Uncategorized – Page 3 – Stamford By Foot

Connecticut is a Car State

I don’t say this lightly as 90% of my travels around Stamford and Connecticut are done by walking, bus or train.

I can be anywhere in Stamford by walking and using the bus in thirty to fifty minutes from my house which is located close to the AITE School off High Ridge Road

I often go to Westport, CT. Using the walking, bus, train combination it will take me one hour to get to the Westport train station. Then I have the walking time to get to my destination. The journey to Westport and back will usually take three to four hours.

I have the time to walk and take mass transit. How many people in Connecticut have that much time to use mass transit?

The other issue is that the majority of towns in Connecticut are not served by train services.

If I want to go to Moosup, CT the only way is to drive. I have been to Moosup and it is located in the eastern part of Connecticut almost in Rhode Island truly the middle of nowhere.

I have a friend in Bedford Hills, NY. I could take the bus downtown, take the White Plains bus to the White Plains Train Station and then take the train to Bedford Hills. Or I can drive and be there in less than 30 minutes.

The reality is that you need a car to travel around Connecticut. We are lucky that a significant part of our workforce can take mass transit. Not everyone is able to take the train.

We certainly need to improve mass transit. We also need to improve the road system. I would like to see the state expand the Danbury Train line and speed it up. At this point it takes over an hour to go from Danbury to Stamford on a direct train. I would rather see money go to that line than spend it on a high-speed train to Boston. I would also like to fix the two on-ramps that force you to stop at the Long Ridge Entrance to the Merritt Parkway. With the amount of traffic, it is dangerous for car drivers to have to stop.

One last thought. I had to take a person to JFK airport on a Friday afternoon. I told them I would go by train as I didn’t want to spend four hours in traffic. I had to drive, that was a day of heavy rain and Metro North was flooded out the only option was driving.

We still need cars.

A New Development

I have not posted content for a while because I have been busy.

The reason I have been busy is because I am running for State Representative in the 144^th district in Stamford, CT.

I am very excited to be running for State Representative. I feel that we need more people involved in the political process and that includes me.

The 144^th district runs from the Merritt Parkway down to Broad Street. It also includes High Ridge Road and Long Ridge Road. My grandson is drawing an exact map of the district I should have it soon to post.

I am looking forward to an interesting campaign. I will be posting about the campaign for the next couple of months.

The Answer

Today I had my question answered. This question has been on my mind for many years.

The question came to me when I was visiting Zurich Switzerland. I visit Zurich quite often as my daughter lives in Zurich. Her apartment is a 15 minute drive from the airport.

When I am visiting Jennifer and family I am always walking. One day I decided to see if it was possible to walk to the airport. It is, and the walk only took 35 minutes and quite pleasant.

That walk got me thinking. Is it possible to walk to JFK Airport. Today I found the answer. It is kind of yes. I walked out of the airport.

I rode the air train to the Lefferts Blvd stop. Or better known as long term parking. From there I walked north on Lefferts Blvd out of the airport and through Queens to the Jamaica train station

It took about a hour. This part of Queens is mainly small single-family houses.

I did come across the beginning of an Indian wedding. The music was nice, and all the guests were dressed magnificently. I was kind of hoping someone would ask me to join the activities.

Taking the train from Stamford to Grand Central and then taking the train out to Jamaica and then catching the Airtrain to JFK can take a maximum of two hours. If the train schedules align you might be able to make it in 90 minutes.

It is an alternative to driving to JFK Airport. However, it is a lot of schlepping. It is a long walk from Grand Central to LIRR Annex at Grand Central. Then there are lots of escalators to go on at each change on the ride.

A Work in Progress

Stamford is always a work in progress. There are always buildings going up, roads being fixed. You name it, work is always going on.

The other day I was walking around the Bartlett Arboretum, and I discovered this work in progress.

It is beautiful. I talked to the artist, and he had been working a couple of days on it. Hopefully by the end of the week it should be done.

Bartlett Arboretum is a great place to visit. Make it a twofer. Start at the Stamford Nature Museum and walk the path to the Arboretum.

Another Sign of Spring

I have been taking the train to New Haven quite often in the last month. It takes about an hour. The train ride alternates between city, industrial and nature.

Today’s trip showed me another sign that spring is here. Looking at the salt marshes in Westport. I spotted my first egret. The egrets have returned. The nice thing about egrets is, they are easy to spot with their feathers being all white. They inhabit the marsh lands of the Connecticut coast walking in the marsh and fishing. Today I saw at least ten egrets.

There are lots of other birds in the marshes. You can also look for osprey nests. You will also be able to see herons looking for food.

New Haven is a great destination for a day trip. There is a lot to do, and IKEA is an easy walk from the train station.

The Scream Continued

Recently I wrote about the artwork “The Scream” by Edvard Munch. When I researched the painting, I learned that the artist had been walking on the boardwalk in the late afternoon. The sky was dark red. It felt the red of the sky brought out the terror in him, thus the scream.

Earlier this week I traveled to upstate New York to see the eclipse. Of course, the sky was clouded over. I did get one glimpse of the sun just before totality. Then darkness suddenly descended upon us.

I knew what was happening. My logical side of the brain said this is great. My other side of the brain wanted to scream “repent – the end is coming”. Luckily the darkness only lasted two minutes. Then it was daylight swiftly again.

All I could think is how did people in the past react when they saw an eclipse and did not know what is happening.

The birds in the area started singing when the darkness descended upon us. They were as confused as we were.

This is a picture of the shadow of the moon crossing over us. Even though, it was overcast, being there for the totality was an experience I will never forget.

Death Came Suddenly

The other day we had a Nor’easter. Rain and very strong wind most of the day. That was the problem. Between the rain it was okay to go out walking.

When the deluge and wind came, I was lucky I was inside the house.

Whoever owned this umbrella was not. I took this picture the day after. It looks like the umbrella was blown out of the hand suddenly.

I do feel sorry for the umbrella and the person. They would have gotten soaked immediately and the umbrella certainly suffered a quick death.

Wire Mill Road

I recently walked the entire length of Wire Mill Road. I enjoy walking this road. It is definitely a country road. It is challenging to walk. There are no sidewalks and in some parts of the road it becomes very narrow.

My walk started at the High Ridge Entrance. I have the Rippowam River on my left and I soon approach the tennis courts and Vodka Alley. I call it Vodka Alley because there were Vodka bottles along that stretch. I finally went with a bag and picked up 52 bottles.

Since then, I have not found many Vodka bottles at that point. I may have to change the name I gave to it.

The road certainly gives a country look. As I mentioned, the river is on the left side and houses are on the right side. The river meanders to the left and houses start to appear on the left side.

There is a beautiful stone wall. I feel that is the most artistic stone wall in Stamford.

Next up is a dumping ground for rocks. They are all over the place and most of them are good sized. I assume a glacier melted here and left all these rocks.

Civilization rears it ugly noise. I hear the cars from the Merritt parkway way before I can see the parkway.

There are many beautiful and old houses on the road.

There is a beautiful stone house on the road. There are a few stone houses in Stamford, mainly in North Stamford. They are all worth viewing at some point.

As I have said Stamford is the city of rock and water.

Wire Mill has plenty of both.

At this point you can take a bus to either end and walk the road. I believe they are going to be replacing a bridge soon and the road will be closed at that spot.

Wire Mill Road. One of many nice roads to walk in Stamford.

Zig Zag to the Point

My wife does not like to walk in NYC with me. I zig zag. When I leave Grand Central Terminal, I don’t go north then west, I go north a little bit then west then north. You know, zig zag.

The other day I left Stamford on the local train to NYC, and I got off the train at Fordham in the Bronx. My destination was the Hunts Point Produce Market at Hunts Point.

As usual I had consulted maps and had a general idea of my route. I was going to work my way east to the Bronx River and follow the river south to the point.

All I could say was it was extreme zig zagging. I went through Arthur Ave, skirted around the Bronx Zoo arriving at the river.

There was a path I could follow for a while. That ended and I had to cross over to the other side of the river and then look to where I could cross the river again.

It took 90 minutes of walking to arrive at the Hunts Point Produce Market.

The Market is huge. There are three buildings, each about 2,000 feet. Lots of activity. I had to pay $5.00 to get into the facility.

It is mainly wholesale. I am not sure if you can even buy individual produce. Needless to say, I won’t be going back there again.

One thing I have noticed when I walk through the Industrial parts of the Bronx are car repair shops. There must be hundreds of repair shops in the Bronx.

Hudson River to Hudson New York

I finally did it. I have been wanting to go up the Hudson River by train for ages. The other day I finally accomplished my goal.

The trip was enjoyable. The train leaves Penn Station in NYC and takes a little over two hours to arrive in Hudson, New York.

The train left Penn Station at 8:40; the first ten minutes was just like leaving Grand Central Terminal. Underground and dark. We emerged from the tunnels around 130th Street.

Unfortunately, it was quite foggy.

Here is a view of the George Washington Bridge. After Tarrytown the sun burned through the fog, and it was blue skies the rest of the way.

Passing through Ossining we came upon Sing Sing Prison. I believe the phrase “sending you up the river” refers to Sing Sing.

Soon it was the Bear Mountain Bridge in view. A few minutes later West Point came into view. The hills were getting bigger.

There were many sightings of wildlife. Lots of ducks and I saw two Bald Eagles on the way up to Hudson.

Arriving at Hudson in a little over two hours I was anxious to explore the town. Hudson is having a revival. The town is full of restaurants and quaint shops. There is an emphasis on antiques and vintage. The town is quite walkable. I spent four hours in Hudson and enjoyed it.

This is a picture looking at the Hudson River from Hudson and seeing the Catskills Mountains in the distance.

I was amazed at how many lighthouses there are on the river.

At this point in my travels, I would say the trip up the Hudson and taking the train along Long Island Sound are two train trips you should do.

The only drawback to going up the Hudson is you either must go to NYC or catch the train in Yonkers.