Franklin: Complete! Emely’s Pizza Restaurant Here is my list of everything I've done in Franklin! I’m very excited to write this page. This is the 13th of what may ultimately be 169 town completion celebration pages! Yes, of course I am fully aware of how absurd that is. Send your condolences to my wife and … [Read more...]
Arrowhead Acres Winery
A Chief New Winery Arrowhead Acres Winery, Franklin July 2019 During my five year hiatus from checking out Connecticut wineries, a bunch of new ones opened. At the end of 2014, I had "caught up" and had “completed” the list; having been to every open winery in the state and written about them all. It felt good. … [Read more...]
Franklin Swamp WMA
Frankly Not Worth It Franklin Swamp WMA, Franklin May 2019 When I put together my CTMQ Town Guides for each of our 169 towns, I do my best to capture everything germane to what it is I do. When it comes to hiking, I tend to be way too thorough. There's a sort of hierarchy to these things, and state-owned wildlife … [Read more...]
Giddings Park
Positively Giddi Giddings Park, Franklin May 2019 You've likely never heard of Franklin's Giddings Park, and you'll likely never go there, so I'll start off with my friend Matt Woodward's description of it over on his excellent Explore Connecticut site: Giddings Park is everything you would want a town park to … [Read more...]
Four Franklin Fails
Lots of F's Devil's Den v.Franklin, Rachel's Hut, Giant's Grave, Cushman Farms Trail Franklin As I was wrapping up my "completion" of Franklin, I was determined to find a few things that had eluded me for years. Unfortunately, for different reasons, I failed finding all four. But since I'm not convinced that none … [Read more...]
Bailey’s Ravine at Ayers Gap
A Gap in My Knowledge Bailey's Ravine at Ayers Gap, Franklin September 2018 If you just want to see the waterfall here, go here. This page is about the whole area and its trails. First things first. Is this still a Nature Conservancy property? Who can tell? As far as I know it is, but the Nature Conservancy's … [Read more...]
Bailey’s Ravine Falls
AYYYYYYYYYYYYYY(ers) Bailey's Ravine/Ayers Gap Falls, Franklin September 2018 There are, quite literally, still thousands of things for me to do in Connecticut. Many of those things are not exciting. Many are. Very few land on the mythical list of “stuff Steve thinks Steve really should have seen by now.” This is … [Read more...]
CTMQ’s Guide to Franklin
Everything Franklin I’ve been exploring and writing about Connecticut since 2006. After a decade, I began compiling CTMQ guides for each town in the state. I plan on “completing” Franklin CTMQ-style... as well as the other 168 towns, cities, and boroughs in Connecticut. That is the ultimate goal of CTMQ. If … [Read more...]
Franklin’s Town Trails
Franklin’s Town Trails You may rightly ask why I do introductory pages for towns that have one or two trails. (To clarify, Franklin has more than these trails, but the others are on land owned by non-Franklin entities.) I do it because: a) I started doing it years ago and can't stop now, b) Towns like … [Read more...]
Friends of Shetucket River Valley Intro
Friends of Shetucket River Valley Franklin, Lisbon, Scotland, Sprague, Windham You've got me. I've never heard of this outfit either. But hey, they have done a bang up job of snapping up adjoining land parcels in Franklin and Sprague alone the Shetucket River and for that, they've made the hallowed pages of … [Read more...]