August 27, 2014 ~ Lisbon, CT to Hammonassett Beach State Park, CT
The Stewart B. Kinney NWR refuge, originally named Salt Meadow NWR, was renamed in 1987 for Republican congressman who was "a great champion of the refuge's expansion." It consists of ten units over 70 miles of Connecticut shoreline. I did my morning thing and got on the busy Interstate toth e Salt Meadow Unit of this refuge. I used to hate Interstates; now I mostly love them. I used to say I was happiest when in my car; not true anymore, or at least not true in the northeastern part of the country. No, I don't really love them, but they are 100x more efficient moving vehicular traffic than any other option while driving through one town after another, the density of which is inversely proportional to the distance from a great city...like Boston, New York or Washington DC.
WWW.GWU.EDU
The headquarters had a small note telling an inquisitive visitor (like me) to "ring the bell and a staff member will come out..." There was not a single informational leaflet available, the first time this has happened in 25 states. The "country house" mentioned above, which was donated to the refuge, was also shuttered.
I walked to an old wooden overlook (at many of the refuges, the viewing stations are now made of recycled materials) and stayed an hour watching the salt marsh, doing some yoga, soothed by a wonderful wind massage of balmy insect-free air the whole time. I watched a Great Egret and Great Blue Heron do their zen-fishing thing, and a noisy Belted Kingfisher fly across the meadow.
A wide trail to the marsh meandered down a slope of mature hardwoods. I met a couple and we talked ticks. They were appropriately and protectively attired in long pants tucked into light-colored sox and long-sleeved shirts. I had walking shoes and bare legs and capri length jeans as the temperature was climbing. The woods were cool though, and I stayed on the trail.
After researching options for sleeping, I went to Hammonasset Beach SP and checked it out. It's huge with two miles of beach on Long Island Sound and about 500 campsites. The deal is that one has to check out potential sites by walking which I did in the heat for half a mile. But I found one that backed up to a salt marsh, under oak trees, on "U" street, a quiet loop near the periphery of the complex. This is all fine except that this park charged $33 for a nonresident, but it is an option for those days when traffic and heat and few refuges start making me crazy and I start to seriously question what I am doing.
But I settled in my chair and read, munching cheese and crackers and all the angst eased. There were tents and other car / van campers in the vicinity along with RVs. Campfires, quiet talking, bicyclists, a shower, a walk to the beach at sunset...all was good.
I didn't have dinner but ate a dozen cookies called Almondina that I bought at Walmart and are my new favorite sweet treat.
It seemed that everyone retired early, in part perhaps because mosquitos came at dusk. I put my Skeeter Beaters on both windows, kept them open and slept well in the silent pitch dark.
WWW.GWU.EDU
Elizabeth Fisher Read, a scholar and one of Eleanor Roosevelt's earliest female political and feminist mentors, was ER's personal attorney and financial advisor during the first part of her public career. ER credited Read and Esther Lape, Read's life partner, with playing an important role in her education as a political activist. The two women also formed the nucleus of what eventually became ER's support network of close female friends devoted both to her and to the causes she supported. Their three-way friendship endured until Read's death in 1943...The three women also spent time at Salt Meadow, the country house Read and Lape owned. Read died in New York on December 13, 1943.
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| Stewart B. Kinney NWR - Salt Meadow Unit - CT |
I walked to an old wooden overlook (at many of the refuges, the viewing stations are now made of recycled materials) and stayed an hour watching the salt marsh, doing some yoga, soothed by a wonderful wind massage of balmy insect-free air the whole time. I watched a Great Egret and Great Blue Heron do their zen-fishing thing, and a noisy Belted Kingfisher fly across the meadow.
A wide trail to the marsh meandered down a slope of mature hardwoods. I met a couple and we talked ticks. They were appropriately and protectively attired in long pants tucked into light-colored sox and long-sleeved shirts. I had walking shoes and bare legs and capri length jeans as the temperature was climbing. The woods were cool though, and I stayed on the trail.
After researching options for sleeping, I went to Hammonasset Beach SP and checked it out. It's huge with two miles of beach on Long Island Sound and about 500 campsites. The deal is that one has to check out potential sites by walking which I did in the heat for half a mile. But I found one that backed up to a salt marsh, under oak trees, on "U" street, a quiet loop near the periphery of the complex. This is all fine except that this park charged $33 for a nonresident, but it is an option for those days when traffic and heat and few refuges start making me crazy and I start to seriously question what I am doing.
But I settled in my chair and read, munching cheese and crackers and all the angst eased. There were tents and other car / van campers in the vicinity along with RVs. Campfires, quiet talking, bicyclists, a shower, a walk to the beach at sunset...all was good.
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| Sunset at Hammonassett Beach SP - CT |
It seemed that everyone retired early, in part perhaps because mosquitos came at dusk. I put my Skeeter Beaters on both windows, kept them open and slept well in the silent pitch dark.
I love it when you stay at campgrounds :)
ReplyDeleteGorgeous sunset! Have a great Labor Day weekend and be careful on the interstates!