Bye Bye, Connecticut!! Hello, New York!!

17 Oct 2013 (Thu), overcast/sunny, 17 deg C.

I dared not venture too far from Norwalk on my own, so I took cab to Darien today, to the Bates-Scofield House.  I was walking straight into a 18th century farmhouse!  It was built around a massive central chimney with a huge fireplace and beehive oven, the house is an original Darien farmhouse thoughtfully restored to its origins. 

Darien is a nice little quiet town.  I took a long stroll around and managed to see some nice autumn colours.

Before I knew it, I found myself close by the train station, and decided to find my way back to Norwalk by train.  Not many people around to ask for info, the office was locked and I was walking up and down the platform almost in despair.  But, I managed to hit the right person for help and I was finally on the train back to Norwalk for a salad in Chocopologie before heading back to hotel.  

I did a sum, couldn't believe I chalked up US$215 in cab fares for just 5 days!  I had looked up the option to take public bus but the place is big, houses are far and between, few people on the pavement, I hardly notice any bus or bus stop. Even cab is difficult to flag off the road and has to be called. Oh well, this was our last night in Connecticut. 

18 Oct 2013 (Fri), sunny, 15-19 deg C.

Left Dolce for New York on a chartered bus with DH.  They dropped me outside Columbus University and I made my own way by Metro to Lower Manhattan to meet ..(drum beat).. Nina!  Yes, Nina Libin in person!!  Nina stays in a neat little apartment, I was so impressed with her computer system - 2 real huge monitors side by side, set up by her husband, oh wow! And of course a feast on the eyes seeing all her tatted jewellery with all those beads!  Ate a simple lunch with Nina and I tried my first goat cheese and almond milk!  Love the tastes! 

I couldn't stay long though and had to rush back to check in Le Parker Meridien, catch a quick dinner and then to The Metropolitan Opera House to catch Vincenzo Bellini's "Norma".  Hubby's classmate bought the ticket, but they had night lesson, so I went!

The opera ended around 10.40 pm.  So many people were trying to flag for cab. The hotel wasn't far, but my sense of direction was poor and the night was dark and cold.  Never mind, I could get back on foot, and I did, but not before walking in the wrong direction part of the way and asking for directions.  I did have a local phone with google map, but at times, I just couldn't figure out which direction it was pointing!  

More of Norwalk and Westport

Though I didn't really took a lot of photos of my USA trip last Oct, I still spent quite some time going through the photos and creating these collage photos.  Well, I shall continue from where I last stopped...

15 Oct 2013 (Tue), sunny,  11-16 deg C.

Decided to go to the Matthew Park, only to find out that the Lockwood Mathews Mansion opens from Wed to Sun, so I could only admire the external beauty of the mansion from the Victorian Era.

From there, I wandered on foot, walking down streets; vehicles on the road passing by me but hardly any one else on the pavements.  It was a fine day despite the cold wind.

I ended up in Connecticut Ave again and stopped for an afternoon snack and packed dinner back.  The spaghetti was nice but just too much a portion for me.  I had walked so much that my boots worn out and I had to buy a new pair at Payless!

16 Oct 2013 (Wed), overcast, 17 deg C.

Another hike, this time at Earthplace in Westport.  There were 5 trails in total.  The place was quiet and peaceful, so much so there was hardly a soul.  Yes, I hiked alone leisurely for a few good hours, enjoying the nature and snapping away with my camera!  Well, I did lose my way in the last trail and instead of getting back, I ended up on a road somewhere. Alright, I was lucky to at least walk out of the forest with the sky overcasted, and not lost myself inside, and to manage to stop a car to ask for directions!!  

Found my way back to Earthplace to explore the garden and museum exhibits.

Here, there were more of birds, specimens and live birds of prey (though each with some injuries).

Geraldine from Earthplace was such a great host that she even drove me around Westport for a little sightseeing and then all the way back to Connecticut Ave.  

I had a California omelette before heading back to the hotel.  Really enjoyed the dish.  We don't have such an interesting variety of ingredients in our omelettes here and I have to be content with just mushroom usually. 

Colours of Fall in Stamford

13 Oct 2013 (Sun), sunny, 13 deg C.

DH managed to squeeze some time to come out from his course.  On recommendation from our cab driver,  we went to Stew Leonard's at Westport Avenue  Stew Leonard's is a chain of 4 supermarkets in Connecticut and New York which Ripley's Believe It or Not! deemed "The World's Largest Dairy" and Fortune magazine listing it as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For".

There were games in the market and lots of animatronic singing animals perched on top of shelves that would sing and dance, even running trains, which entertain customers of all ages. I have never seen so many fresh herbs and variety of cheeses too!  All those gourds and vegetables are such a sight, wow!  We haven't seen so many of these huge pumpkins in our life. Halloween is not widely celebrated in Singapore and definitely not in any big scale. The amount of food and fresh produces had me breathless.  Lobsters were relatively cheap so we bought whole steamed lobster and big tub of lobster salad and some very tempting fried chicken pieces for a simple lunch.

We spied hay rides in the car park, some Halloween photo corners and a small petting zoo too!

I didn't want to go but DH decided to make a trip to the SoNo Market Place at 314 Wilson Avenue. It was a disappointing trip, so quiet a place, with just some stores opened. We ended the day early as hubby had a night module back in the hotel - orchestral leadership.  I sat in as an observer.

14 Oct 2013 (Mon), sunny, 15 deg C.

14 Oct 2013 was Columbus Day, and a federal holiday since 1934.  The Stamford Museum & Nature Center (39 Scofieldtown Road, Stamford) had lined up special programmes for the day.

I first went for a guided hike through the SM&NC forest. It was a fine day for hiking and a great feeling to be out in the nature. Even felt magical to touch all those maple leaves, oak leaves and acorns that I have been tatting all these while!

There were quite a number of animals in the Heckscher farm and compound. Was it that I have not been to our local zoo for too long? I felt it was really up closer and personal here in this place.  So thrilling to admire all the different animals within close proximity.

Lots of fringe activities on the native American culture held on that day.  I also tried starting a fire spark and drilling a hole with simple hand-created tools.  And I found out about s'mores and had my first-ever piece done the bonfire way! A great treat for those who like marshmallow and chocolate! 

An exhibition, "By Her Hand: Art of Native American Women".  In the exhibition, one can "meet" the Native American women at the turn of the last century in the western United States, who transformed everyday objects such as basketry, pottery, textiles and beadwork, with personal expressions of artistic flair.  They were identified as true artisans and their highly-prized works are part of this exhibition.

 Awesome blooms and fall scenery.

Spent the evening with DH shopping at Best Buy, T.J. Max, Great Deals and Walmart along Connecticut Avenue and dinner at Red Bean Asian Bistro.  The food wasn't too bad, I almost wanted to go back a second time for more.

Norwalk

I went on a 2-week trip to Norwalk, Connecticut and Manhattan, New York.  My first trip to USA - a long flight of 23 hours including a stop-over at Frankfurt, Germany.  DH went for a month-long course, while I joined him the last 2 weeks.  I was very much on my own to explore this big and diversified country, with DH joining me on weekends, and some nights for meals and night shopping.

Norwalk is a relatively quiet and peaceful place, compared to Manhattan, so I have the experience of 2 different "worlds" and "colours". Yes, colours. Colours of fall!!

I flew on 10 Oct, 11.55 pm flight (Singapore time), which was re-timed to 25 mins later.  Arrived Dolce Hotels & Resorts at 32 Weed Ave, Norwalk, in the afternoon on 11 Oct (New York time). Too sleepy to go anywhere that day...z..zz.zzz...

12 Oct 2013 (Sat), sunny, 14 deg C.  

Armed with my small Kipling backpack with all I need and walking boots, I started my adventure in Norwalk with a visit to the Maritime Aquarium at 10 North Water Street. This aquarium was founded as part of the efforts in mid-1970s by the city government and local organizations to revitalize the South Norwalk business district ("SoNo").  Though not as big as Singapore's SEA Aquarium in Resorts World Sentosa, the small colourful frogs and horseshoe crabs really caught my attention.  And Thor made an appearance that day!

 I followed with a cruise on Long Island Sound.

Took a walk to the Norwalk Museum at 41 North Main Street, but it was closed, so I walked on to the SoNo Switch Tower Museum at 77 Washington Street for a little bit of railway history. The museum is a fully refurbished 1896-built switch tower, formally used to house the mechanism of switching trains from one track to another. The operators then would operate the switch tracks by throwing levers in the tower. And that's what I tried.

Do you know "Confessions of a Shopaholic" was partly filmed along Washington Street in SoNo!

Ended the day with a dinner with DH and company at In Thai restaurant ar 456 Main Ave for obviously some Thai food. Some dishes were creative and certain ingredients used were different from that used in Singapore's Thai restaurant; but taste-wise, I still prefer our local ones.   

Transportation here was difficult without a car of your own.  Everyone drove.  Though there were public buses, but there were distances to walk to and from bus-stops, and remote most of the times. Since there were hardly people walking on the streets, there wasn't anyone to ask for directions if you were lost. Call 203.855.1764 for Norwalk taxis. Black Norwalk taxis driven by the black. Have this feeling of 黑社会! Fares were expensive. Doing up the sums, I chalked up US$210+ over the 5 days going around Norwalk and neighbouring towns on my own!   (Exchange rate US$1=S$1.249)