The Perfect Little New England Town

(me and my leaf craziness on the way home from Anna's Horse Show last Sunday... two videos that I should have posted back there.



~ Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love (of autumn) gives us a fairy tale ~



I need to start by saying that I thought the leaves were at their best... but as this particular week we are in the middle of right now... I know that these pictures were just under perfection. Right now, right now I am driving around in perfection of fall goodness. It's just amazing here... I need to keep my camera in the car and try to capture as the day unfolds but gosh so very much takes my breath away, that I'd be pulling over constantly to take pictures of trees laden with leaves against stone walls all day long and I'd never get to my schools or the girls schools.

But back to this sweet New England town.

Last Sunday after Anna's Horse Show (yesterdays post) we decided to take the 'long way home' and stop in our favorite town. Favorite in the fall (here we visited in 2014) and favorite at Christmas time (and here we visited and stayed over in 2014 for our 'Christmas Getaway Weekend')

It was a quiet day in Riverton and cloudy. But we had it all to ourselves.



Riverton, featured in Yankee Magazine this month said,

"The West Branch of the Farmington River - framed for trout fishing - surges through Riverton, just as it did in 1825, when it began powering the Hitchcock Chair factory. Then, "Hitchcocksville" was a booming stagecoach stop. Now Riverton is a village that time forgot. The 107-year-old Riverton Fair on Columbus Day weekend draws thousands of visitors- but midweek, this place can feel like yours alone. Sandwiches from the General Store will fuel you for explong American Legion and Peoples state forests, or keep you going till an early dinner at Sweet Pea's or a movies at Pleasant Valley Drive-in. The Old Riverton Inn opened it's doors in 1796 and is still in business."

Yes, back here (post) we bought a Hitchcock kitchen table and chairs.  I'm still in love with this table.  







Think of Riverton like the letter "T". Looking down the long mark that makes the "T" is this. A General Store that has photos in it of a day when it had horse and carriage 'parked' outside. The best, best, best, (I soooo wish I took a picture) deli sandwiches and soup. Mismatched tables and chairs. And charm, charm, charm. Oh how I love it, especially in the fall.



Top of the "T" looking down you can see the Old Riverton Inn at the end there.



We stayed there in 2014 for Christmas and just seeing it made me want to cancel the week and check in. Check in to old fashioned. A slower pace. And sweetness.



Standing at the Old Riverton Inn, looking into town is School street.



And that's it. Except for Sweet Peas's Restaurant. Here's a picture of us there back in 2014.

(2014)



(2014 Christmas Getaway Weekend)



For the rest of the afternoon we drove and yes, I am in awe of fall in New England.



We stopped at Peoples State Forest Parks along the way.







We hiked down here just a bit



to take photos...



and to see this... Connecticut in October.





It was a joyful afternoon



where magic is happening all around. Look at this... you just can't make it up!



Those who don't believe in magic will never find it ~ R. Dahl



The fairies, as was their custom, clapped their hands with delight over their cleverness ~ JM Barrie



Yes, perfectly, wonderful Sunday afternoon.

Delicious Autumn! My very soul is wedded to it ~ George Eliot

Our Annual Leaf Trip (part 2)

Driving down the road less traveled we did.  Roads in Connecticut that I'd never been on before.



It was beautiful. We turned off the Halloween Franklin so that the girls could enjoy the view too. They were all chatty... something about getting married here. But I don't think you can hear them in the video.  Kind of boring really... sorry but I loved this leaf drive so

We followed an "Autumn Abundance" dive in Yankee Magazine. "A meandering jaunt through northwestern Connecticut's scenic beauty and nature's bounty."   First stop ~ Barkhansted Reservoir and Saville Dam. I read before we left "regal stone gatehouse punctuates a dense treescape of sugar maples, oaks, and pine" But what it didn't describe were the crunch of leaves, the leaves swirling through the air, and that autumn smell. It was glorious.





This was the same area too.

Next it was lunch time in the historic town of Riverton, an 18th century stagecoach stop. Charming, delightful, and oh we will be back kind of town.



Do you see what I see? Do you see that sign? "Christmas in Riverton?" I was not the only one who spotted it... look in Anna's hands... she picked up a postcard in the store of that weekend... we are one in the same that Christmas girl and I.



"This lovely hidden picnic spot by itself could fulfill your daytrip wish list."









Oh how I wanted to take so many photos of this sweet town but we were all color coordinated and I felt funny taking pictures of their town as they were strolling along and enjoying the prettiest month of the year. But I will ... promise... when I go back. (for Christmas in Riverton... but don't tell the girls about the 1776 Riverton Inn room I booked, okay?)

I'm sure you've had your fill of sleepy towns and curvy Connecticut roads in the fall. But I just can't get enough of them. I ohh and ahh over the leaves in my own cityish town as I do for the leaves in a Yankee Magazine drive. It's just glorious. Oh October, I love you!

Fall Things Number Two : The Riverton Fair!

Our second 'must do' is this fall was the Riverton Fair. It had been years since we went and we so wanted this day! Click HERE to see us there back in 2017! Click HERE to see 2018 at the fair 

We had to take a detour on our way but it all worked out because we drove past the best farm ice-cream! 

And then we drove there over bridges, noticing and loving the beginning of the leaves turning. 

Scenic drives for sure! 

I guess we got there at just the right time as the light was filtering through the trees so pretty. 

 

Had to stop and capture a few of my favorites! 

Does everyone else love photos from the top of the faris wheel? I love the look! The big trees, the quaint fair, all it so charming! 

All smiles with the view from up there. 

Sisters on the swings... 

prize pumpkins 

and before we left a walk in the Riverton park down by the water 

a glimpse from where we stayed one Christmas Getaway weekend years ago

leaving with onion rings

a day of fall perfection