Gillette Castle, Essex Steam Train & Becky Thatcher Riverboat – Essex & East Haddam, CT - September 6

Gillette Castle, Essex Steam Train & Becky Thatcher Riverboat – Essex & East Haddam, CT - September 6 


Today was cold and windy. Yikes! I didn’t layer enough, but it was an enjoyable day despite the cold and the rain that came later.


We started at the Gillette Castle which was really an interesting place. While not a real castle, the formidable stone structure looks like a medieval fortress and was the home of the late William Gillette, who became famous for his stage portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. He named his  84 acre estate the Seventh Sister after the most southerly hill in a chain known as the Seven Sisters.


His home was a 24 room mansion that was reminiscent of a medieval castle. Gillette designed the home and most of its contents personally. Built of local fieldstone supported by a steel framework, it took twenty men five years (1914-1919), to complete the main structure. Gillette began his semi-retirement in his new home; and in the following years, he supervised the many thousands of refinements created by local craftsmen.


The woodwork within the home is hand-hewn southern white oak. Of the forty-seven doors within the structure, there are no two exactly the same. And each door has a handsome external latch intricately carved of wood. Even the Castle's furnishings are indications of Gillette's inspirations. The built-in couches, a movable table on tracks, and light switches of carved wood all point to his creative genius.


Purchased by the State of Connecticut in 1943 from the executors of Mr. Gillette's will, Gillette Castle and the adjoining property with its fine woodlands, trails, and vistas are now administered for the enjoyment of present and future generations. 

 Gillette Castle

 views from the castle

 He had a love of trains and had his own railroad built on his property. 3 miles I think with 2 different engines and several cars for each. This one on display is one of them.

 Grand Central Station - one of the stops on his railroad

 Gillette Castle

 views from the castle

 ferry station

 the ferry

 intricate doors

 light switches

 Tiffany light

 Tiffany window

 the parlor - main entertainment room

 the conservatory

 dining area

 The fireplace owls were designed to have their eyes glow when light was behind it

 Greg shining light behind them

 door cut to fit around the chair in the corner (and his cats could come and go as they pleased)

 his study

 chair on rails not to scratch the floor

 view of the parlor from upstairs

 a device to hold the window open at different widths

 

 

His master bedroom

 staircase

 view of the ferry from the castle grounds

On the way we drove over a bridge to get there and then after to get across the Connecticut River we took the small ferry to get to Essex. We were the only ones on the ferry.

The Chester–Hadlyme ferry is a seasonal ferry crossing the Connecticut River between the town of Chester, Connecticut and the village of Hadlyme (in the town of Lyme). It is the second oldest continuously operating ferry service in the state of Connecticut and is a designated state historical landmark. 

 we are waiting for the ferry - it carries cars, people & bicycles

 here comes the ferry

 we drove on after the other car got off

 views from the ferry

 almost on the other side

On the way to Essex we stopped for lunch at a Thai place called Thai Riverside that was super good. We had lunch specials which came with soup and 2 spring rolls each and choice of entre. I had the Massaman Curry with coconut soup and Greg had Green Curry and the Tom Yum soup. We had Tom Yum soup on a visit to Malaysia this year and it was so hot you could hardly eat it. This one was spicy, but edible. 

 Thai Riverside

It was then a short drive to the Essex Steam Train. We booked first class seats for the train (swivel comfy chairs instead of bench seats) We had time to walk around the train station before boarding the train. We had about 45 minutes on the train and then we went on the Becky Thatcher Riverboat just as it started to rain. It would have been a lovely time out on the water if it wasn’t cold and rainy. We did see 4 Bald Eagles along the way. Photos were hard to get with the rain. They gave very good commentary on the ride.


After the 1 hour boat ride we boarded the Steam Train again for the 15 minute ride back to the station. 

 Train Station

 Track Side Cafe'

 Pullman dining cars for the lunch and dinner trains

 snow plow

 our train is coming

she works the lunch & dinner trains

 no one sat in the open car with today's cold & rain

 we chose this car

 views from the train

 Deep River Landing - where we later got on the boat

 Gillette Castle in the distance

 arrival at the River Boat 

 Doris Day once lived here

 Osprey nest

 Eagle - in the pouring rain

 Osprey nest

 the last flood washed the tree trunk on the rock and it'll stay there until it's washed away

Osprey nest

 Bald Eagle in nest

 Gillette Castle from the boat

 fake coyote to scare geese away

Bald Eagle

It was a nice experience with the chugging of the steam train, despite the crappy weather.

I had wanted to take either the lunch or dinner train that included both of the things we did plus dining in one of their Pullman Dining Cars, but they were sold out for all 3 days that we are here. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5akwMzSYxf8wB1L8A


We then drove back to the hotel for dinner. Tomorrow is supposed to be cool and windy, so we switched our plans to do the Thimble Islands cruise on Sunday instead. Tomorrow we are visiting Mark Twain’s House & Museum & a Rose Garden. We had hoped to visit the Capitol building, but they aren’t open on weekends.