The Red Chair Diaries at the Tidewater Inn

Dear Diary,

Tuesday, October 9, 2012:
     I am a humble wooden chair that's happy to be painted a bright and cheery red. I've led a quiet but interesting life in Woods Hole on Cape Cod until this year, when everything changed. My friend, Beth, took my picture and posted it on Facebook. Since then I have become very popular and have been invited to stay at inn after inn after inn, first all over Cape Cod, and now throughout New England. At each inn I am welcomed with open arms and treated like visiting royalty. It's amazing! Innkeepers love to show me the sights, and locals look at me as if I was a celebrity. How did I ever come to deserve all this? 

    Want to know where I've been and where I'm going? Look at my personal web site, RedChairTravels.com for all the details. Travel along with me vicariously.

Warren and Nora



     Today I begin my sojourn at the Tidewater Inn, a bed and breakfast inn in Madison CT, in the heart of the CT shoreline. Really. Look at a map. Madison's right in the center. Warren and Nora Strong brought me here after including me in on their harvest activities at their Fitch Clairmont Vineyard bed and breakfast in Bozrah CT. Reluctantly Nora handed me over to Victoria this afternoon, and off Warren and Nora went to find lunch.

The Hand-Off

    Now Victoria didn't waste any time. Giving me a welcome hug, she said "I know you come from Cape Cod and you've been all over the cape and explored all of its shores. You've seen plenty of sea, sand and sky, lighhouses, boats, and everything that floats. Madison's on the shoreline too, but there's more to the CT shoreline than sea, sand and sunshine. Although you can be sure we have plenty of those too, there's so much more to see and do here."

     Immediately after a warm welcome and a few hugs she whisked me off to our fist adventure - The Shoreline Trolley Museum. John Soehnlein greeted us, and Sarah from VisitNewHaven joined us for a tour of the museum where John explained and demonstrated the inner workings of a trolley and how it is powered.  Then it was "all aboard" for a trolley ride into the Branford salt marshes and Stony Creek.


All Aboard!



Waiting for the Trolley


  Waiting for the trolley's like waiting for a train. Looking forward to a fun ride.

   On board at last. Whew! That's a tall step up!

   Our trolley's a fine mid-20th-century reproduction of an earlier vintage.  The Shoreline Trolley Museum maintains nearly 100 vintage cars, lovingly cared for and restored by over 100 dedicated volunteers.


Settling in for the ride

    Settled in and looking all around. What beautiful woodwork and reupholstered rattan bench seats. The bench backs swing forward and aft for passengers to be able to change direction and always face forward as the trolley direction reverses to return to the station.


Riding Along in Style

     I had a front-row spot as we rode along the track, through salt marsh, toward the Stony Creek end of the line.
   
   Along the way John stopped the trolley and brought me down to the front, on the track, so that I could get a "Trolley's Eye" view ... to see the track the way the trolley did. 

A "Trolley's Eye" View

   A bit later John brought me out again to show me how to read the track-side signals.  Red means "don't go there." The track is occupied by another trolley.
 

Learning to Read the Signal


  Back at the Sprague station it was time to say farewell to our trolley. Sarah couldn't resist. She just "Had to sit on it!" ... meaning me, the Red Chair, of course.

Gotta Try This!

   It's been quite a day. I'm looking forward to a good night's rest at the Tidewater Inn and a yummy breakfast to start the next day. I wonder what's in store for me then?