CT Day 7 - Mazes, Merlot, and mother!: Leaving Connecticut like a Wine Mom
I knew on my last day in CT I wanted to go apple picking because that seems like a classic Connecticut thing. I was lucky that my Air BnB host suggested Lyman Orchards and also a nearby winery.
The Orchard was really awesome. There was a pick-your-own component where you could get apples, pears, peaches, pumpkins, and squash. I only went for the apples. There were a lot of varieties. The macintosh seemed to be the most popular, but I really liked the golden crisp myself.The Orchard also had store of already picked fruits called the Apple Barrel. The store also had sandwiches, pastries, and other apple products. I got something I had never seen before called an Igloo. It was chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream. And like someone with only ten teeth, it was decadent.
Outside the apple barrel, there were pony rides and a corn maze. I didn’t go for the pony ride but I was enticed by the corn maze. At first I thought it was pretty easy, but then after the half-way point i actually got turned around. There was a map to make it easier for kids, and a weird Charles Lindberg/history of aviation theme throughout (which unsurprisingly left out the whole nazi sympathizer part of his life). I’m just impressed at the planning it takes to make a maze that big.
Once I vanquished the corn maze, I went to the Gouveia Vineyards and had a tasting. The tasting gives you five wines and lets you keep your glass. The four that everyone tries together are a muscat, a sweet white, the house red, and a chardonnay. For the fifth one, you get to pick and I had the rose. I’m more of a white guy in both pigment and wine preference so those were my favorites with a preference toward the drier ones than the sweet one, but I really liked the red as well. The rose was probably my favorite as it was a nice halfway point between the sweet and the dry whites. I also shilled out the extra three bucks for a taste of the chocolate port to continue my decadence from the apple barrel.
After my classy wine tasting, I decided to plug back into the cultural zeitgeist and see the new Darren Arronfsky film “mother!”. My friends and cousins were talking about it, and my interest was picqued by how much critical acclaim vs. audience disdain it was getting. I didn’t want to not have an opinion on it, and thereby lose all potential social capital and never be able to enter the upper echelons of high society or whatever. I like all the other Arronfsky films I’ve seen, and he’s always at the very least interesting so I was mostly just excited to see a good movie. I figured that since movies aren’t specific to states, I would at least check out a cool theater so I went to the Bow Tie Criterion Cinema in New Haven which tries to recreate an old-timey theatre vibe to fun effect.
After having seen it, I get both reactions to it. I’m gonna say I loved it, but it’s super critical of religion and very David Lynch-y with it’s sometimes intentionally stilted performances and dream logic, so either of those things could put people off but both is really gonna do it. The acting is so good, and the cinematography is dizzying. It’s absolutely self-indulgent and pretentious, but it does make an interesting point well and a lot of the ridiculousness is done with what i feel is a nod and a wink. I think it does a good job capturing the tension of horror and comedy, in that those are kinda the two responses you can have to absurdity, fear or laughter. Parts of the movie are funny, parts are horrifying, and they’re frequently the same parts. I’m a big fan.
(also weird side note, but i love the stylized title with the lower case “m” and exclamation mark. Maybe it was all the weir text based contemporary art i saw while in CT but I’m super into cool typesetting)
While I tried to process the movie I had just witnessed, I went to New Haven’s Little Italy. I was burned out on pizza so I just got a cannoli and some coffee and I hit the road for my uncle’s house in Rhode Island, where I got to rest, write, and prepare for the next state on my adventure.
Favorite Random Sightings: Stump Genie; Mr. D's; "You wouldn't want to bleed from a clown ripping off your arm"-some kid in the corn maze who really gets it; License plate that said "Batgirl"; A big Truck that had "Puma Unleashed" on the side
Albums Listened To: Changes Two by Charles Mingus; Channel Orange by Frank Ocean (just Lost); Charge!!! by the Aquabats; Charles Mingus Quartet with Max Roach by Charles Mingus; Chase by Chase (Just Get It On); Chalaweng by Pilfers (cool mix of heavy rock with reggae, one of the best live bands I've ever seen); Check Your Head by the Beastie Boys (just So What'cha Want); Cheer Up! by Reel Big Fish (just So What are Friends For); Chet Baker in Tokyo (disc 1) by Chet Baker
People's Favorite Jokes:
"It's not worth it"- the ticket taker at the corn maze after I already paid
Why did the woman burst into song? She couldn't find the key
CT Superlatives;
Favorite Pizza: Pizzetta in Stonington
Favorite Ice Cream: Victoria Station in Putnam (though the 0 Degree thai ice cream is worth trying)
Favorite Cafe: Koffee? in New Haven
Favorite Restaurant: City Steam Brewery in Hartford
Favorite Burger: Piggy’s Cafe in Hartford
Favorite Bar: Outer Light Tap Room in Groton
Favorite Beer: Roadsmary’s Baby Barrel Aged Pumpkin from 2 Roads in Stratford
Favorite Attraction: Indoor: Mark Twain House in Hartford Outdoor: Lyman Orchard in ??? both: Hill Stead Museum in Farmington
Favorite Mic: Miller’s Lounge in Middletown
General Picture of CT Amateur Comedy Scene: Very similar to Boston and New Hampshire though more diverse than New Hampshire, more rant based and less politically correct than Vermont or Maine, but in my opinion the offensive stuff was better crafted than the offensive stuff in NH
