A Run Through the Neighborhood

I will miss our neighborhood when we move.  For almost two years we have lived in Westport, Connecticut. In August we move to Pelham, New York.  I’m sure there will be great places to run there but so far our current neighborhood has some of the best places to run out of anywhere I’ve lived. I thought I’d take you on my usual 5K neighborhood route in this blog. Unless I have regulation rage going on (I’m looking at you CASL), I’m normally about as fast as a herd of turtles stampeding through a pool of peanut butter.  I just putter along and enjoy the view.

The Greens Farms Train Station and Steam Coffee Bar is just up the street from us. I run the parking lots of the train station for hill work.

 

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On the road to the train station I pass right next to a wildlife sanctuary.10482595_10100333804460399_4445251097969735482_n10294265_10100323240345969_8115363399533078444_n10298893_10100323240770119_7583842868366151233_n (1)10421399_10100333808981339_6235670566596916606_n

 

Uphill from that is where I circle around at Burying Hill Beach.

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Burying Hill used to be called Burial Hill, not much of an improvement.  As you probably guessed from the name it is the final resting place for the town’s colonial settlers.  It’s a very rocky resting place.

 

Bench on Burying Hill Beach                          The view from Jane’s bench

 

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From there I go up Beachside Avenue, which overlooks Long Island Sound. My mom grew up on Long Island and told me she used to look across the sound to Connecticut. It’s a neat feeling to be looking back across to where mom stood over thirty years ago.

 

 

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Westport is home to a slew of celebrities like Michael Bolton, Joanne Woodward, and Phil Donahue. Martha Stewart used to live in and film out of her house on Turkey Hill, about a mile from where we are now, for over 25 years until she went to prison in 2005. The houses in Westport definitely reflect the population, here are a few photos I took on the way up Beachside.

That’s not a hotel, it’s a house.

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One of the houses has a separate entrance for worker bees.

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And another has some interesting lawn art. I guess when you are rich you eventually run out of good ways to spend your money and wind up having to spend it on things like giant pencil eraser lawn art.

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Beachside Avenue turns into Pequot Avenue and takes me into Southport. Just into Southport is where Southport Beach is. It’s much less rocky than Burying Hill Beach and has less dead people.

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I loop around once I get to Southport Beach and head back on the same route towards home.

I will be sure to scout out a cool running route in my new neighborhood and blog about the route after the big move!

 

 

 

 

8 comments

  1. Michelle, I am so glad you did this. I felt like I am there with you. I know you will miss this beautiful scenery.

  2. Hi Michelle,

    Do you happen to recall the exact location of the house so big you had to let us know it wasn’t a hotel? I wanted to check it out via bird’s-eye (Bing) and street (Google) views, but somehow I’m missing it. I assume it’s on Beachside Ave. Can you help me pinpoint it? I live in the area. (I’m off South Pine Creek in Fairfield.)

    Thanks!
    Owen

    1. Hi Owen,

      I do! It was on Hedley Farms Road near Southport Beach. Right off of Beachside I think.

      I miss running in CT, lucky you being around such nice scenery!

    2. Well, Hedley Farms was off of Sasco Creek Road very close to Beachside Avenue but not right off it.

  3. Thanks a bunch, Michelle! I’m embarrassed that I didn’t spot it on Google Maps. In my defense, the home it replaced still shows up on Bing Maps, which is why I couldn’t spot it there. On Google, though, it’s as plain as day on the current Street View. And if you toggle to the older Street Views available, you can see the former house and the period during which this current hotel, er, house was being built. Looks like construction began sometime around summer 2012.

    I drove right past it while traveling west on Beachside Avenue a few days ago and didn’t even notice it. Next time, I definitely will!

    Thanks again, Michelle.
    P.S. In case you were curious, I came across your website after making the aforementioned drive down Beachside Avenue. During the drive, I spotted that giant pencil eraser, which I had never noticed before. When I got home later that day, I had to Google it! 🙂

    1. There has got to be a story behind that giant pencil eraser. If you find out how they chose it let me know! Maybe it is a family heirloom giant pencil eraser passed down through the generations. Checked out your blog as well, love it!

      1. I don’t know how the well-to-do homeowners came to have that large eraser artwork on their expansive, well-maintained front lawn, but I do know this: The sculpture is called “Typewriter Eraser, Scale X” and was made by the husband-and-wife team of Claes Oldenberg and Coosje van Bruggen. Other examples of this piece are located in Seattle and Las Vegas and the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden in D.C. There may be more.

        From what I can tell, Oldenberg is well-known for his fiberglass and stainless steel oversized sculptures of everyday items, and as a child he had played with typewriter erasers when he visited his father’s office.

        I’m guessing Millennials would be hard-pressed to ID this old-fashioned office supply!

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