Survey Time

As you may have noticed, it's time for our annual readers' choice restaurant survey.

We also have a new FIRST survey, the results of which we will publish in an upcoming issue of the magazine (or on this website). This time, we're asking three questions:

1. What's your favorite Connecticut holiday tradition? Is it going to Bethlehem to get your Christmas cards stamped? Visiting the Fantasy of Lights at Lighthouse Park in New Haven? Welcoming Santa as he comes ashore in the Rigging Parade in Essex? As anyone who lives here knows, there's lots of holiday fun to be had all across the state.

2. What is your favorite Connecticut tourist attraction? Do you like to swim with the whales in Mystic? Roll the dice at the Mohegan Sun? Look at the dino skeletons in the Great Hall at the Peabody Museum in New Haven? Connecticut may be small, but there's plenty to do here.

3. Who is your favorite Connecticut author? Stewart O'Nan? Luanne Rice? Amy Bloom? Sandra Boynton? When it comes to literary excellence, this state is an embarrassment of riches.

Anyway, take a few minutes and let us know what you think. As always, we look to our readers to tell us what the best things are about this state.

FIRST Survey: Leaf-Peeping

Is it almost fall already? The calendar has turned to September, the kids are back to school, the NFL has kicked off its season and the nights have gotten chillier. If you look closely, you may have noticed that a few trees have already began their transformation, tinges of yellow visible as they prepare for the spectacular fall foliage that we've all come to enjoy each year here in Connecticut.

Since it is nearly that time, we recently asked visitors to connecticutmag.com to tell us some of their favorite places to view fall foliage. Here are a few of the top responses:

"Litchfield County" - An all-encompassing destination, including the towns of Litchfield, Washington and Cornwall, as well as "the rolling hills" and "the northwest corner."

Lake Waramaug, New Preston - Nothing like the beauty of changing leaves reflected in a scenic lake -- if you can point a camera and shoot, you're instantly an artist.

The Route 8 corridor - Suggestions here included stretches through The Valley -- Shelton, Seymour, Waterbury, etc. -- as well as past the Naugatuck State Forest and near Torrington and Northfield.

Connecticut State Parks - Sleeping Giant in Hamden, Castle Craig in Meriden's Hubbard Park, Mount Riga in Salisbury, Macedonia Brook in Kent, and Avon's Talcott Mountain were among the numerous state parks suggested for great viewing.

Route 154 - A tour alongside the Connecticut River through such picturesque towns as Essex, Higganum and Old Saybrook is always highly recommended. Lots of great places to stop and shop or eat along here, too!

"My own back yard" - Sometimes the best place to enjoy the fall foliage is from the comfort of your own home . . . of course, until you have to rake.

If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to share!

The Next Generation

This is sort of a follow-up to recent post about the changing Connecticut roadways --

This past Saturday, I was out with my family, driving through Ansonia. After turning onto a side street, we spotted a young man (about 12 years old) on a bicycle on our side of the road, riding toward us, head down and looking at something in his right hand. His friend, who was riding on the other side of the road, saw us and shouted to him, causing him to look up and move out of the way of oncoming traffic.

As we reached the two, we saw that the kid who had been riding on the wrong side of the street had been occupied with a cell phone.

Gee, wonder where he learned that?

Staycation Nation

Gov. Rell seems very pleased with her "staycation" concept, which encourages Connecticut residents to take their summer vacations in Connecticut this year (although if the concept catches on, wouldn't that mean people in New York and Massachusetts who normally would have visited Connecticut will have to stay home, too?). Whether people are actually doing this remains to be seen (my family snuck over the border to Rhode Island for a few days), but the term "staycation" seems to be catching on. Today, I notice the Courant was talking about "daycations," meaning a brief trip that doesn't include an overnight. Then the Sunday New York Times Connecticut section devoted way to much space to the "staycation" concept. All of which makes me think there is plenty of room to take the "-cation" notion and pound it into the ground. Like this:
Haycation: An overnight for two to the Quiet Corner.
Graycation: A trip in a Buick for two older couples--men in front, women in back--to the Curtis House in Woodbury or any restaurant whose name tries to summon up the Colonial Era.
Praycation: An educational tour of notable church architecture in New Haven.
Gaycation: What'll it be--Northampton, Fire Island or that dorm at Wesleyan?
Neighcation: Off to see the Governor's Horse Guard.
Slaycation: A too-long weekend in Hartford.
Flaycation: A multiday food romp through Fairifield County with the noted celebrity chef.
Playcation: Taking in a show at Goodspeed.
Autodafecation: Going to view a Richard Blumenthal press conference during which he threatens to sue and punish utility-company bigwigs.
Perriercation: Sitting on the back porch with cheese and bottled water.
Oyveycation: Enough with this concept, already!!

Breaking Free of the Asphalt Jungle?

As we all deal with higher gas prices, I was impressed by this story out yesterday about how Americans drove nearly 9.6 billion less miles in May. That's a whole lot less miles -- about equal to driving to the sun and back 50 times.

Wow.

To save money like everyone else, I have tried to cut my own driving by combining trips, but there's got to be a few people out there making significant cuts to balance that out. Doing some simple math, with around 200 million licensed drivers in the U.S., that means each would have to average driving 48 miles less last month to equal the 9.6 billion.

I guess mass transit and carpooling can work after all.

Aside from less traffic, I've noticed a few subtle changes on Connecticut's roadways.

- Less speeding. Obviously, the faster you go, the more gas you burn, so I notice that I'm getting passed less and less while traveling at 65 mph -- and that's a speed I've forced myself down to from what was more of a normal cruising speed of 70-75 mph. And yes, I've noticed a tank of gas seems to be going a bit further.

- Where have all the Hummers gone? I know of at least two people personally who have traded in their SUVs for smaller, more economic vehicles, and I have to assume that the fact Ford recently reported record losses and a move away from building larger, gas-sucking vehicles, to smaller, more fuel-efficient ones, there must be an actual trend going on here. By my own eye, there seems to be less on the roads. Interesting.

Of course, traveling by car in Connecticut is still less than perfect -- lots of trucks and construction projects out there. And there are still bad stretches of highway -- the I-95 corridor from Milford to New Haven, is still a dangerous drive. And I know there are others -- as a matter of fact, our monthly FIRST survey wants to know what Connecticut residents think are the worst stretches of roadway. If you have a second, click here and tell us what you think.

Dodd in Office Too Long

It is one of the great truths of holding public office that eventually, if you are in long enough, you will develop a sense of entitlement. It happens to the best of them--and the worst of them. It happens in big ways and small ways. It happens sooner to some and later to others, but it always happens. John Rowland decided to run for his third term and was ensnared by his feelings of entitlement. My own father was in Congress for 14 years and found it almost impossible to give up the little license plate that allowed him preferential treatment at National Airport in Washington. And now Chris Dodd has been in the Senate for so long, and is so immersed in its culture, that he doesn't even realize when he's been given a special deal by a lender. Or if he did realize it, he thought he deserved it. All of this points to the need for term limitations. Senators should be limited to three terms (18 years) and U.S. Representatives to 10 terms (20 years). These are generous lengths of time and will not cure the "entitlement" virus entirely. But they would save many good public servants from themselves.

Counting Down to Summer

Although we're enjoying the early vestiges of spring -- like lots of rain, flooded basements and muddy yards -- here at Connecticut Magazine, we're already planning for summer. That includes dusting off a few of our summer classics, including favorite places along the water and great summer places to eat.

But we know our favorites -- we would like to know about yours. To that end, our new online survey (the results of which will appear in the "First" section of the magazine) is an opportunity for you to share. Click here and tell us what's your favorite place along the water (Hammonassett Beach? Candlewood Lake? Waterside in Essex on the Connecticut River?), as well as your favorite warm weather place to eat (Chick's Drive In? The Spot? The deck at The Blue Oar?).

We look forward to reading what you have to say!