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◂︎ Mandy & Lexi's Connecticut Adventures
Waterford
Harkness Memorial State Park
Dates visited: 1/17/2021 & 5/27/2021
The first time we visited here was a cold and windy day. It turned out to be a good day for a walk on the beach. The waves were more violent here than the other beaches we visited. We also walked the historic grounds. We came back a second time when the weather was nicer, bringing along Mandy and Lexi's friend Cookie. It was Cookie's first trip to the ocean (if you count Long Island Sound as the "ocean"). Unfortunately, dogs aren't allowed on the beach "in season," so we had to settle for taking pictures on the rocks.
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Stenger Farm Park
Date visited: 7/16/2021
This was another day we headed to the southeast portion of the state to beat the heat. We also beat the afternoon thunderstroms that came through the Hartford area. The park is really nice. The trail is a mixture of open grassy areas that are mowed, and wooded paths. The grounds are very well maintained. I was impressed that garbage cans were distributed throughout the trail. The front of the park also features a dog park, but it was hot and there wasn't any other dogs there, so we didn't check that out.
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Connecticut College Arboretum
Date visited: 12/17/2021
This was a fun trail. The grounds are mostly in New London. The pictures below were taken on the Waterford section of the trail. You can read more about the trip, and see the rest of the photos on the New London page.
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Avery Nature Preserve
Date visited: 12/26/2022
This was a fun hike. We started at the trailhead that is off the dirt road across from Hardwick Road. We walked a loop trail, along with the spur that goes out to a staircase that leads to Scotch Cap Road. There are some ups and downs for sure, so it was a good workout. A small section of the trail runs right along side the railroad tracks that run parallel to the Thames River. The entire hike was about 1.7 miles total.
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Waterford Beach Park
Date visited: 12/26/2022
I was in the area and decided to check out the New London waterfront to see if there was any place I could take the dogs. Ocean Beach had a big sign before the parking lot that said "No Dogs Allowed", so we skipped that place and went here instead. It's one parcel over, and also one town over, but dogs are allowed here from October through May. There are two sections here. One has a short sidewalk that leads to the pretty nice beach. There are some scenic views of marsh land along the path. The other is an open grassy area that leads to some picnic spots. We checked it all out. It was pretty cold for a beach day, but the dogs decided to play in the grassy area, and I got some cool action shots. You can actually see the Ocean Beach amusement park behind the picnic area, but there is a river in between the two properties.
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Waterford Beach Park
Date visited: 4/19/2025
Since our first visit to this beach was on the day after Christmas, this visit had a completely different vibe going for it. It was an unseasonably hot day throughout most of Connecticut. Inland highs were in the upper 80's. It was mid 70's at the shore - warm enough that this beach was extremely busy, mostly with high school and college age kids, along with some families and a few people taking their dogs for a walk. It looked like a beach in the middle of July! Mandy went in the water, but Lexi didn't partake on this day. We walked the entire beach, as well as the rocky areas on each end. On the east end of the beach, you can see Ocean Beach Park in New London, which also looked busy today. The west end has a short path that leads to Camp Harkness. We also walked around the grassy picnic area, and the small wooded area behind the parking lot. The only downside of the day was the thin layer of clouds that really muted the sunshine. Otherwise, this was a great day for the beach, and much more pleasant than the day after Christmas!
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Seaside State Park
Date visited: 9/8/2023
I wish I knew about this place sooner and came on a nicer day. This is a little known state park on the site of a historical medical facility. The facility closed in 1996 when it was known as "Seaside Sanitorium". Some believe it is haunted, and when it closed in the 90's the death rate was higher than normal. The buildings are closed to the public and fenced off, but I guess kids still like to trespass looking for ghosts! We had a guide for our visit. We met a woman named Kathy who was there with her dog Boo. She had been taking her dog here for years and knew a lot about the history of the grounds. There's an osprey nest on the top of the main building, which is part of the reason the building hasn't been torn down yet. It was supposed to be partly sunny the evening we visited, but it was basically overcast when we arrived. The dark clouds helped give it that apocalyptic feel! The main thing here, is that there is a beach! Dogs are allowed in the park year round, so it's great to find another place in Connecticut where the dogs can cool off in the ocean during the summer months. (Swimming for humans is not allowed here). This was a fun and different visit, and many thanks to Kathy and Boo for being great guides!
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Seaside State Park
Date visited: 10/5/2023
I don't usually like returning to a place that we visited so recently, but we returned here less than a month after our first visit. It was another gorgeous, warm early October evening, and I needed some place I could get to after work. We arrived around 5:15, and stayed for sunset. We concentrated more on the beach than the haunted asylum for this visit. (although I stll took a few pictures of the asylum as well). I don't think pictures of the beach look that great on overcast days, so this time I made sure it was sunny and clear. We also got a short walk in while we were here. This is the end of our early October warm spell, so I was glad we were able to get one more good trip in before it gets rainy and cold the next few days.
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Cold Stone Creamery
Date visited: 11/10/2022
We stopped here on the way home from our adventures of the day. Like Dairy Queen, Cold Stone Creamery also provides pup cups for good dogs!
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Camp Harkness
Date visited: 4/19/2025
This is a state park, situated just east of Harkness Memorial State Park, that is one of the few in the country just for people with disabilities. We didn't really set out to visit it, but wound up here via a short trail from Waterford Beach Park. Dogs probably aren't allowed here, so we took a couple photos from the beach, and then headed back to Waterford Beach Park.
