Gold, Jericho! Gold! Jericho Falls, Watertown May 2009 Here I am, thirteen years after I visited these falls, writing a few paragraphs about this little thing along the Jericho Trail in the Mattatuck State Forest. Why? Because the other day I was skimming a Connecticut hiking group page and saw some guy … [Read more...]
Mattatuck State Forest
Mattatuck State Forest Harwinton, Litchfield, Plymouth, Thomaston, Waterbury, Watertown What started as an over-timbered little 723 acres gifted to the state in 1926 has grown to 4,510 acres in 20 parcels across six towns. Most of what people are familiar with is in Thomaston, Waterbury, and Watertown though. … [Read more...]
Hawk Ridge Winery
A Feather in Watertown's Cap Hawk Ridge Winery, Watertown November 2021 I have only been to Hawk Ridge Winery once and I'll admit that Hoang and I didn't stay too long. Perhaps we'll revisit someday. In fact, I'll make the bold statement that we will, indeed, return someday. On a day that's not 40 degrees with … [Read more...]
Watertown History Museum
Watered Down Watertown (Google Maps location) June 12, 2021 At some point during my decades-long journey of chronicling visits to every museum in Connecticut I decided to be nicer to the tiny little town history museums. They are volunteer-staffed and donation dependent. They are labors of love and are often in … [Read more...]
CTMQ’s Guide to Watertown
Everything Watertown 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” Watertown CTMQ-style... as well as the other 168 towns, cities, and boroughs in Connecticut. That is the ultimate goal of CTMQ. If … [Read more...]
Black Rock State Park Intro
Black Rock State Park Watertown Black Rock's land bleeds north into Thomaston, but there's nothing in Thomaston insofar as CTMQ goes. The "black rock" in "Black Rock" is a name that dates back hundreds of years. Local native Americans gave rights to settlers to mine graphite lead; its dark color contrasting with … [Read more...]
Watertown Land Trust Trails
Watertown Land Trust Trails Bethlehem & Watertown Here we are again... on another land trust intro page with a listing of four trailed properties that may or may not be complete. I've become pretty adept at figuring out these lists when they are not provided by a land trust. (And I get it - keeping up the website … [Read more...]
Watertown’s Town Trails
Watertown's Town Trails Watertown doesn't have that many water features. Sure, it's bounded on the east by the Naugatuck River but... it's not really a town feature. It used to be part of Waterbury back in the day, but then split off and became its own thing in 1780. Waterbury isn't too watery either now that I … [Read more...]
CTMQ&A: Ed Silva of Lasting Brass Brewing
CTMQ&A No. 1 Ed Silva, Owner and Brewer at Lasting Brass Brewing Company January 2017 I hope you enjoy a new (2017) series of interviews with some of the people who make Connecticut what it is. Lasting Brass Brewing Company opened in the Old Pin Shop in the Oakville section of Watertown on December 3, 2016. … [Read more...]
TSTL’16.6: Black Rock State Park
The Sky's the Limit 2016 Hiking Challenge #6 Black Rock State Park, Watertown May 15, 2016 As I drove into Black Rock State Park for 2016’s sixth DEEP Sky’s the Limit Challenge hike with my boys, it occurred to me that I’d never been to Black Rock before. I suppose that’s no big deal to most of you, but it sort … [Read more...]