City No. 6: Old Lyme, Connecticut, or, “How I finally slept in a house on the beach, and it was wonderful”

Our Honeymoon, or, How We Got to the Midwest One Interview at a Time:  The Northeast Cities According to Me, the One Who Wanders the Cities While Peter Completes the Interviews

Disclaimer: This should by no means be used as a real resource to the northwestern cities.  While I am an observant person, I have no background in city development, nor do I have expertise on the cultural or historical background on these cities.  For the most part, I am reviewing these cities based on my personal preferences, as we will be moving to one of these cities in the spring.  And, if you are hoping for a lot of artwork (as this is my art blog), sorry to say, but you will be sadly disappointed if you continue to read this blog in the upcoming two months.  Apart from my photographs of the cities, I doubt I’ll get to very many art and craft projects. 

 

Old Lyme was exactly what we needed it to be:  peaceful, beautiful, and restful. While we were there, we took a walk by the beach (which was probably 200 ft. away from the house we were staying at), ate some pizza at the local pizzaria/wifi-hub/coffee/anything-else-you-could-ever-want-joint, and later when it got too dark, windy, and cold to be outside, we (Peter and our lovely couch-surfer host, Sarah) watched movies that I had saved on my computer (“Boy A” and the “Hunting Party”—thank you Davie!).  Phone reception was bad, wifi was located nowhere convenient, and so we had a lovely vacation away from all of computer-based-society.  Life seemed simple, slower, and lovely in Old Lyme.  Because most of what Old Lyme had to offer was mostly nature’s own beauty, I’ve included many photos. 

The other great thing we found was just right outside Old Lyme:  BOOK BARN!!!  If you’ve ever been to this place, you know why I have it in all caps, followed by three exclamation points.  This place was and IS amazing.  Picture a barn.  Fill it with books that are all used, and only cost $4.  But they’re good books--books you actually WANT to read, not reject books like you usually find at thrift stores, or other used bookstores that offer books that cheap.  And THEN, picture leaving that barn and going outside where you see another shed-type-building (horse shed?) and a tent, and a few other wagons (wagons that horses pull, not that you might pull a child in—big wagons!) that are also FULL OF BOOKS THAT COST $4!!!  And THEN (yes, there’s more!) imagine that you look down at a flyer posted near the register that says that they have TWO OTHER LOCATIONS IN TOWN!  AND YOU GO TO THEM!  And you see that the buildings are HUGE, and have winding hallways and passageways lined with thousands of books THAT ALL COST $4!!!

Needless to say, we had an awesome time in Old Lyme. 

And maybe, just MAYBE, we saw Joan Allen there at a Chinese restaurant.  She was driving a sports car, and looked like star...