Connecticut River Valley

If you have time, a drive through the Connecticut River Valley is most relaxing. To reach the towns along the Connecticut River, take I-95 south to Route 9 north, and exit immediately for Essex. The valley has along its banks a number of lovely Colonial seafaring towns where white clapboard homes, churches, and town greens are still very much in evidence. There are old shops and pubs, and a number of art galleries reflecting the love that so many artists have for this area. Be sure to visit Essex and drive the broad tree-lined main streets of Lyme and Old Lyme. In fact a highlight in terms of sightseeing and well worth a visit is the Florence Griswold Museum, located in Old Lyme and considered by many to be the birthplace of American Impressionism. A prosperous ship builder, Captain Robert Griswold built what is now the museum as a home for his bride. However when the family fell on hard times after the Civil War and with the popularity of transport by steam engine competing with the sea-faring vessel, to save the home it was converted to a school and then later a boarding house. Florence Griswold was left to maintain the family home at a time when the American School of Landscape Painting was established in town. Many of the artists who came here to paint settled into the Griswold boarding house with Florence mothering them all—retrieving brushes, praising work, putting up with the crazy lifestyle of this bohemian group of painters. Evidenced by the number of paintings of which she is the subject, some of America’s finest painters had a great fondness for Ms. Florence. In Old Lyme you will want to visit her home and the grounds and gardens of her home that served as inspiration for many a canvas, the Robert and Nancy Kriebel Gallery, and The William Chadwick studio. (www.flogris.org, tel: 860-434-5542.)If time allows, it is also fun to note that in season, there is a steam train running from Essex to Chester (about an hour’s trip) enabling you to enjoy the Connecticut River Valley at its best. A riverboat trip from Deep River to East Haddam can be either a separate trip or combined with the train excursion. In the town of East Haddam, during the months of April through December, the Goodspeed Opera House is the home of musicals being previewed for the legitimate theater and revivals of some of America’s most beloved plays.