Jaunted - CT

Run Through The Leaves At The Hartford Marathon

kjb — 2009-09-30T15:33:51-05:00

We love taking in the sights of the season from the comfort of the car. It’s nice to get out and breath in the cool crisp air, but usually it’s best to do that when stopping for lunch or refilling our cup holder with a pumpkin spice latte. However, we do recognize that there are a large number of citizens that enjoy the fresh air that the fall season brings. That’s why we’re suggesting the ING Hartford Marathon for a solid active travel option for the autumn season.

Connecticut’s capital city is pretty sleepy after the workday ends, so it’s population will swell when thousands of runners hit the streets on October 10. There’s even still time to register, just head out to packet pick-up on October 9, and they’ll be happy to sign you up. You’ll enjoy cool weather, peak foliage, and some nice scenery as you do your best to keep your pace along the banks of the Connecticut River. Overall the course is pretty flat as well, so you might just be able to reach that personal best. After all, this marathon can get you into the Boston one if you go fast enough.

The Connecticut Theme Park Responsible For Downing Milli Vanilli

kjb — 2009-07-09T08:42:55-05:00

Theme parks are always trying to outdo one another with bigger rides, and that usually corresponds with increases in ticket prices. So if you’re looking to spend your summer roller coaster dollars in a more unique location, consider visiting the country’s longest operating amusement park. Since 1846, Lake Compounce has been opening every season to greet families from Connecticut and the Northeast.

They’ve upped the fun quotient in recent years, and there are quite a few rides and attractions to keep you entertained for the day. We’re especially fond of Boulder Dash—the wooden coaster that winds its way through the woods while reaching speeds of over 65 mph. But if you’re more of a fan of older wooden coasters, don’t miss The Wildcat. This rickety old thing will give you a thrill as it drops 68 feet and feels as though it will shake itself apart at every turn.

Less Boozin' And More Cruisin' On The Farmington River

kjb — 2009-07-08T12:09:18-05:00

We’ve quickly discovered that there’s nowhere better to beat the heat than from the comfort of a tube floating down a river. Despite the intense sun heating up the tube so that it almost burns your skin, all is well once you hit a wave and get dumped into the cooling waters below your seat. That’s why we fully recommend a trip to Farmington River Tubing in New Hartford, Connecticut within the Satan’s Kingdom State Recreation Area—scary, huh?

Other river locations may have turned into party scenes, complete with special floating cooler rafts designed to hold your thirty-pack. For better or for worse, booze isn’t allowed on this river adventure, so things are more serene and peaceful. That is of course until you hit some of the rapids with only a tube to help you out. Officials at the river request that you are comfortable swimming through Class III rapids—you know, just in case.

Only $20 will get you a 2.5-mile ride down the river. Bring an old T-shirt to be a little more comfy, since you’ll be wearing a snazzy life jacket during your journey. An old pair of sneakers does wonders to help protect your feet when you try to avoid some of the river’s larger rocks. When you're all done, a bus will bring you back to where you parked your car, and if you want to go again, it’ll only cost you $10.

With all the recent rain in the Northeast lately, the river should be running at full steam, so remember to use the buddy system.

Related Stories:
·Farmington River Tubing [Official Site]
·Tubing The Apple River: Slow Speeds, Fast Sunburns [Jaunted]
·Water Sports coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Joshua.Rose80]

New Haven's Pepe Pizzeria: Giving NY Pizza Some Serious Competition Since 1925

Victor Ozols — 2009-02-28T16:27:11-05:00

After we left the Peabody Museum last Sunday, we headed over to Original Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana to pick up a couple of pizza pies.

I knew nothing of New Haven's famous pizzerias until the previous evening, when a friend took me aside to explain the age-old rivalry between Frank Pepe and Sally's Apizza, the two Wooster Street restaurants that have defined New Haven-style pizza for generations. Our friends were partial to Pepe's, so we ordered one pie with "mootz," (mozzarella, which counts as a topping), marinara sauce, sausage, and onions, and another with mootz, marinara, pepperoni, and mushrooms. If it wasn't the best pizza I'd ever had in my life, it was at least in the top five, and I'm left pondering the unthinkable: could New Haven-style pizza be better than New York-style pizza?

Dinosaurs, Darwin, and Bighorn Rams: An Afternoon at New Haven's Peabody Museum

Victor Ozols — 2009-02-28T13:49:55-05:00

We hadn't been out of the city in a while, so last Sunday we bundled up and headed to Grand Central, where we caught a Metro North train to New Haven, Connecticut. Arriving at around noon, we met our friends and proceeded directly to Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History, a mid-sized, hassle-free alternative to New York's gargantuan American Museum of Natural History.

Weird Travel: Connecticut Gets World's Largest Jack-in-the-Box

BS — 2008-10-20T09:45:48-05:00

One sure-fire way for flyover towns to put themselves on the tourism map is to create the largest ____ in the world. Doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's the largest. Texas is better at this than most states--and Australia has loads of big things--but lowly Connecticut is getting in on the game with the world's largest jack-in-the-box.

The super toy belongs to Bill Ziegler, known to residents of Middletown, Connecticut as the town's most notable eccentric, the owner of Wild Bill's Nostalgia Center.

Wild Bill just happened to have a 600-pound clown head and a 33-foot silo both lying around unused, so really, what else was he going to do with them? Bill explains how his monstrous creation should change the face of Middletown:

Gossip Girl Travel: You've Slept With More Maxim Covers Than John Mayer

egw — 2008-10-14T09:20:44-05:00

"New Haven Can Wait"--take New York in our Gossip Girl Map.

Previously: Serena became the toast of New York after appearing in Blair's mom's fashion show and Jenny decided to drop out of school to work at the atelier.

College trip! The richest kids in town are all off to Yale University to hopefully peek into their futures--of ruling the school (Blair), becoming a great writer (Dan) and sleeping with horny women's studies majors (Chuck).

Serena wasn't even going to hit Yale--she's more of a Brown girl--but she decides to go just to screw Blair out of the spot she thinks she deserves. And it's not going to go as well as the time they were 9 and tackled Chuck Schumer's daughter at the Harvard-Yale game.

This episode forced us to suspend our disbelief more than any other, not least because the Yale sections were clearly filmed at Columbia. And yet... it's comforting to know that when it comes to college, even Manhattan socialites don't have it easy.