Connecticut Camping
Our four nights camping in Connecticut were very pleasant because the people were very friendly and there were fun things to do.
Cozy Hills Campground
Cozy Hills Campground is a fantastic family campground because it has lots of activities for children. There is so much going on that there is an itinerary with each day’s activities. It has a small restaurant on site and a large, but shallow swimming pool. However, it was a bit more expensive than many campgrounds on our trip at $85 a night. One thing we liked about it was its location—just outside of Litchfield and an easy drive from Hartford.
The people who run the campground were so nice and it was very well-maintained. It is one of the cutest and friendliest campgrounds we have visited. We also enjoyed beautiful weather every day during our three-day stay.
Our site was large and level and we were so comfortable while there. The only negative was the dog park. They had one, but it had artificial grass and our pup refused to go on it.
The other campers were also very friendly, particularly one family that gave us a package of Def for our truck. I costs almost $20 and they wouldn’t let us pay for it.
Litchfield
The nearby town of Litchfield was founded in 1719. It was very charming with historic buildings and lots of nice restaurants. We had a delicious outdoor lunch at Difranco’s with our pup and did a little walk around the town. One of the buildings I really liked was the Superior Court pictured below. It looks great for over a hundred and thirty years old.
Bellamy-Ferriday House
We did a tour of the nearby Bellamy-Ferriday house. It has an interesting history of two separate families. Reverend Joseph Bellamy built the main portion of the house in approximately 1754. The tour included artifacts from the time and information about the family and how they lived.
Many years later, the house was occupied by Carolyn Woolsey Ferriday. She was a philanthropist who provided support to women subject to experimentation by the Nazis in Ravensbrück concentration camp. She is one of the characters in Martha Hall Kelly’s book, Lilac Girls.
Hartford
Hartford was only fifty miles from us and we spent one of our days there and got a Rover sitter for our pup. It was a fun and relaxing day!
State Capital Building
Firstly, we headed to the Connecticut State Capital. We try to tour capital buildings on our travels because they are so grand and you can learn a lot about a state’s history. We were happy to be there on a weekday because there was a tour available. The building is a gorgeous Gothic Revival structure that opened in 1879.
It was very grand on the inside as well. One of our tour guides demonstrated the unique echo acoustics on the spot pictured below. The man on the right in the photo is U. S. Senator Richard Blumenthal doing an interview. However, we did not get an opportunity to speak with him.
There were many beautiful and interesting things in the Capital Building, but I thought Lafayette’s Bed was a most unusual artifact, dating back to battles with George Washington. This type of bed led to the phrase, “Sleep Tight.”
Frank Pepe Pizzeria
Friends who formerly lived in Connecticut told us about Pepe’s pizza. We visited the West Hartford location and it was in a modern building with phenomenal food and extraordinary service.
We ordered a medium pizza and it was enormous. There were leftovers so we had a snack later at the campground. My husband’s half was Amanti Della Carne (meatball, pepperoni, sausage, and bacon) and mine was Fresh Tomato Pie. So delicious!
Mark Twain House
After that, we managed to squeeze in a visit to the Mark Twain House where he lived with his family from 1874 to 1891. Twain’s biographer described the house as “part steamboat, part medieval fortress, and part cuckoo clock.” I can see it.
The tour provided lots of information I didn’t know about Twain in his later years. He was quite a character.
The Visitors Center is very modern and has several cute Twain images. I loved the Lego Mark Twain.
There is also a bench where you can sit beside a bronze Mark Twain.
Clinton
Clinton is on the eastern side of the state and we were there for one night as we made our way home. Riverdale Farms Campground was a nice campground near New Haven with full hookups at a reasonable price.
New Haven
Frank Pepe’s pizza was our main draw to New Haven, which is the original location, established in 1925. Operations are in a building beside this original building. The pizza was very good, but I preferred the Hartford location. Surprisingly, the pizza and service was better there.
We also wanted to check out Yale University as some university campuses are quite beautiful. It turns Yale is a urban campus and parking was very challenging. We didn’t get a photo of any of the buildings because of traffic and limited time.
Connecticut Camping In Conclusion
Beautiful weather, great campgrounds, friendly people, and phenomenal pizza made our Connecticut camping a wonderful experience. Therefore, Connecticut is a place that we would like to visit again. Check out our page, States Visited, a Campsite Resource to read about other places we have been.
