Bulls Bridge - Kent, CT

One of the perks of living in a completely foreign land is how amazingly easy it is to go and find something you've never seen before. (Ok, East Coast isn't so very different from Pacific Northwest...unless you've lived both places, then you know exactly what I mean.)

When we have time, we like to devote part of a Saturday to driving out to pretty places in the area. These pictures are from a short trip out to Kent, CT. We made it as far as Bulls Bridge, a beautiful covered bridge. There are trails leading away from the bridge, and nearby falls, for every level of hiker. An online review cautions you, though - if you should follow the white trail markers, keep track of how long you've been walking: they lead all the way to Georgia! (How anyone could walk 2,000 miles and not know it is beyond me...but it's nice to have the warning, all the same.)

Bulls Bridge was apparently built by the Bull brothers, and is rumored to have been a ploy to get New Yorkers to take a new route on their travels.

As we drove home, we passed by the Schaghticoke (skat-e-coke) Indian Reservation, and it was so interesting! I think my favorite part was the enormous teepee structure (sans cloth cover) with an old beat up couch next to the firepit...and fairy lights festooning the birch beams.

We also passed a beautiful boarding school - the first one I've ever seen. It was Kent School, and the campus was just lovely. And big. Really, really big. (A quick look into their history is quite interesting...as was their school website. $43K for a boarding student! Wow.)

One thing that my family has noticed, when they're visiting out here, is how much it looks like where I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. You don't really notice the difference until you get outside and feel it. In Seattle, humidity does one of two things: fall down, or make a cold fog. In Connecticut, you get an insidious humid quality to the air. You can't see it..but you can feel it. *insert dramatic music here*

Fall, of course, makes me forgive Connecticut for every humid day it ever had. The days are sunny and crisp, and the nights are cold and (often) wet. The leaves aren't as bright as they could have been (due to a rather cold, wet and short summer), but it's still absolutely beautiful right now.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it: Be a tourist this weekend, in your own hometown.