We live in ....

CONNECTICUT!! Woohoo, weren't you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to hear the big news?! hahaha {don't feel bad if you weren't!}

I will have a post detailing many things I love about CT soon, but for now one of my favorite things about CT is that it's a small state and there are so many wonderful things to see nearby. You can go on tons of day trips and still not see everything there is to see in this great little state!

So I have a few places to share with you - some little gems in this great state. We have been taking a lot of field trips lately - for several reasons - one being that it will soon be winter and our field trips may be limited once the cold weather hits and two because we simply LOVE the fall season!

On a recent field trip we visited this beautiful Castle which sits very high on a hill overlooking the Connecticut River - the castle is called Gillette's Castle ... {this pic was taken from a ferry boat we were on and I used my zoom to capture the castle ... }
But if I zoomed out and took the pic in a regular mode you can see how high it is on the hill ...

Here is some interesting information about Gillette's Castle {copied from Wikipedia of course!}

Gillette Castle State Park is located in East Haddam, Connecticut in the United States. Sitting high above the Connecticut River, the castle was originally a private residence commissioned and designed by William Gillette, an American actor who is most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on stage. After Gillette died, with no wife or children, his will precluded the possession of his castle by any "blithering sap-head who has no conception of where he is or with what surrounded". In 1943, Connecticut's government took the property, re-baptizing it Gillette's Castle and Gillette Castle State Park.

Located at 67 River Road, East Haddam, Connecticut, the park consists of the castle and its grounds and receives 100,000 annual visitors. It reopened in 2002 after four years of restoration, costing 11 million dollars. It now includes a museum, hiking trails, and a picnic area, and holds many theatrical celebrations.

There are a number of oddities in the castle personally designed by Gillette, such as unusual doorknobs and locks, and a system of hidden mirrors for surveillance of the public rooms from the master bedroom.

The grounds used to have a railroad track with a working steam engine that visitors could ride on, also designed by Gillette. Some of the track was purchased by Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut and is in use to transport guests around the lake. The remaining track was pulled up and converted into walking trails. From the castle's garden one can see the Connecticut River.

Here is the walkway leading to the castle - the stone work is everywhere and is simply stunning ...

I loved the vines growing between all the stone work ...

Looking back down at the river, that little boat was the ferry we took across the river!

Can you spot the two cats in this picture?

I LOVE the sunroom which faces the river ...

Very unique windows of all different sizes ...

Check out this upper balcony - cool, isn't it?!

You can go inside the castle and take a tour but on this particular day we didn't bring enough cash with us. I know, silly excuse but we hadn't really planned on stopping here that day - we were heading home from another area of the state and decided to stop here last minute. But we did peek in the windows and it looked really cool. We will definitely go back to tour the castle some day.

They have some really neat walking trails too - you can walk through the woods and even go through long, dark tunnels. There is a pond and lots of picnic areas. It's a really beautiful place! It's FREE to use the grounds and you only have to pay a fee if you want to tour the castle.

This was a really neat field trip and we would highly recommend it to anyone who visits Connecticut!