Monday, Aug 4, we decided to take a trip down to Gillette Castle in Hadlyme. While I have vague memories of having been outside the castle I don’t think I had ever been inside before.
Due to traffic on the highway due to an accident and then construction we just barely missed our tour time, but then found out it doesn’t really matter. We were told the tickets were good for any tour time within an hour. So we got in on the next one.
Then Corinne was feeling ill and Jess took her back outside. And then she felt better and Jess got back in on the next tour time and caught up with us. So it was a rocky start.
Once inside things went more smoothly. Just barely a hundred years old it was built by an actor famed for playing Sherlock Holmes on stage. Although intricately constructed and detailed it’s not as large as it seems like it should be when looking at it from the outside. Wikipedia says it’s 14,000 square feet, which makes me think there were significant areas not included in the tour or maybe the design deceives the senses as to the size.
He built a narrow-gauge railroad around the property too and gave rides to visitors. Sadly the railroad was dismantled long ago.
After the tour we went to lunch at the restaurant next to the Goodspeed Opera House. They put a blue flower on my pasta dish.
That evening Megan and Chad ran another “The Price is Right” game for the grandkids (the one at the reunion was really for Grandma & Grandpa’s immediate children). They all had a blast. Heather won a surprise prize which is a ball on a string you’re supposed to attach to your head and punch. What could go wrong?
Corinne won a set of the hand paddles with a ball that have Velcro to play catch with. She and I played in the backyard for a bit, and eventually it was grandkids everywhere running around and having fun.