Lost and Found Lost Tourist Brewing, Meriden Lost Tourist is a distribution only brewer with no taproom. This may sound a bit insane - because it is a bit insane - but I've been following Lost Tourist Brewing for years. No, not because I know someone involved (I don't at all) or because I'd been hearing good … [Read more...]
Steamed Cheeseburgers at The Lunch Box (Closed)
The Lunch Boxed Up and Left The Lunch Box Steamed Cheeseburgers, Meriden After many successful years in business, The Lunch Box closed in 2019. I never made it to the Lunch Box, but putting this page together allows me to drop a Mark Bittman article about the Lunch Box from the early 1980's. Crazy, right? … [Read more...]
K. LaMay’s Steamed Cheeseburgers
Oh, K. LaMay K LaMay's Steamed Cheeseburgers, Meriden August 2023 I started "completing" the Roadfood "Eat Before You Die" list in 2009 or so. I actually plowed through the 60 or so places that was still open and then Michael and Jane Stern released another version of their fun book with a slew of new-to-the-list … [Read more...]
Thompson Chocolate
Foiled Again? Thompson Chocolate, Meriden December 2022 I had an absolutely full old school CTMQ day of "stuff" to do. I had taken off Fridays in December, so after I dropped my son off at his school in Windsor, I sped towards Meriden. I time out my days like this to the minute, so the plan was to arrive at … [Read more...]
Andrews Homestead Museum
A Silver Metal Meriden (Google Maps location) September 2018 Meriden. What do you think of when someone mentions Meriden? The Police Academy? The formerly bustling silver industry? Both? Well, then do I have a museum for you! The Moses Andrews House is a historic house museum in Meriden. Built about … [Read more...]
Lamentation Mountain State Park
Lamentation Mountain State Park Berlin & Meriden A wildfire in October 2024 burned up a lot of this place. I've seen this small, unremarkable state park also referred to as a "state park scenic reserve." Because Connecticut doesn't like to make anything easy. Lamentation Mountain itself includes a long ridge … [Read more...]
Connecticut State Police Museum and Educational Center
An Arresting Museum Meriden (Google Maps location) February 28, 2015 I am good friends with several cops. Only one is a state policeman, and he's in Maryland. And actually, although I went to his (first) wedding and lived with him for a spell, we haven't spoken in well over a decade. Shout out to Tags. … [Read more...]
Jacknife (1989)
Jacked Up Jacknife, 1989 When I began putting together my list of Connecticut movies, I hadn't heard of the large majority of them. This didn't strike me as surprising, as I've never been a big movie watcher. And as far as knowing off the top of my head which movies were, like, Connecticut movies... well, I'm not … [Read more...]
CTMQ’s Guide to Meriden
Everything Meriden 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” Meriden CTMQ-style... as well as the other 168 towns, cities, and boroughs in Connecticut. That is the ultimate goal of CTMQ. If … [Read more...]
Meriden’s Town Trails
Meriden's Town Trails Meriden is the Silver City because there were a lot of silver manufacturers there back in the day. The silver legacy can be found all around town. But it wasn't just silver that put Meriden on the map; it was all sorts of manufacturing and metalworking. Like, Bradley & Hubbard … [Read more...]