dangerous Middleground Shoal in 1877, the light was automated in 1970.

All the lighthouses are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Maritime Aquarium educators will offer details, histories and anecdotes about the lighthouses, and also point out the Sound’s visiting winter waterfowl.

Binoculars will be provided. Naiman said the Aquarium’s lighthouse cruises are a special photo opportunity for both lighthouse buffs and bird-watchers, so bring your camera!

R/V Spirit of the Sound has a climate-controlled cabin and two deck levels. The country’s only research vessel with hybrid-electric propulsion, the $2.7 million, 64-foot catamaran is bigger, quieter and greener than the Aquarium’s former boat.

More lighthouse cruises targeting these same beacons are planned for April 2 and May 7.

Tickets for a Central Long Island Sound Lighthouse Cruise are $70 (or $60 for Aquarium members) and include a box lunch.

In addition, the Aquarium’s Western Long Island Sound Lighthouse Cruises will visit eight historic lighthouses on March 26, April 23 and May 28. Tickets for these six-hour outings are $75 (or $65 for Aquarium members) and include a box lunch.

Advance purchase is required for all Aquarium lighthouse cruises. Reserve tickets online at www.maritimeaquarium.org or call (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206. For more event information on Fairfield County www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

The Maritime Aquarium is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to educate visitors about – and to create stewards for – Long Island Sound. It accomplishes this by allowing visitors to get close to more than 250 species native to the Sound and its watershed, including sharks, seals, sea turtles, river otters, jellyfish and other animals. One of the top places for family fun in Connecticut, the Aquarium also features hands-on educational programs and displays, public study cruises out onto the Sound, and Connecticut’s largest IMAX movie theater, with a screen that’s six stories high. TripAdvisor.com reviewers rate The Maritime Aquarium as one of the Top 25 aquariums in the U.S. and the best aquarium in New England.

Blogger and raconteur, Greg Van Antwerp has been digging in Connecticut for treasures from the past for over 35 years. His one-of-a-kind discoveries will amaze, delight and even make you chuckle. It’s a whole different take on America’s obsession with estate and garage sales. Among the many items he will share on February 28 from 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. at the Westport Historical Society located on 25 Avery Place during will be items from some Westport estates.

Join the Society for this sixty minute interactive presentation, when Greg Van Antwerp provides us with a look at some believable and unbelievable discoveries, taking pleasure in the shared experience as the audience reacts to the images that accompany each story.
Greg Van Antwerp confesses that from early in his life he has been looking for odd and interesting items at tag, estate, and yard sales. While in college, he would search these sales before going to work at a summer job. Thirty years later, this hobby has turned into a passion for research, restoration and storytelling.

In 2009, Greg began writing about his discoveries for a website he created called, “Confessions of an Urban Archeologist” (www.urbanarcheologist.net). There, he provides over 600 accounts of his most interesting “finds” with photos, short-subject documentaries, and background stories of how each item was uncovered. Greg’s take on urban archaeology is like most who visit these sales. “I am amazed at what is offered for sale – lifetimes of work, art, writing, travel, photography; evidence of the joys of living, and the challenges of surviving.” So much of what has come before ends up in a dumpster. While much of it should end up there, there is an equal amount that should be saved if only long enough to appreciate it one more time.

There is no limit to the things Greg has found – poignant, important, humorous. For example: the Purple Heart documents and news clippings of a soldier lost in Africa during WWII; the childhood home movies of a famous Broadway playwright; Glass negatives from the 19th century; a 1879 baseball catalog hidden inside an 1871 schoolbook; a doctor’s kit from 1920 . Every weekend brings another opportunity for a new discovery and another story to tell.
Space limited, registration is required, please call 203-222-1424, $5 Donation, Light Refreshments will be served.

For more area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Parents with preschoolers can share hands-on discoveries about sharks, turtles and other animals in a series of “mommy-and-me”-style programs in March at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.

The programs, called “Seal Pups,” let 3- and 4-year-old children participate together with their parents (or caregivers) in age-appropriate activities, up-close meetings with live animals and storybooks that relate to the week’s topics. The stories and animal encounters encourage preschoolers’ natural curiosity while also providing opportunities for parent-child fun.

“ ‘Seal Pups’ programs afford a chance to encourage curiosity in 3- and 4-year-olds in ways that go beyond what’s possible during a casual recreational visit,” said Tom Naiman, the Aquarium’s director of education. “And having parents or caregivers participate with the child means everyone will be comfortable and able to enjoy some memorable shared fun.”

Each program meets from 1 to 1:45 p.m. Choose a topic, and then choose between the weekday and the weekend presentation. Sign up for one, two or all three. Topics and dates are:
• “Sharks!” – Wed., March 16 or Sat., March 19.
• “Turtles!” – Wed., March 23 or Sat., March 26.
• “Body Coverings” – Wed., March 30 or Sat., April 2.

Price per session is $12 for one child and parent/caregiver ($10 for Aquarium members). Additional Aquarium admission is optional.

Advance registration is required for all “Seal Pups” programs. Call (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206, or register online for public programs at www.maritimeaquarium.org under the “Fun & Learning” tab.

For more area event information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

When you can’t dig the dirt outdoors, garden inside. Tovah Martin teams with Westport’s new Nordic home furnishings store, Eleish van Breems, at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, February 24 at Eleish van Breems at 22 Railroad Street in Westport to demonstrate a new spin on indoor gardening that elevates houseplants to art.

The author of The Indestructible Houseplant and nationally recognized brown thumb buster, Tovah shares the secrets to greening your living spaces with foolproof plants. “Tovah’s take on bringing the outdoors in melds beautifully with our Scandinavian inspired use of light and natural materials.” says interior designer Rhonda Eleish “In this information packed event, Tovah will discuss her latest book and create for us several compliment-fetching containerscapes ranging from 18th century Swedish pottery and baskets to contemporary silver and copper vessels.”

Eleish van Breems is proud to be a sponsor of the Westport Historical Society’s 2016 Garden Tour and all proceeds from the sale of “The Indestructible Houseplant” at the Nordic by Nature event will go towards the tour, now celebrating its 25th anniversary. “Forget the homely plastic pots,” says Tovah, “we show you how to live with nature beautifully.”

Tovah Martin’s passion for gardening inside her home led to her most recent books, The Unexpected Houseplant (Timber Press, 2012) and The New Terrarium (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2009). These newest publications are added to more than a dozen titles that Tovah has authored including Tasha Tudor’s Garden (Houghton Mifflin, 1994). Tovah’s successes, foibles, and travels are enjoyed by gardeners everywhere through her articles inCountry Gardens, Traditional Home, Martha Stewart Living, House Beautiful, Cottage Journal, Better Homes & Gardens, at Home magazine, Connecticut Cottages & Gardens, Flower magazine, Horticulture, Coastal Living, Coastal Home, Old House Interiors, Early Homes, Westchester Home & Garden, This Old House Magazine, and The Litchfield County Times as well as many other publications. Recently, she proudly served as the 2012 Writer-in-Residence for Victoria magazine. In other media, Tovah has appeared on the CBS Early Morning Show, the Martha Stewart Show as well as many other broadcasts including the PBS television gardening series “Cultivating Life,” where she served as editorial producer.

Among the most moving moments in her life occurred when Tovah was awarded an Honorary Membership in The Garden Club of America and the Litchfield Garden Club in May 2010 and when she became the recipient of the GCA’s medal for outstanding literary achievement. In 2013, she received the Gustav Mehlquist Award—the highest honor bestowed by the Connecticut Horticultural Society.

For more area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com