6/50, unrelenting positivity returns with Connecticut.
Posted by CupBeEmpty@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 62 comments
This is our newest unrelenting positivity post.
The state in question is the great state of Connecticut. To all our foreign friends give a shout ask questions send praise. To our Americans do the same.
Ask questions, share stories, make jokes. Just remember not to be a jerk.
Recall the famous phrase my grandma invented “if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything that isn’t redemptively funny.”
Stay tuned for 7/50 after this one.
The states are in random order based on my whim at the moment.
YOUTUBEFREEKYOYO@reddit
I have no questions, but I went there a few yesrs ago (family get together at a relatives place) and it was great. My first time on the east coast, and the area was so pretty, saw a black bear and her cubs, got to go to a sick ass air museum, super cool place :)
h4baine@reddit
Mashed potato pizza sounds nuts but you crazy kids pulled it off and proved us all wrong!
PokeCaptain@reddit
Where did you see that?
Stop_Already@reddit
Bar is well known for exactly that.
PokeCaptain@reddit
Figures. That’s the one major NH pizza place I haven’t been to yet
Stop_Already@reddit
I still gotta get over to Zuppardi’s in West Haven - it’s supposed to be amazing.
h4baine@reddit
New Haven
MediumKoala8823@reddit
The grocery stores loaded with singing Animatronics are like the only good thing
KevrobLurker@reddit
Stew Leonard's.
mickeltee@reddit
New Haven pizza is seriously legit. I was skeptical about it and then I made the trip last summer. You made me a believer Connecticut.
KevrobLurker@reddit
Try the clam pizza.
PacSan300@reddit
How did it get the name of “apizza”? It sounds intriguing.
Nameless_American@reddit
It comes from the dialect spoken by the original Italian-American community there. This is why you get pronunciations like “mozzarel” in NJ (or “mootz” in New Haven).
SaintsFanPA@reddit
Best in the country, if not world.
Cool-Bunch6645@reddit
As an NJ pizza elitist I wholeheartedly agree that New Haven pizza is amazing
razzberrytori@reddit
The diners in Connecticut are amazing.
ebastacosi@reddit
The ice cream from UConn’s Creamery (Dairy Bar) in Storrs is extraordinarily good.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
There men’s team isn’t so shabby either but those women can ball. I have actually seen them play live.
(Good friend is a UConn grad)
ebastacosi@reddit
Not so shabby indeed :)
I’ve seen both men’s and women’s play there and yeah, such a great experience. Go You Huskies!
incogspeedo@reddit
The houses! So many unique, low ceiling-ed, probably haunted houses and beautiful little neighborhoods. Also the drivers seem less insane than much of New England. And Dominic Dunne.
Nameless_American@reddit
The countryside/backroads of Connecticut are a mighty fine place to be in a Miata with no real plans.
The pizza in Connecticut is fucking incredible: these people do not play, it is not a game to them. The “pizza belt” in America is real, and anywhere outside of it is suspect with exceptions of islands like Chicago.
As someone from the beating heart of pizza country (New Jersey) let me *assure you* that Connecticut is also part of it. God their pizza is so fucking good.
Bright_Ices@reddit
Spent a few years in Connecticut and had a great time. As a western states girl, I was very surprised by SO MANY TREES! The fall colors were very bright and I liked them almost as much as the funkier fall colors in my home state.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
When my ex who is from the high desert came out to New England she had this response.
Being in dense forest and it’s everywhere is weird.
Makes me really relate to fairy tales where stuff gets bad when “you have to go into the woods.”
I love the trees and they’re beautiful but it took me a minute too when I moved from the flatland and I couldn’t see the horizon all the time.
Bright_Ices@reddit
I kept getting lost on the freeways, because I couldn’t see each next town I was passing. Also, the towns are SoClose to each other. How are there 4 towns in just 11 miles?!
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Basically people all settled near where farms were and mills were built and it was so long ago that the towns all remained independent of each other even if they’re just a short walk between them.
Bright_Ices@reddit
Right, but those were my thoughts when I first got there.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I just wanted to let you know why. I used to do legal work for cities and towns in New England so you got to learn a fair amount about why they are how they are. A ton of it just being “there were two farms near this body of water.”
Bright_Ices@reddit
Thanks, I appreciate the effort, even though, in this case, the question was rhetorical and the answer was information I gathered during my time there. TBH I’m more likely then not to answer other people’s rhetorical questions sincerely, too, so really do relate to an appreciate that you did.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I just get excited on the topic. What I find even more fascinating is why some places never developed.
It’s usually pretty mundane stuff but interesting.
Like near me there’s a small river (more like a stream or brook than a big river) if you walk on it there’s a few falls that have the granite foundations of old grist mills. Often that would seed a city or town to develop. Now it’s all old forest but you can still find house foundations and rock walls all through it and the roads still have the old farm family names on them. They just didn’t become a modern town.
voltairesalias@reddit
Living in western Canada and visiting that part of the world, I was struck by the colours in the Fall. It's unlike anything I've seen before. In the West the dominant colour in the fall is just yellow. But out there you got the whole ROYGBIV gamut.
PacSan300@reddit
My only experience with Connecticut was while taking a train from Boston to New York, and I never got off. Was pleasantly surprised to see how green and hilly a lot of the state was. I was previously under the impression that it would be continuous suburbs of either of the above two cities.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
Yeah people often don’t realize that even in the northeast corridor there’s a lot of open forest still
ChemistRemote7182@reddit
I actually really like the Merritt. No where for staties to sit and hide, a bit twisty and windy, traffic does 70 mph in a 45, entry "ramps" are tiny and incredibly dangerous, rest stops are decently clean. Very Mad Max, though the downside of very Mad Max would be very Mad Max crashes and back ups resulting. Plus there is a helicopter factory and tunnels!
madogvelkor@reddit
What's funny is my wife is afraid to drive on I-95 and I-91 and will only drive on the Merritt.
twowrist@reddit
I used to love that drive. But now, if I had to drive that trip to NYC, I’d probably go through Danbury. My reflexes aren’t what they used to be. But the train is better.
Ok_Gas5386@reddit
The Merritt is fun as long as it’s moving! Feels like going back in time to the 1930s.
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I am filled with loathing and disgust at this comment. But yes, find joy and goodness in all things.
When I hit the Merritt I’m like “ok I know what I have gotten myself into.”
This a perfect response to unrelenting positivity.
WildlifePolicyChick@reddit
The only thing I know about Connecticut is that I live on Connecticut Avenue in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of DC. I personally believe it is the best residential street in the city, and I love it.
#TeamConnAveNWDC
saejawn@reddit
Clams Pizza College Basketball
… or any combination of the 3!
Weary_Capital_1379@reddit
Lived in Ridgefield for 22 years. Nice place to live.
Snoo_31427@reddit
It’s fun to mispronounce!
latelyimawake@reddit
Clam pie slaps.
That’s all I’ve got, honestly
kbivs@reddit
One time driving through Connecticut we noticed an exit that mentioned Danbury. As big John Oliver fans, I googled on my phone how close the "John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant" was. Close enough that we took that exit and found it. Highlight of the trip 😆
John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant
kbivs@reddit
When I was in high school we were studying the original 13 colonies. We learned many things about each one including who founded it. When we were studying for the test, a friend of mine gave me this gem:
You can remember that Hooker founded Connecticut because "hooks" "connect" things
Lives rent free in my brain 40 years later.
twowrist@reddit
One of my fondest memories was getting up before dawn and hiking out to East Rock in New Haven with a friend to see the sunrise.
The Mashantucket Pequot Museum, near Foxwoods, is an amazing Native American museum, with, among other things, a walk-through diorama of a village, with free audio players explaining what you’re seeing.
mmbg78@reddit
New Haven Pizza.
SaltandLillacs@reddit
Good pizza
_fenwoods@reddit
I loved growing up in Connecticut. Candlewood Lake, the Litchfield Hills, the picturesque Main Street of my hometown of Newtown with its enormous flag. IT will always hold a special place in my heart.
And God I miss living in the Pizza Belt.
orcas-@reddit
As a NYer who’s been in DC for 20 yrs. There’s very few places outside NYC id eat pizza (hello NJ) - Connecticut is the other one. But it also punches above its weight in American history, has gorgeous coast and waterways, and is where my bff raised my two lovely nephews
Latter_Praline2150@reddit
There's no better place spend the month of October.
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
It's home to the best fictional small town in America - Stars Hollow.
ABelleWriter@reddit
I grew up in Rhode Island, and went to Connecticut quite often.
I loved Mystic. God I loved that town. The aquarium was fantastic (this was the 80s, if things have changed I have no idea), good places to eat, just nice vibey coastalness.
IPreferDiamonds@reddit
Beautiful Fall foliage!
Ok_Gas5386@reddit
Northeastern Connecticut is God’s own country, necessary to balance southwestern Connecticut.
KevrobLurker@reddit
There are ferries across the Sound to Long Island, also to Block Island. You can go with or without your car. They allow you to skip driving through New York City.
DrBlankslate@reddit
Stephen King spent part of his childhood in Connecticut.
nowhereman136@reddit
Does Connecticut border the Atlantic Ocean or is it entirely the Long Island Sound?
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
It just depends on what definition you want to use.
The sound is part of the Atlantic. It’s connected, it’s the same water with no natural barrier, the water is salt, it’s tidal, etc.
You can define it otherwise for good reasons but it’s all Atlantic.
Stonington may be the most exposed part of the coast but even Greenwich is still on the Atlantic unless you want to define the Sound as not part of the ocean.
Spirited-Way2406@reddit
The locals were apologizing for the lousy fall colors the year I was there. I still have pressed leaves that I saved from that spectacular show. I've had them for almost forty years.
Melodic_Chicken_2127@reddit
"Nutmegger" is one of my favorite state demonyms, and the fact that nutmeg is not, and has never been grown in Connecticut makes it even better.
nine_of_swords@reddit
Especially since the story about it is "We're good Con-men."
CupBeEmpty@reddit (OP)
I have an old, worn to nearly shreds t-shirt that I only wear at home that says boldly across the front “nutmegger league” with a local team logo.
I always appreciated the nickname.