The Roseland Cottage is truly a beautiful historical gem in CT! I recently took a tour of the house…read moreand it was super interesting. Though the grounds are always open to visitors, guided tours of the house are only available June through mid-October, Thursday-Sunday from 11AM-3PM, every hour on the hour. Timed tickets can be purchased online in advance (and this is recommended). Adult admission is $20. Once I arrived, I was greeted by staff who were very friendly. The tour guide, MaryLou, took me through the house and explained the history of Henry Bowen (the original resident of the house) and his family. She was extremely knowledgeable and it was very interesting! The tour was supposed to last around an hour, but she went for about an hour and 15 minutes. After the tour you are free to roam the grounds and take photos, and there's also a small gift shop. Non-flash photography is allowed inside the house, but no video. Overall I found this to be a really beautiful historical spot in Woodstock, CT and would definitely recommend taking a tour!

My husband and I had our wedding here, the place was absolutely beautiful and that is the only…read morething that made the venue worth it. Laurie the women who handles Roseland cottage, on the other hand ended up being a bit difficult as our wedding got closer and closer. Sadly on the rehearsal day and wedding day she was rude and did things that we did not agree upon or said she wasn't going to do. She made herself seem understanding up until those days. She gave me sass remarks and honestly made the rehearsal day and wedding day more stressful. The only thing that made it worth it, like I said, was the beautiful venue. But Laurie in the end did make things feel way more stressful and difficult. Our catering was wonderful though, I could not have asked to better catering. They handled Laurie and everything else with class. Thank you renees Bistro.

Benefit Street is a nice little walk and The Shunned House is a sweet little surprise. What I like…read moreabout The Shunned House is that you would have NO CLUE that this house was significant amongst the others in the surrounding areas. The armory down the street stands out a lot more than the lil house that HPLovecraft wrote about. Still it's a great side trip that will only take seconds out of your day if you are in or around the colleges in the area. This is obviously a residence and they have since named the house after someone but you can see the wall that used to be used as the front of the house and the descriptions stand strong in Lovecraft's writing. No big deal but I liked being there and seeing it.

I was going to write about this curiousity, but I realized I couldn't do any better than what…read morebrought me in the first place: "The house was--and for that matter still is--of a kind to attract the attention of the curious. Originally a farm or semi-farm building, it followed the average New England colonial lines of the middle eighteenth century--the prosperous peaked-roof sort, with two stories and dormerless attic, and with the Georgian doorway and interior panelling dictated by the progress of taste at that time. It faced south, with one gable end buried to the lower windows in the eastward rising hill, and the other exposed to the foundations toward the street. Its construction, over a century and a half ago, had followed the grading and straightening of the road in that especial vicinity; for Benefit Street--at first called Back Street--was laid out as a lane winding amongst the graveyards of the first settlers, and straightened only when the removal of the bodies to the North Burial Ground made it decently possible to cut through the old family plots. "At the start, the western wall had lain some twenty feet up a precipitous lawn from the roadway; but a widening of the street at about the time of the Revolution sheared off most of the intervening space, exposing the foundations so that a brick basement wall had to be made, giving the deep cellar a street frontage with door and two windows above ground, close to the new line of public travel. When the sidewalk was laid out a century ago the last of the intervening space was removed; and Poe in his walks must have seen only a sheer ascent of dull grey brick flush with the sidewalk and surmounted at a height of ten feet by the antique shingled bulk of the house proper. "The farm-like grounds extended back very deeply up the hill, almost to Wheaton Street. The space south of the house, abutting on Benefit Street, was of course greatly above the existing sidewalk level, forming a terrace bounded by a high bank wall of damp, mossy stone pierced by a steep flight of narrow steps which led inward between canyon-like surfaces to the upper region of mangy lawn, rheumy brick walls, and neglected gardens whose dismantled cement urns, rusted kettles fallen from tripods of knotty sticks, and similar paraphernalia set off the weather-beaten front door with its broken fanlight, rotting Ionic pilasters, and wormy triangular pediment. "What I heard in my youth about the shunned house was merely that people died there in alarmingly great numbers. That, I was told, was why the original owners had moved out some twenty years after building the place. It was plainly unhealthy, perhaps because of the dampness and fungous growth in the cellar, the general sickish smell, the draughts of the hallways, or the quality of the well and pump water. These things were bad enough, and these were all that gained belief among the persons whom I knew. Only the notebooks of my antiquarian uncle, Dr. Elihu Whipple, revealed to me at length the darker, vaguer surmises which formed an undercurrent of folklore among old-time servants and humble folk; surmises which never travelled far, and which were largely forgotten when Providence grew to be a metropolis with a shifting modern population." H.P. Lovecraft, The Shunned House Be mindful that this is a private residence. Please be respectful.

The sculpture garden is situated in a small park area that is surrounded by different museums. It's…read morea nice area to spend a couple hours sightseeing with family. There is limited parking in the area.

This sculpture garden is right in the center of Springfield Museum plaza. There were a handful of…read morecopper/metallic sculptures of many famous Dr. Seuss characters. There's also a giant book sculpture that has some famous verses from Dr Seuss engraved in it. The garden has elegant walking pavement covered by trees. It leads to entrances of four museums around the plaza. There's also an outdoor tent for people to sit in front of the garden. Overall it's a nice garden for families and kids.

Perfect day for a cemetary stroll. Very peaceful with some graves dating to the 1800s. The tower is…read morerather impressive. Would love to see it's twin in Ireland some day.

AN ABSOLUTELY MUST DO! A FREE EVENT & FREE PARKING! This is one of the Secret Hidden Gems of…read moreAmerica that most people have never heard of or been to before, If you love Castles, Towers & the Fairytale Rapunzel or the Disney movie Tangled then you'll be excited about our journey today. It's Time to jump into The TimeMobile & scour the Earth & take you to places from a different time that you won't believe still exist. We have set the dial to the 1890's in the town of Milford MA about an hour outside of Boston. We've landed at this Beautiful Irish Round Tower that conjures up images from a bygone era. The Tower looks like it has been plucked from medieval times from thousands of miles across the Pond in Ireland. IT IS BEAUTIFUL! Father Patrick Cuddihy envisioned an Irish Round Tower as the centerpiece of a new cemetery when the land was purchased in 1890 for the Catholics of Saint Mary's Parish in Milford. Travelers from all over the globe spend thousands of dollars & travel to Ireland to see The Irish Round Towers. There is one Irish Tower in particular called The Devenish round tower & is located in County Fermanagh on an island located on Lower Lough Erne Lake. The Round Irish Tower in Milford is almost an exact replica with the same look, design & height as the The Devenish Tower in Ireland. It is made out of Granite from the Milford quarry. It stands tall over the graves of thousands of Irish immigrants who were buried in the cemetery. They are laid to rest in an Irish setting that mimics the architecture & land of Ireland. You might wonder why did Fr. Cuddihy build this tower? The answer can be found in his obituary "It may be folly - yet when you and I have passed away, the Irish in America will make a pilgrimage to the Irish Round Tower at Milford." Now although it was very popular in its day this has now fallen completely under the radar. Now just about everyone has heard of the German Fairy Tale Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm, but have no idea that a Rapunzel like Tower even exists here in America. The Milford Round Tower was the only one of its kind in the whole USA for decades & only a few Irish Towers in the whole world even exist outside of Ireland. In 2003 The Tower at Castleton Lyons Farm was built in Kentucky to be an exact replica of the round tower at the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary Ireland. So now there are 2 Irish Round Towers in the US. The Milford one is well over a hundred years older than the one in Kentucky. It represents a unique granite architectural wonder that pays tribute to Father Cuddihy vision of an Irish Tower in America without going overseas. The 1978 East German stamps of Rapunzel look just like the Devenish Tower in Ireland & the one in Milford MA. I have posted the stamp pictures for you to see too. Just so you know the door to the Tower is locked so you can't venture to the top! In addition, behind the Irish round tower there is a small pond & benches with pine trees in the background that makes a peaceful place to pray, meditate & explore the grounds. On the other side there is a mysterious cave like structure that resembles a catacomb. Across the street there is a public park and free parking. You really wouldn't expect to see an Irish Round Tower or a Rapunzel Tower at a cemetery, but that's where it is - a True Hidden Gem. To make it really worth your trip in the area check out The Moon Tree a tree that went to the Moon & The Largest Rosary Beads in the World both in Holliston. All of these are Freebies as well. It used to be, you had to have Mega Bucks & be really Rich to have the Good Life, not anymore. The Game has changed. You've been Upgraded. Now You Can Live Like a King on a Limited Budget!

This very cool sight is located on a small town green between Town Hall Road and Buckley Highway…read more You'll see a big jet-black cannon on a stone base and big pile of cannon balls arranged in a pyramid. The cannon is set on a series of granite slabs that act as the base of a Civil War memorial. There are plaques on the sides of the base, the charter members of Union's D. P. Corbin Post 74 G.A,R, (Grand Army of the Republic), a full roster of Union's Civil War soldiers, and the main marker that reads: In grateful memory, To the mothers who gave their sons To the soldiers who gave their lives and To those who daring to die, survived The War of the Rebellion 1861 - 1865 The monument is from 1902 and the plaques are showing obvious staining and weathering damage.

Very educational, very peaceful and great spot to eat, and sit in the shade on the grassread more

Awesome Clam Strips made to order hot fresh tender crispy craggly coating. Good quality tat tar…read moresauce on the side. The Chicken tenders are made fresh not frozen and awesome Hand Cut Fries are sweet and delicious! Well done! Probably best clam strips around . Must try. Highly recommend! Next time will take photos to share

An honest review......Let me start with the positive…read more It's a beautiful place. It's well cared for. Beautifully manicured. Nice plantings and nice things to see. They even have a nice area for kids to play and a little raised up covered deck for live music. A tiny Antiques shop in it's own out building. They had two porta potties that were also clean which was nice. They had picnic tables and little bistro tables set up throughout. Nice plantings and a large boulder painted like a frog. The service was friendly. They were busy. The area was well kept. They had a station for trash and recycling and it was organized. Our order was easily placed through square and my recipt was texted to me. All that was great! Now for the not so great.... Our food. It was flavorless. For four of us: * Bowl of New England clam chowder.... It was very watery. No creaminess and the flavor was meh... boring. There was hardly any clams or potatoes. I ate only half of it and tossed the rest. * onion rings, out of all the items we ordered we liked these the best. They were crispy. And has some flavor. * 3 clam fritters- we're not sure what the batter was, if I were to completely guess, wheat based batter, it was brown inside and out. Doughy inside, crispy on the outside but no flavor, hardly any clams in them. They did LOOK big and nice though. But still, no flavor. We didn't finish them. * mushroom and Swiss burger with fries. Their attempt at home made fries was a nice touch but the fries were soggy. Not crispy. The burger had no flavor but it was juicy. The standard roll was ok. * 1 kids meal burger (with fries) my son only ate the meat and tomato and was also not impressed with the soggy fries. * Texas toast grilled cheese sandwich, the main complaint was there was no flavor. We ordered 1 water and 3 sodas. Our bill was almost $70.00 We did not order icecream like we had originally planned. We went elsewhere. The reason being they only serve icecream in soft serve. And also considering we were not too thrilled with our food. Over all, great atmosphere! It is a nice family place. But the food needs improvement in our opinions. For Atmosphere we give 5 stars For food we give 2 stars. We believe in supporting small businesses. And we give credit where it is due. And give our best honest reviews. We hope that frog rock takes our review as kind criticism. We can clearly see they love their business. But we were not impressed with the food.

Wonggumbaug. Now…read morehonestly, isn't that the coolest word you've read today? It's an Indian word that means "crooked pond" and that's how the natives described the area that eventually ended up as Coventry, CT. Coventry was the birthplace of Nathan Hale, one of America's first heroes of the Revolution. He was on an espionage mission for General Washington when he was captured and hung by the British in Manhattan. He was 21 years old. On a cheerier note, Coventry was also the birthplace of the Lakes Actors Colony - a community of entertainment stars from the early days of vaudeville and radio. This is a two-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. Located in front of Town Hall, it has different inscriptions on each side. It dates to 1980 and is in very good shape on the front side, but is in much worse shape on the back side with big hunks of peeling blue paint.

Standing on the Town Green next to a gorgeous old building now used as Willington's Meeting House…read moresits an enormous metal bell on a stone platform. The Gothic Revival building dates to 1876, and was first used as a church. It was sold to the Town in 1927 for $1, and became their Town Hall until 1974, The bell is significant, because during WW II, it was taken out of the bell tower because the building was used as an observation tower! The building is now used for public meetings. The marker on the bell's stone platform reads: In 1876 this bell was bought from the First Congregational Church of Stafford for $140 and hung in the belfry of the new Meeting House. In 1942 the bell rested in the entry when the tower was used as an observation post in World War II. On July 4, 1973 the bell pedestal was dedicated by the townspeople

Passing through and wanted to take a quick break. This location was a great little spot to have a…read morequick snack and relax next to the roaring water sounds from the falls!

Nice little waterfall. Part of it is still under construction and there was also a wedding going…read moreon when I was there so I couldn't fully explore but what I did offered some nice views and tranquility. Was tempted to follow the tracks to see where/what else I could see but didn't have it in me this day.