Today’s day trip is brought to you by wine. Our favorite wine is from Connecticut Valley Winery, but it is over an hour from our house. So, whenever we make the trek to stock up on more wine, we try to make an entire adventure out of it. These have been our favorite stops so far (I’m sure we’ll have another Litchfield area post later this year because there are more places on our “to do” list in that area). We did this day trip as a loop adventure that made the most sense from our home, but depending where you’re coming from, you may want to alter the route to best match your starting and ending point! The way I planned it out, each stop was about 15-30 minutes from each other, so it made the drive easier to manage with lots to do!
Stop 1: Leatherman Caves in Watertown, CT was a hiking trail that did not disappoint. The trail itself is out and back and it’s a little over 2 miles but feels longer because of the terrain. It’s pretty moderate with some very steep and rocky areas (think rock scrambles and some high cliff areas that made me a bit nervous with our 2 year old when he was out of his carrier). We are avid hikers, and absolutely loved the challenge and while it was a bit challenging, both of our kids (2 and 5 at the time) did extremely well. My husband carried the 2 year old in our ergo most of the trip, so babywearing is definitely doable if you have an infant or small child who won’t be able to keep up with the terrain.
We parked in Black Rock State park and took this trail in (note: you do have to cross Route 6 briefly but it was easy when we were there. When you get to the peak of the trail you’ll come across an overlook. At first we weren’t sure how to get to the caves, so just be aware that once you get to the overlook, you have to then go back (just a bit) and look for the “Jericho Trail” sign which brings you down below the overlook where the caves actually are (they’re right below the overlook to give you an idea of how you will find them). The caves themselves are not really a “cave” but more rocky overhangs, but still very impressive. The boys enjoyed walking through the cool pathways under the big rocks – they were definitely impressed. Overall a really fun hike, and one we will likely do again.
Stop 2: Arethusa Farm Dairy (Bantam) is known for their delicious ice cream! When we visited, they were only selling prepackaged flavors because of the pandemic. We also had to pre-order and did not know this until we got there, so we ended up sitting in the parking area waiting for a bit until they could fill our order. Definitely call before you go to see what their current policies are. However, the ice cream was delicious and worth the wait. We hope to visit in the future and enjoy the ice cream shop with scoopable ice cream.
Stop 3: While you’ll likely be pretty full from the ice cream, our next stop has delicious chocolates, but can definitely be brought home for later enjoyment. Thorncrest Farm & Milk House Chocolates (Goshen) was recommended by my cousin and I’m so glad we stopped! The chocolates were delicious and hard to decide which ones to order (we tried some assorted chocolates and truffles). We actually placed our order over the phone while we were waiting for our ice cream and then picked up easily. In non-pandemic times the farm seems to offer some other fun activities (e.g. cheese making classes), so check out their website to see what their current offerings are before you go.
Stop 4: The next stop was our main attraction for why we travel to Litchfield county a couple of times a year! Connecticut Valley Winery has some incredible wines and has a great atmosphere whenever we have visited. We have interacted with the wine maker and owner a few times, and he is extremely friendly and a great resource to learn more about their unique wine making process. One of the reasons we can’t “stock up” on the wines from here is that their shelf life is only a few months because of the way they are made. While we don’t do wine tastings that much anymore since we know what we like and are usually “grabbing and going”, we definitely recommended you do a tasting if it’s your first time here. The wines are unique – ou favorite is their “Deep Purple”.
Stop 5: The last stop of today’s adventure brings some real food to the day! We have heard great things about Greenhouse Cafe and Tavern. It has an adorable outside atmosphere and there is a pond where kids can see ducks and fish and is why we were hoping to enjoy a casual outside meal here. This stop is actually still on our to-do list because when we tried to go they were having a private event and were closed. If you check them out please share with us and let us know what you think! Also, as a bonus, if you wanted to do ice cream after a meal instead of earlier in the day, they have an ice cream stand (the Frozen Gnome) right on property that you can check out too!
This was definitely a fun day for our family and we can’t wait to go back to some of these places again this spring and summer. If you’ve been to any of these locations, or you head out there after reading this, comment below about your thoughts and share on social media (#travelboundbrieres). If you have any other favorite places in the Litchfield area let us know and we’ll be sure to check it out next time we’re out there. We can’t wait to hear from you!
