The Gratts in New England: Connecticut

In 2022, Ben expressed an interest in seeing his dad's brothers, Ronnie and Stanley, who live in Connecticut. The family last saw one another at our wedding in 2009.  Ben also wanted to see the house his grandparents owned as he has fond memories of it from childhood.

I had the idea to then do a leaf peeping tour through New England to see the fall foliage.  Ben's family was soon on board with this plan.  

I got busy planning a route, but knowing nothing about this part of the country, this was no easy task.  However, I was up for the challenge!  I eventually came up with a route that looked like this:

This route would take us from Connecticut, through Vermont, through the White Mountains of New Hampshire and ending with three nights in Bar Harbor, Maine.

A trip like this requires a lot of logistical planning and advance reservations.  But planning is literally half the fun for me and I had a blast doing it!

Shortly before the trip in late September, it became apparent that I would be unable to make the trip, but I insisted that they go without me.  Luckily they were armed with my maps and itinerary which they followed like road trip experts!

Headed to New York

First stop:  Connecticut. We chose to fly in to La Guardia airport in New York, which was only an hour from the Gratt family home. 

Ben enjoyed his first class breakfast

Upon leaving the airport, Google maps failed completely and the Gratts ended up in what they think is the Bronx.  At this point, I was glad I wasn't there!

Crossing the Whitestone Bridge leaving the airport:

This mini-van doesn't know what it's in for.

They eventually made it safely out of New York and headed to the home of Harvey's brother, Ronnie, in Bridgeport, CT.  Ronnie still lives in Harvey's parents' home where the boys grew up. 

Fran took this picture of the intersection where the Gratt Family Pharmacy stood for many years.  It is now a Metro PCS store.

Ronnie picked up Ben's brother, Jason, who had taken the train from Boston and headed to the Hotel Delamar in Southport where the Gratts were staying.  We chose this hotel since it was in between both of Harvey's brothers in Stamford and Bridgeport.  Everyone had a nice dinner at the hotel's restaurant.

Ben and his Uncle Ronnie

Ben's reward for a long travel day.

The next day started with breakfast at the hotel and then Ben and Fran took a walk around the neighborhood.

The family visited the cemetery to pay their respects to Harvey's parents.

Then everyone drove to Stamford to the home of Stanley and his wife Linda where they spent the day visiting.

Ben's grandfather, Mickey, was a pilot and there were lots of old pictures of him in his pilot gear.

Uncle Stanley followed in Pa Mickey's pilot footsteps.

One of Pa Mickey's propellers was up on the wall.

There were some old family pictures at Linda and Stanley's house. 

Harvey and Ronnie with their parents

Can you find Fran in this picture?

Harvey's parents are on the far right

I love this picture of Ben's grandparents when they were young!

A good time was had by all!

Tomorrow, Ben and his parents would start their journey through New England.  Next stop: Vermont!