Essex Connecticut is the idyllic New England town, located on the banks of the Connecticut River. It is home to charming Federal, Victorian, and Cape Cod homes, the Griswold Inn (the longest continuously operating inn in the U.S), and the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat. Settled in 1648, and incorporated in 1852, its thriving township consists of three villages, Centerbrook, Essex, and Ivoryton. [info compiled from Town of Essex CT at www.essexct.gov].
Early bird that I am, I decided to fuel up at the historic Griswold Inn before heading down to Essex Town Park for the meetup. I had a quick lunch of a bowl of Clam Chowder and a Pumpkin Pie Martini and listened to some Dixieland Jazz by Freight Train Five, who play most Sundays from 11:00am to 3pm for the Gris' Sunday Brunch enjoyment.
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| The Historic Griswold Inn |
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| Pumpkin Pie Martini and New England Clam Chowder Griswold Inn |
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| Freight Train Five Dixie Land Jazz at the Griswold Inn |
After lunch, I headed down to the Essex Town Park where I met up with our group for the first ever Let's Meet CT Meet Up!
Host Janievy Hilary (@neivy) hadn't arrived yet, but we were quickly welcomed by photographer Jesse Romano (follow him at @indue for AMAZING photography) who was kind enough to talk camera tips with us. (Jesse you'll be happy to know that today I traded in my humongous purse for a smaller one!)
Yup, that's me on the left with the suitcase sized purse below!!
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| The First "Let's Meet CT" Group - Photo by Janeivy Hilary Photo Source Instagram @Neivy |
It was great to meet some new friends, see some old friends, and finally meet some great photographers that I already follow, as well as find a few new ones! See the link at the end of this post for some amazing photographs from some talented artists.
And I absolutely love this picture that Wendy from CT Lifestyles took of me playing with the fallen leaves.
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| Photo Source Instagram @CTLifestyles |
Here are some of the pictures I took from our self-directed Essex Walking Tour for #LetsMeetCT
Because our meet up was the day after Halloween so many residents had their fun decor up!
The group moved in a few different directions without any set itinerary, and after strolling through downtown Essex, Gina from WanderLaughs Travel and I headed back to the Griswold Inn for some cocktails where we were later joined by Greg and Wendy from CTLifestyles for a quick bite to eat by the Gris' roaring fireplace.
For more really great pictures of our day
follow the fun on Instagram at #LetsMeetCT
and get out there and take some pictures of the state YOU live in!
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Are you from CT? Where would you recommend we hold a meet up?
Not from CT? Where would you recommend people visit in your state?
I'd love to hear about it in the comments below!
