I can see why people want to live here, even though it’s quite expensive to do so.

We traveled yesterday along Route 1, parallel to the interstate, on Connecticut’s coastline. What gorgeous scenery! Pulling into a fishing pier (illegally, as it’s supposed to be for locals only — sticker required), I ran out on the dock and shot some breathtaking views, like the one here.

We *almost* went into the PEZ factory store in nearby Orange, but they charged admission for the express purpose of letting you in to buy stuff. So we declined, on principle.

After sightseeing, we descended into absolute Nowheresville, near the Rhode Island border. Nothing but trees, trees, and a million more trees on a narrow road outside Ledyard. A clearing revealed a stop sign, and once we turned left, we beheld the behemoth:

And this isn’t even the whole of it. Foxwoods was not only a disappointment financially (we spent our egg of gambling fun money in amazingly short order), we were borderline ashamed of the absolute Baroque-ish excess of it all. Cavernous casinos (we counted four, but there could be others), parking garages that I’m sure rival anything Disney has to offer, and ceilings in every room that had to be 30 feet high.

It’s so huge (largest in North America, and 5th largest in the world), it never looked crowded. And the Pequot tribal council laughs allll the way to the bank. Way to turn the tables on the white man, eh? Maybe it’s about time.

Still, it was an adventure, and we were thrilled with everything else about Connecticut. This morning, we’re having coffee in Mystic with our handsome nephew Jeremy, then it’s off to Massachusetts to see what kind of trouble we can get into.

Have a great…um…I have no idea what day it is. (Good, ja??)

Fink, Pequot slave girl

PS — Happy happy birfday to our daughter-in-law Hannah, mother of the Js and talented teacher!