Griswold Inn

The Griswold Inn in Essex opened for business in 1776 and is one of the oldest continuously operating inns in America.  Essex occupies a beautiful spot on the Connecticut River.

The inn has an authentic tavern room that is crowded after sailing races (and football games and just about any other excuse for people to gather, eat, drink and tell tall tales . . . ).

I have featured the Griswold House in Old Lyme recently.  So far as I know, the Griswold Inn is not connected.  Griswold must have been a common name.

Lieutenant River

I visited the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme the last week in October.  The starting point for the museum is the original house, which I showed in early November.  There are a variety of outbuildings and a large new building for exhibitions.

But, what drew the artists of the Lyme Art Colony to live and paint at Miss Griswold's house was Old Lyme's natural and unspoiled beauty, including the house's glorious setting amidst the marshes of the Lieutenant River, a tributary of the Connecticut River.

This photograph is taken from the back of the Griswold property.

The Stegosaurus

Alexander Calder's Stegosaurus highlights a small park lying between Hartford City Hall and the Wadsworth Atheneum.  With the construction taking place at the art museum, this park is easy to overlook these days.

So, I raised the curtain and show it to you here.

Weekend Reflections: Friends and Strangers

I took this photograph on one of the last warm days in late October.

I liked this sign in the window of a bar, so I stationed myself where I could catch reflections of strangers approaching from each side. 

Just as I began to push the button, the girl in the center recognized a girl in the approaching group, broke into a big smile and opened her arms for a hug.  Decent timing, I thought.

If you like reflections, you can see more by following the links on Newtown Area Photo's blog every Friday.

Florence Griswold Museum Again

Two weeks ago I explained how Florence Griswold took in artists as boarders in her large home in Old Lyme at the turn of the last century.  Before long there were so many artists working in the area that they came to be known as the Lyme Art Colony.

Miss Griswold permitted her favorite artists to paint panels for her dining room.  Here you see a small number of the painted panels.

The rooms are dimly lit to protect the paintings and only hand-held, no-flash photography is permitted.  This is darker and less sharp than I would like, but the museum is so interesting that I still want to show it to you.

Nathan Hale, Again

Last month I showed Nathan Hale's statue through a chain link fence, surrounded by construction materials for major renovations of the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Today, I give you a different perspective on Nathan Hale rising above it all.

Change of Pace: Pigeon

Let's leave Hartford for a day and peek into my trip to Italy in September. 

This photo was taken near the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.