I'm Moving to Old Lyme...

I’m obsessed with the city, but every once in a while I need to escape. I need to walk on green grass and breathe fresh air. But when you grow up with this (see image below) being your back yard can you blame me? I’m really a country girl at heart.



This past weekend I went to New Haven (technically Old Lyme), CT to visit some family friends. Mike and Brian came down from Boston as well and we had a fantastic and rejuvenating weekend. We’re already planning a trip back it was so wonderful!!

I took the train up Friday night and got off at the Metro North Old Saybrook stop. I met my friends and the boys there. As I’m sure most of you know, it’s unseasonably chilly – that night was cool with a blanket of misty rain that rested over everything like a deep sleep. This made it the perfect night for comforting food. So, what did we have? Pizza! We started with a delicious, crispy salad of romaine, fresh garden tomatoes and mushrooms, fresh parmesan and a house olive oil, balsamic dressing. I would have been happy with just the salad! But then came the pizza and it was wonderful! We had a chicken cacciatore, a Bacon, broccoli and tomato and a pesto with sautéed mushrooms (which was my favorite). Yum!

My friends’ place is idyllic – a bit of heaven on earth. Seriously…it’s the perfect retreat! We slept in on Saturday and when I woke up in my room upstairs I felt like Anne of Green Gables…they live in one of the oldest houses in Old Saybrook and it’s beyond charming. They’ve done a wonderful job decorating it! I woke up to the sound of birds chirping!! How cliché yet perfect is that?! And, call me ridiculous, but I was so excited about the fact that I looked out my window and saw a lush, vibrantly green tree! SO much better than an apartment building. Their yard is amazing!
Breakfast consisted of homemade oatmeal (no, she didn’t grow the oats, but what I mean is that it wasn’t instant…), fresh, warm bagels with cream cheese tomatoes and onions. The perfect start to the morning!

Then the boys and I did a little touring. We went to the beach!!! I took my shoes off and walked around barefoot. I could have died happy at that point. There’s something so liberating about walking barefoot on a beach. (Brian has all those pictures, so I'll have to wait to post them until he sends them to me...)



We drove through the old towns, went to a charming book place called the Book Barn (where I wanted to buy everything!) and saw a lighthouse where we shot pictures despite the fact that we weren’t supposed to. Oops :)



Lunch consisted of ice cream from the Old Lyme Ice Cream Shop (hey, it’s dairy, right?!) I had black cherry chocolate chunk. So you see - I even had a serving of fruit in there!



We went to the Bee & Thistle Inn (to be re-visited later) and sat down by the water on these three chairs...



Aren't you jealous? :)

Then we went back to my friends’ house and learned how to play Boules (the French version of lawn bowling) and now I’m slightly addicted! The boys were actually very good…I, however, need some practice. But we had a great time playing two rounds before dinner.



Did I mention that my friend is a food critic and an EXCELLENT chef? We have Caesar salad with freshly-grated cheese and homemade croutons, pasta with Bolognese sauce and warm bread straight from the oven.



For dessert we went to the Bee & Thistle Inn (owned by their friends) and let me tell you – this is everything every inn out there should aspire to become!
We were treated to the following:
Lemon custard cake with fresh berries and cream
Chocolate pot de crème with fresh whipped cream
Phyllocinni (Phyllo dough shredded, brushed with butter and sugar then baked) ice cream sandwiches with warm strawberry rhubarb compote and vanilla ice cream.
Um…hello!! It doesn’t get any better than that!

Basically, the weekend was perfect!