The Connecticut Coast

When you have children, you must inevitably travel during the school vacation weeks thereby sharing the hotels and attractions with large numbers of people.  During April vacation we were fortunate that the places we visited weren't overly busy, with the exception of the Mystic Aquarium, which I will get to in another post.

After leaving Jaffrey, NH, the former home of Amos Fortune (See Previous Post:  On the Trail of Amos Fortune) we headed south to Ludlow, MA for and overnight at the Comfort Inn.  The room was okay, but the indoor pool was quite small.  There was a mother, father and three kids splashing and screaming and jumping into the pool, creating a mini tsunami and leaving little room for Ashton and I to enjoy the water at a more leisurely pace.   Bethany would not even go in the water because it was so wild.  On top of that, another couple with two small children were also in the pool area.  One child was swimming while the other younger one had his parents chasing him around the entire time they were there.  He was flipping over furniture and running around the pool.  He was being so bad, we were sure he was going to jump right in the pool, clothes and all, but he didn't.

The next morning we hit the road to our first destination, the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT.  While researching places to visit for this trip, Bethany learned that they were having a Walter Wick exhibit.  Now in our household, Walter Wick is a pretty common name.  He's the guy that writes and photographs the I Spy books, you know, the ones that you have to find stuff in all the models he's built.  The exhibits displayed some of his models and many of his I Spy photographic illustrations.

Directly across the street from the museum is a fancy public playground with many kids decked out in designer clothing.  We arrived at the museum right around lunchtime, had a picnic on the grounds and played on the playground for a bit before the museum opened.  As we were eating, there was a Good Humor truck parked there waiting to serve kids sweet ice cream treats; but what I found rather humorous, was the mobile cafe that pulled in behind it.  Yes, this truck served lattes, espressos and other specialty coffees, along with Paninis and other cafe food.  It appeared to do a brisk business from the parents watching their kids, and I thought to myself - only in Greenwich...

The big Pez sign outside the visitor center.

Wall of Pez dispensers.

After the Bruce Museum, we checked into our hotel and stumbled across information about the Pez factory in Orange, CT, so we went to check it out since Ashton had started collecting Pez dispensers.  When we first walked in there was a full wall, about 20 x 20 feet, filled with Pez dispensers.  Inside were many other candies and collectibles, as well as the largest Pez dispenser in the world.

The history of Pez was outlined on the wall.

It was a pretty neat place.  They had an illustrated wall that explained the history of Pez and all kinds of Pez dispensers, including an Asterix collection, which I'm sure my brother would have found intriguing.  In the back of the visitor center was a place where kids could make a video with their new Pez paraphernalia and email it home.  You can see Ashton's Pez video here.  Please ignore the screaming kids in the background.

The admission was $5 per adult and $4 for kids, but they give you a $2 store credit with each admission.  So, as you would expect, we ended up buying more than two dollars worth of merchandise.  The production lines weren't running when we were there, but they have windows looking out over the factory that would enable you to watch Pez being made if you so desired.

Largest Pez dispenser ever.

Historic Pez items.

Stay tuned for other postings from our CT trip.