Friday, mangofandango and I took a day-trip to visit a couple places in Connecticut we'd never been. Sarah's graduating in a year, so we're looking for places we might want to relocate to for the time being while she looks for a job. We are both fans of the cute, small-town feel of Stars Hollow in "Gilmore Girls," so our first stop was the town that inspired it: Washington Depot, CT.

There's a very pretty brook running through the center of town.	The Town Hall is grand and beautiful.	This bookstore has an excellent selection and a very small-town feel to it.	It's me, taking a photo!

Washington comprises four villages: Washington Depot, Washington, New Preston, and Marbledale. Also nearby are Roxbury and Woodbury. It's all very classic New England, and reminds me more of upstate New York where I grew up than Rhode Island does. (I grew up in the Adirondack foothills; Washington's in the Berkshire foothills.) It's a hilly area, with lots of big rocks and curvy roads. It's close to both Hartford and New Haven, and only a couple hours from New York City. I like a lot about it.

After exploring the village for a few hours, we drove (in a poorly-planned, roundabout route) to New Haven. I had recently come across a news story saying New Haven had decided that hybrid cars can park for free in metered spaces. Hooray! But then I read the fine print: only hybrids registered in New Haven and with parking vouchers are eligible. Boo.

By the time we arrived, we were starving, so we immediately sought out one of our two prime destinations: Claire's Corner Copia. We've had one of Claire's cookbooks for years, and love many of its recipes. We arrived, and got in line (they have you order and pay, then sit down, and your food is delivered to you), and when we got up to the register, lo and behold, Claire Criscuolo herself was standing there!

Sarah outside Claire's	Claire is sort of like Sasquatch; I tried to get a good, focused photo, but it just didn't work.	The vast array of delectable foodstuffs.

Claire was surprised that my name was Ryan, because she said I looked just like her daughter's fiancé (now husband — the wedding was that same day!) who is also named Ryan. She thought Sarah and I made a cute couple, so she gave us a free blueberry muffin. Sarah had delicious pasta with vodka sauce, and I had a massive, wonderful burrito, and we left stuffed. If you are ever in New Haven, go eat at Claire's.

After eating, we walked around the Yale campus, gawking at the towering stone buildings, hundreds of years old and still beautiful. I've now visited four Ivy League universities (Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Yale), two of them for the first time in the last month. (I've been near Harvard, but never on the actual campus.)

Me on the quad.	Nathan Hale was here!	Beautiful old buildings.	Sarah in the shade.

After a few (very hot!) hours of exploring, we decided to call it a day, and came home. (The rest of our photos are here.)