I just spent the weekend in Eastern Connecticut and really enjyed the place. Towns like Old Saybrook, Essex, Mystic and Guilford really capture that vintage and quaint New England charm. In Essex there is a nostalgic 1920's steam train that makes a scenic journey up around Deep River and drops you off at a landing on the Connecticut River for a river cruise which gives one the oppurtunity to take in the gorgeous scenery of rolling green hills and historic landmarks like Gillette Castle & the Goodspeed opera house. Eastern Connecticut has a lot of appeal with the previous stated attractions, a nice shoreline on Long Island sound, Mystic Seaport, and probably the best tribal casinos in the country (Foxwoods & Mohegan Sun). Lots of liitle towns with historic character and lovingly restored old homes.
Other parts of the state are a bit different like Fairfield county which pretty much resembles the Connecticut steriotype with wealthy bedroom communities and commuter suburbs like Greenwich, Westport, & Darien. This is where one will find the Stepford wife image.
Yes Connecticut can be quite waspy but it has its grit & grime found in places too making the state more down to earth than one could presume. Cities like Bridgeport & Waterbury have seen better days with industry having left town, kind of a sad sight to see. New Haven is home to Yale so the immediate area surrounding the campus is attractive but most of the city unattractive. Hartford has an impressive skyline for a mid sized city but those unfortunate urban planning decisions of the 1950's & 60's have really taken a lot of charcter away from the city and downtown is pretty much just a financial area with not a whole lot of vitality and the city itself has a pretty bad crime rate. Hartford may come back to life one day as it has an ideal location 2 hours from both Boston & New York and also has some very desirable suburbs.
Throughout the state the landscape has lots of rollling hills. Some of the best scenery in the state is in the northwestern corner known as the "Litchfield Hills". Also in these parts are small towns with vintage New England charm. big rolling hills, covered bridges, tall white steepled churches, antique shops & small family farms are some of the attractions one will find here and this area is spectacular to see in the fall.
Overall I think Connecticut is a good state, its progressive, scenic, mostly educated, proseperous, & historic, all elements that make New England as a whole a great place.
