Wednesday morning dawned cloudy and cooler. We spent a leisurely morning in our room and I worked on yesterday's blog. At 10am we checked out and started driving to Bull's Bridge in Kent, Connecticut.
Leaving Kingston, we crossed the Hudson on the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge, headed for Kent. My 6th great-grandfather, Ezra Gilbert moved there after the death of his first wife in 1755. He first lived in a log cabin, and later built a house on Town Hill in nearby Warren. When he built his house, he placed upon the top of the chimney a stone with the date 1773 and E. G. cut into it. The stone is now built into the foundation of a house in Storrs, Connecticut.
Our first stop in Kent, though, wasn't to seek out traces of Ezra, but to walk the portion of the Appalachian Trail at Bull's Bridge.
I downloaded a trail guide to the Bull's Bridge Loop before we left, put it in my Google Drive, and made sure it was available offline in case we had no connection. As we started across the bridge, another couple, about our age, were just returning. They gave us some advice, and a spray of Deet for the bugs. (Look close in the picture above, and you can see Kathy waving from one of the windows.)
The first section of the loop (marked with green blazes on the trees) was easier, and takes you south of the bridge, to where you pick up the Appalachian Trail marked with white blazes.
That portion was a little more difficult, with roots and rocks and some gentle ups and downs. I had to watch myself carefully to make sure I didn't accidentally turn an ankle.
The outgoing portion of the loop is perched high above the Housatonic River, but comes down to river-level at Ten Mile River.
Ten Mile River is crossed by the Ned Anderson Memorial Bridge, dedicated to a naturalist who helped blaze and maintain the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut.
Those more adventurous can take off here, travel up Ten Mile River, and then climb to the top of Ten Mile Mountain. We turned around and took the easy way back to the car.
When we got back to Bull's Bridge, I clambered down the rocks so that Kathy could get a picture of me north of the bridge.
We finished our hike at about 2pm and both of us were famished, so, we headed to the town of Washington for lunch at the White Horse Country Pub.
We were sweating after our hike (although, with the overcast, the weather was very pleasant). With the air-conditioning in the car we got a little chilled, and when we got to the restaurant it began to rain. What we needed was some French onion soup!
In keeping with the pub theme, I followed that up with some Shepherd's Pie, while Kathy had a Thai Chicken Wrap. The food was delicious. I'd go there again.
After lunch we decided to drive around the town of Washington (which is really more of a collection of hamlets than a single town). Washington was the inspiration for the town of Stars Hollow in the CW series, the Gilmore Girls. My sister-in-law Beth is a fan, so we thought that we'd snap a few pictures of the sights.
The series was actually shot on a Hollywood set; Washington was only its inspiration. Thus, it turns out that there is not a lot to see. Luke's hardware store is sill a hardware store, and doesn't sell hamburgers (although you can get coffee-coffee-coffee at Marty's on the green). There are not nearly as many people milling about as there are on the series. Rory's bookstore and the prep-school are there though.
Our last stop of the day, before driving to our hotel in Wethersfield, was the Old Warren Center Cemetery where Ezra Gilbert and my 6th great grandmother Mary (Hurlbut) Gilbert are buried.
I have an earlier photo of Ezra's grave, but by the time we visited it seems to have toppled and leaned against Mary's grave stone on the left. The two other stones on the right belong to Laura Gilbert and Captain Samuel Gilbert. That was the name of my 8th great grandfather, but I believe that this is just another of the Gilbert relatives kicking around Connecticut at the time.
Once it started raining, we high-tailed it back to the car and headed for our hotel in Wethersfield.
You found it…. Bravo!
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