The Suite Life
Hello World,
Happy Columbus Day weekend! Of course, we all know that Christopher Columbus, the poor dear, nowadays suffers from the "what have you done for me lately" syndrome (in fact, he might well be the poster child for it) so you find very few places that still celebrate his supposed day as a holiday anymore, and I don't mind saying, oh how the mighty have fallen indeed. But where Bill works is closed on Monday, because as far as they're concerned, a 500-year-old explorer should not be relegated to the trash heap of history,and cast off like some outmoded gimcrack from days gone by. The hospital doesn't observe Columbus Day as an officially sanctioned holiday (please forward your complaints to We_Hate_Famous_Italians@sshsw.org) but my plan is to take the day off anyway, so I'm looking forward to a nice and relaxing three day weekend. At least, I hope it's going to be nice and relaxing, because when I get back to work, I'm going to be faced with one of those dreaded short weeks, and I think we all know how I feel about those.
For anyone who thought that it had been much too long since my last hotel review (and don't think that I don't know who you are!) then you're in luck, for the time has surely come, and in fact, it's long since past, for us to take a trip with our friends and stay somewhere overnight. Last weekend, we actually stayed in a new and exciting hotel that we had never heard of before, and lived to tell the tale, so here goes. It all began innocently enough, as these things so often do, when our friends from the Albany area decided that they wanted to experience the locally famous "Haunted Graveyard" attraction at Lake Compounce in Connecticut. The original plan was to stay nearby at the classically beautiful Chimney Crest Manor, where we had stayed once before and loved it, but now found out to our dismay that they had implemented a policy of a 2-night minimum, which amounted to an investment in time and money that was beyond what we were prepared to spend. Scouting around for an alternative was easy, because the Lake Compounce web site offers a variety of lodging options in the surrounding area, and we pounced on the Centennial Inn & Suites in Farmington, which seemed ideal for our purposes. Even for their Master King Suites, the rates were very reasonable, and they had three rooms together for the date that we needed, so we snapped them up and glad of it. Since we couldn't check into the hotel until 3:00 PM, we made other plans for the morning, and heedless of the storm clouds brewing on the horizon of this scenario (and where is Daffy Duck when you need him?) we looked forward to our get-together with happy anticipation.
Last Saturday was cloudy and threatening when we hit the road early in the morning, with the plan for everyone to reconnoiter at the hotel in Farmington, and then find a likely spot for brunch. By the time all of the participants arrived and we were ready to start scouting around, it had turned into a lovely day, and we set off with high hopes. We discovered that the next town over, Bristol, is a happening burg, with not only the ESPN headquarters and numerous tourist attractions, but just about every sort of food option known to humanity, some of them more than once. I had compiled a list of possible choices, including 4 diners, plus well known chains such as Friendly's, Panera's, and Ruby Tuesday. We settled on Luiza's Diner, more for the entertainment value than anything else, and in fact, had to chase around after it, since it wasn't in the first place we looked for it, in spite of finding the address online and using the GPS to get us there. After a lot of driving around in circles, we finally turned it up, and went inside hoping for the best. I had my heart set on pancakes, which I hadn't had in years, since we rarely go out to eat early in the day, and I don't fancy pancakes for lunch or dinner as a rule. I ordered a short stack, and prepared to savor a special treat that I had been waiting for a long time. Alas, I'm still waiting for that special treat, because these pancakes were horrible, and I was so disappointed. I'm always concerned about a diner that can't make good pancakes or omelettes, because these would be the bread and butter of their business, and if they can't get that right, as far as I'm concerned, they can't be much of a diner. My two pancakes were the size of a dinner plate, and as tasteless as they were dense. In contrast, Bill's grilled cheese sandwich was miniscule, and served naked on a large platter, without even a lettuce leaf to keep it company, while the tiny cup of coleslaw they offered as a side dish needed a magnifying glass just to see it. Our other friends gave low marks to the grilled chicken salad and quiche of the day, and also had to hound the waitress for the right drinks, sugar substitute and condiments. And after chasing around after this place to begin with, when we had numerous other options available, only to be disappointed in the food as well as the service, was doubly vexing.
Since we were in Bristol anyway, we took advantage of the opportunity to visit the American Clock and Watch Museum, where we had been before, and none the less entertaining for that. It has wonderful and wide-ranging displays of historical clocks and watches, plus educational exhibits, books, artwork, decorative objects and much more. There is so much to see, upstairs and downstairs, and every single thing is either beautiful, unusual, historically significant or simply adorable, until you think that you just can't stand any more of it. Their gift shop has much to recommend it, that is to say, if you need any clocks, watches, books, toys, socks, gadgets or ornaments, which we certainly don't. Needless to say, we picked up a variety of them anyway, because I can never have too many souvenir spoons, and for Bill, there's no such thing as too many gadgets. And I ask you, who wouldn't want a clock that looks like a calico cat, where the tail wags back and forth?
Once it was late enough, we returned to Farmington so we could check in at the hotel, which is located on 12 bucolic acres of rolling countryside, with separate buildings for different types of suites. We were all in the same building, so our rooms were identical, including bedroom, kitchen and living room with fireplace, plus two TV sets and network connection but no WIFI. There was also a fitness center and laundry room in another building next to the lobby, and a lovely outdoor pool, which unfortunately was not only closed, but completely empty of water, no doubt to discourage disreputable guests who might have gotten any funny ideas. Since the hotel has no dining facilities, we used their network connection to locate a place to have dinner, and settled on one of the chains located handily in Bristol, this time the 99 Restaurant, which some of us had never even heard of, much less eaten at one before, so we approached it with some trepidation, especially after the brunch experience. Luckily, it turned out that our fears were groundless, and we had a wonderful meal, the service was excellent, the drinks were divine, and the fried ravioli was worth the trip all by its little fried self.
After that, it was time to head to Lake Compounce, and even though we were just in the next town over from it, and had been there before, it was so hard to find in the dark that even the GPS couldn't get us to the entrance, but left us stranded behind the back of the place, looking at the rides through the fence with no way to get inside. They will tell you that they are the oldest operating amusement park in America, and while there's no arguing with success, I still say that they should have changed the name a long time ago, as mostly everyone seems to refer to them as Lake Compound or Crompond or Compote, or anything except Compounce, which is a ridiculous name, considering that it's not the name of the family or the town that it's located in. For the Halloween season, they are only open at night on weekends, and not all of the rides are in operation, plus the whole water park section is shut down. We finally found our way in and bought tickets for the Haunted Graveyard as well as rides, which is an expensive proposition that only makes sense if you plan to go on a lot of rides. Because one of our friends brought his scooter to help him get around, they pushed us right to the front of the line for the Haunted Graveyard, cutting off everyone who had been waiting on line patiently the whole time. This attraction is very well done, and takes about 45 minutes to walk through a variety of maze-like structures that resemble a graveyard, a haunted hotel, a dungeon, a spooky jungle, a corn field, a slaughterhouse, an ancient temple, an unappetizing restaurant, and much more that simply defies description. Along the way, there are animated objects, as well as real people, who jump out at you, but it's more fun than scary, and well designed so that you never feel trapped or in danger. Here I would like to give an endorsement to the brand of scooter that our friend uses, because it did an amazing job maneuvering through the narrow confines and tight corners of the mazes, and over a variety of rough, uneven or hilly terrain, without any complaint. That is, I would like to endorse this product, except that I don't know what kind it is, and unfortunately, about halfway through, the batteries gave out completely and it died on the spot. The helpful park employees rescued us out of the maze and rolled the scooter back to the parking lot with our friend, while the rest of us finished the maze, and met up again later. We went on some rides, but as it had turned very cold, flying through the frosty air was less like fun and more like a test of endurance instead, so we didn't do much of that. We tried to warm up with some hot chocolate, which we found was served lukewarm, and I was eager to have some funnel cake, but it too cooled off almost immediately, so that it was like eating a frozen waffle, and under the circumstances, thanks not. Our best idea came just before we left, when we went into one of the shops for souvenirs, and it was positively balmy by comparison, so we stayed in there long enough for our teeth to stop chattering.
After a long and hectic day, we went back to hotel and went right to bed, and I know for a fact that at least one of us fell asleep instantly. It was already raining when we woke up on Sunday morning, which was a discouraging prospect for taking pictures, but even worse was when we realized that we would have a wet dash all the way across the considerable property from our building to the main lobby, in order to avail ourselves of their complimentary breakfast, which we found nice enough, but nothing spectacular. All in all, we found the Centennial to be a good value for the price, but not the charming country inn that we expected. After we checked out, we headed back to Bristol once again, this time to the New England Carousel Horse Museum, which we had also been to before, and even with the GPS, still managed to go the wrong way once again. A young man there was eager to give us the tour, which proved to be a little too much of a good thing, as it ended up being very long-winded and somewhat boring, so much so that our friends bailed out part-way through it, and went home early. We found that the gift shop had not improved in the years since we had been there, and even worse, the "rocking horse carousel" that I was desperate to see again (we have a rocking horse just like these, because they were made from the same popular kit of the time) was out on loan and I was hugely disappointed. We had originally planned to stop at Denny's in Danbury for dinner on the way home, but since we had been left to our own devices in the middle of the day, we asked the GPS to find us a Denny's nearby, and it turned one up in Southington about 4 miles away, so we went there for lunch instead. We had another wonderful meal with excellent drinks and dessert, and while they had no coconut custard pie, which is a personal favorite, their chocolate pecan cheesecake was delicious in its own way. We arrived home early and without incident, and it even stopped raining, which is important to us, since we routinely travel carrying all of our worldly possessions along with us, that we have to drag back into the house when we return. Our re-appearance got a mixed reaction from the cats, which is part of their strategy to keep us humble, although it must be said that we were a little more popular after they got fed. Overall, our trip had its ups and downs, but we still had a lot of fun, and I have the pictures to prove it. Not to mention, the cat clock that wags its tail!
Happy Columbus Day weekend! Of course, we all know that Christopher Columbus, the poor dear, nowadays suffers from the "what have you done for me lately" syndrome (in fact, he might well be the poster child for it) so you find very few places that still celebrate his supposed day as a holiday anymore, and I don't mind saying, oh how the mighty have fallen indeed. But where Bill works is closed on Monday, because as far as they're concerned, a 500-year-old explorer should not be relegated to the trash heap of history,and cast off like some outmoded gimcrack from days gone by. The hospital doesn't observe Columbus Day as an officially sanctioned holiday (please forward your complaints to We_Hate_Famous_Italians@sshsw.org) but my plan is to take the day off anyway, so I'm looking forward to a nice and relaxing three day weekend. At least, I hope it's going to be nice and relaxing, because when I get back to work, I'm going to be faced with one of those dreaded short weeks, and I think we all know how I feel about those.
For anyone who thought that it had been much too long since my last hotel review (and don't think that I don't know who you are!) then you're in luck, for the time has surely come, and in fact, it's long since past, for us to take a trip with our friends and stay somewhere overnight. Last weekend, we actually stayed in a new and exciting hotel that we had never heard of before, and lived to tell the tale, so here goes. It all began innocently enough, as these things so often do, when our friends from the Albany area decided that they wanted to experience the locally famous "Haunted Graveyard" attraction at Lake Compounce in Connecticut. The original plan was to stay nearby at the classically beautiful Chimney Crest Manor, where we had stayed once before and loved it, but now found out to our dismay that they had implemented a policy of a 2-night minimum, which amounted to an investment in time and money that was beyond what we were prepared to spend. Scouting around for an alternative was easy, because the Lake Compounce web site offers a variety of lodging options in the surrounding area, and we pounced on the Centennial Inn & Suites in Farmington, which seemed ideal for our purposes. Even for their Master King Suites, the rates were very reasonable, and they had three rooms together for the date that we needed, so we snapped them up and glad of it. Since we couldn't check into the hotel until 3:00 PM, we made other plans for the morning, and heedless of the storm clouds brewing on the horizon of this scenario (and where is Daffy Duck when you need him?) we looked forward to our get-together with happy anticipation.
Last Saturday was cloudy and threatening when we hit the road early in the morning, with the plan for everyone to reconnoiter at the hotel in Farmington, and then find a likely spot for brunch. By the time all of the participants arrived and we were ready to start scouting around, it had turned into a lovely day, and we set off with high hopes. We discovered that the next town over, Bristol, is a happening burg, with not only the ESPN headquarters and numerous tourist attractions, but just about every sort of food option known to humanity, some of them more than once. I had compiled a list of possible choices, including 4 diners, plus well known chains such as Friendly's, Panera's, and Ruby Tuesday. We settled on Luiza's Diner, more for the entertainment value than anything else, and in fact, had to chase around after it, since it wasn't in the first place we looked for it, in spite of finding the address online and using the GPS to get us there. After a lot of driving around in circles, we finally turned it up, and went inside hoping for the best. I had my heart set on pancakes, which I hadn't had in years, since we rarely go out to eat early in the day, and I don't fancy pancakes for lunch or dinner as a rule. I ordered a short stack, and prepared to savor a special treat that I had been waiting for a long time. Alas, I'm still waiting for that special treat, because these pancakes were horrible, and I was so disappointed. I'm always concerned about a diner that can't make good pancakes or omelettes, because these would be the bread and butter of their business, and if they can't get that right, as far as I'm concerned, they can't be much of a diner. My two pancakes were the size of a dinner plate, and as tasteless as they were dense. In contrast, Bill's grilled cheese sandwich was miniscule, and served naked on a large platter, without even a lettuce leaf to keep it company, while the tiny cup of coleslaw they offered as a side dish needed a magnifying glass just to see it. Our other friends gave low marks to the grilled chicken salad and quiche of the day, and also had to hound the waitress for the right drinks, sugar substitute and condiments. And after chasing around after this place to begin with, when we had numerous other options available, only to be disappointed in the food as well as the service, was doubly vexing.
Since we were in Bristol anyway, we took advantage of the opportunity to visit the American Clock and Watch Museum, where we had been before, and none the less entertaining for that. It has wonderful and wide-ranging displays of historical clocks and watches, plus educational exhibits, books, artwork, decorative objects and much more. There is so much to see, upstairs and downstairs, and every single thing is either beautiful, unusual, historically significant or simply adorable, until you think that you just can't stand any more of it. Their gift shop has much to recommend it, that is to say, if you need any clocks, watches, books, toys, socks, gadgets or ornaments, which we certainly don't. Needless to say, we picked up a variety of them anyway, because I can never have too many souvenir spoons, and for Bill, there's no such thing as too many gadgets. And I ask you, who wouldn't want a clock that looks like a calico cat, where the tail wags back and forth?
Once it was late enough, we returned to Farmington so we could check in at the hotel, which is located on 12 bucolic acres of rolling countryside, with separate buildings for different types of suites. We were all in the same building, so our rooms were identical, including bedroom, kitchen and living room with fireplace, plus two TV sets and network connection but no WIFI. There was also a fitness center and laundry room in another building next to the lobby, and a lovely outdoor pool, which unfortunately was not only closed, but completely empty of water, no doubt to discourage disreputable guests who might have gotten any funny ideas. Since the hotel has no dining facilities, we used their network connection to locate a place to have dinner, and settled on one of the chains located handily in Bristol, this time the 99 Restaurant, which some of us had never even heard of, much less eaten at one before, so we approached it with some trepidation, especially after the brunch experience. Luckily, it turned out that our fears were groundless, and we had a wonderful meal, the service was excellent, the drinks were divine, and the fried ravioli was worth the trip all by its little fried self.
After that, it was time to head to Lake Compounce, and even though we were just in the next town over from it, and had been there before, it was so hard to find in the dark that even the GPS couldn't get us to the entrance, but left us stranded behind the back of the place, looking at the rides through the fence with no way to get inside. They will tell you that they are the oldest operating amusement park in America, and while there's no arguing with success, I still say that they should have changed the name a long time ago, as mostly everyone seems to refer to them as Lake Compound or Crompond or Compote, or anything except Compounce, which is a ridiculous name, considering that it's not the name of the family or the town that it's located in. For the Halloween season, they are only open at night on weekends, and not all of the rides are in operation, plus the whole water park section is shut down. We finally found our way in and bought tickets for the Haunted Graveyard as well as rides, which is an expensive proposition that only makes sense if you plan to go on a lot of rides. Because one of our friends brought his scooter to help him get around, they pushed us right to the front of the line for the Haunted Graveyard, cutting off everyone who had been waiting on line patiently the whole time. This attraction is very well done, and takes about 45 minutes to walk through a variety of maze-like structures that resemble a graveyard, a haunted hotel, a dungeon, a spooky jungle, a corn field, a slaughterhouse, an ancient temple, an unappetizing restaurant, and much more that simply defies description. Along the way, there are animated objects, as well as real people, who jump out at you, but it's more fun than scary, and well designed so that you never feel trapped or in danger. Here I would like to give an endorsement to the brand of scooter that our friend uses, because it did an amazing job maneuvering through the narrow confines and tight corners of the mazes, and over a variety of rough, uneven or hilly terrain, without any complaint. That is, I would like to endorse this product, except that I don't know what kind it is, and unfortunately, about halfway through, the batteries gave out completely and it died on the spot. The helpful park employees rescued us out of the maze and rolled the scooter back to the parking lot with our friend, while the rest of us finished the maze, and met up again later. We went on some rides, but as it had turned very cold, flying through the frosty air was less like fun and more like a test of endurance instead, so we didn't do much of that. We tried to warm up with some hot chocolate, which we found was served lukewarm, and I was eager to have some funnel cake, but it too cooled off almost immediately, so that it was like eating a frozen waffle, and under the circumstances, thanks not. Our best idea came just before we left, when we went into one of the shops for souvenirs, and it was positively balmy by comparison, so we stayed in there long enough for our teeth to stop chattering.
After a long and hectic day, we went back to hotel and went right to bed, and I know for a fact that at least one of us fell asleep instantly. It was already raining when we woke up on Sunday morning, which was a discouraging prospect for taking pictures, but even worse was when we realized that we would have a wet dash all the way across the considerable property from our building to the main lobby, in order to avail ourselves of their complimentary breakfast, which we found nice enough, but nothing spectacular. All in all, we found the Centennial to be a good value for the price, but not the charming country inn that we expected. After we checked out, we headed back to Bristol once again, this time to the New England Carousel Horse Museum, which we had also been to before, and even with the GPS, still managed to go the wrong way once again. A young man there was eager to give us the tour, which proved to be a little too much of a good thing, as it ended up being very long-winded and somewhat boring, so much so that our friends bailed out part-way through it, and went home early. We found that the gift shop had not improved in the years since we had been there, and even worse, the "rocking horse carousel" that I was desperate to see again (we have a rocking horse just like these, because they were made from the same popular kit of the time) was out on loan and I was hugely disappointed. We had originally planned to stop at Denny's in Danbury for dinner on the way home, but since we had been left to our own devices in the middle of the day, we asked the GPS to find us a Denny's nearby, and it turned one up in Southington about 4 miles away, so we went there for lunch instead. We had another wonderful meal with excellent drinks and dessert, and while they had no coconut custard pie, which is a personal favorite, their chocolate pecan cheesecake was delicious in its own way. We arrived home early and without incident, and it even stopped raining, which is important to us, since we routinely travel carrying all of our worldly possessions along with us, that we have to drag back into the house when we return. Our re-appearance got a mixed reaction from the cats, which is part of their strategy to keep us humble, although it must be said that we were a little more popular after they got fed. Overall, our trip had its ups and downs, but we still had a lot of fun, and I have the pictures to prove it. Not to mention, the cat clock that wags its tail!
posted by El Tango Fandango @ 7:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home