A Glorious Summer’s Day Touring Coastal Connecticut with Friends and Dinner with Family

Sunday, August 13, 2023

Fairfield and Southport, Connecticut

A Glorious Summer’s Day Touring Coastal Connecticut with Friends and Dinner with Family

I had an absolutely fabulous Sunday! Truly, it could not have been any better.

My day began at 5.30 am when I awoke and spent some time blogging and reading. I am trying hard to finish The Covenant of Water in time for my Book Club Meeting on Tuesday evening. But I had to start thinking about Sunday service. Leslie told me that she would drop me off at church for the 8.00 am Mass.

Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church:

Leslie and I left at 7.40 am for the 8.00 am Mass and just flew down the Post Road as there was no one on the road at that early hour on a Sunday morning. It was good to be back in our church again and to get a warm welcome from Bill at the door. He, of course, asked immediately about Llew.

Nothing felt more wonderful than to be back in my beloved church again. Fr. Paul Rourke, SJ, of Fairfield University, said the Mass. My friend Patti was the Lector and I could see the delight on her face when she recognized me sitting in our regular pew. Mass was lovely. It was a thrill to be able to belt out the hymns in the right key as Frank, our Music Director, always pitches the hymns in my exact key. In Bombay, its either too high for me (and I have to sing one octave lower—which is uncomfortable) or too low and I can’t take the notes. This was just splendid. Plus, I got to sing all the familiar hymns that I love so much. It was really great.

After Mass, Patti and Bill came up to meet me. I went forward to meet Eleanor, our Parish Co-ordinator, to say Hi to her and there I met Joe—he’s the guy who was head of the volunteer weekly Counting Service I used to do of the Sunday collection. He seems to have suffered a stroke and told me he no longer does it. He also now walks with a walking stick. I guess things change as time goes by, right? Then Frank, our Music Director, came along to say Hello and it was just grand—being enveloped in the warmth of old parish friends who remember us fondly. Everyone asked after Llew and told me to say Hello to him.

Meeting Friends For Breakfast at Harbor View Bakery:

At 9.15 am, after Mass, our friends Swapna and Rasik came along to pick me up with their teenaged sons, Atharva (whom I was meeting for the first time—he was visiting from Boston) and Parth. We drove directly to Harbor View Bakery and Café which is a favorite, after Mass, of Llew and me. They loved the ambience of the place and the location and said that they would be sure to return. It is amazing how long the line to the counter was—fortunately, we were just third in line and we ordered swiftly.

I had my favorite Belgian waffles with whipped cream, strawberries and maple syrup—lots of maple syrup. It was just scrumps! The others had omlettes, pancakes and avocado on toast and, believe me, everything was so good that all of us just focused on the eating and enjoyment of our large platters. Meanwhile, we chatted, caught up and generally had a good time.

A Driving Tour Around St. Mary’s By The Sea in Bridgeport:

When we finished our breakfast, I told our friends that I would take them on a slight detour to see the area called St. Mary’s By The Sea. This is one of the prettiest parts of Connecticut and has a lovely lighthouse and a fabulous walking path alongside the water (I have often walked along it with various friends through the years). We merely drove around and realized just how beautiful this place is and how blessed we were to live here for 29 years of our lives!

Off to the Farmer’s Market:

The next item on the agenda was the Farmer’s Market (before a short detour at Marshall’s from where I picked up my favorite Italian Fiorentina set of soaps).

The Farmer’s Market in Fairfield takes place on the Town Green and I could not believe how many people were browsing the wares. It carries fresh local produce—veggies and fruit—brought from the neighboring Connecticut farms. There were also bread stalls, pastries, brownies and even artisanal soap and bath bombs. It really is great to browse through these places, but the prices are always far higher than the supermarkets (because the produce is not mass-produced). After spending almost an hour here (with the sun climbing higher in the summer sky and warming the place far more than was comfortable), we piled back into the car and started our driving tour of our beautiful coastal Connecticut.

Off to Southport and Fairfield as our Driving Tour Continues:

Our driving tour continued as I began at Sasco Hill, then on to Sasco Beach and took our friends through the most ritzy parts of western coastal Connecticut. They had already begun to explore the beaches and had seen Jennings and Penfield Beaches. They had also been to Sasco—so we did not get off at these places.

We then moved on towards Harbor Road and got off at the Tide Mill Landing, where we took pictures and watched a man fishing. He had caught a turtle and also at least half a dozen crabs! We took a lot of pictures in this pretty area before heading off along Harbor Road towards the Pequot Yacht Club and the Old Yacht Yard. Then, we headed back to Southport Harbor where we got off and took a bunch of photographs. Of course, they were fully enchanted by the harbor and the marina and the bird sighting (we saw a magnificent black cormorant there). Once again, it occurred to me how lucky we were to live in such a beautiful place and for so many years and how completely I had embraced the area, gotten to know every tiny by lane of it and how entirely it had stolen my heart away. I have them a short history lesson on the success of the Southport Globe onion and the manner in which it made money in the 19th century for the farmers and agriculturists of the neighborhood. They were fascinated. I told them about Perry Green—about the three mansions facing the marina that belonged to the three brothers, etc.

We then left Southport Marina and went past Southport Village to drive along Pequot Avenue to Pequot Beach. We passed the Library and the two churches—Congregation and Trinity—and then got to the beach which was also quite packed. Everyone was swimming or sunbathing—there was hardly a parking spot available. Then, we drove ahead of it, into Westport where I took them to Burying Hill Beach where we stopped to take more pictures.

All of this driving was accompanied by commentary which they fully enjoyed and found very interesting. We then drove back to pass right by our house on Pequot Avenue. It was time to take a quick picture of it before thinking about lunch as everyone felt hungry.

Lunch at the Mhatre’s Residence:

Yes, we did make our way back to Black Road Turnpike, to the Mhatre’s residence, for cold drinks (Rasik gave me a Jameson Irish Whiskey cocktail tinkling with ice) while I went upstairs to their bedroom and began to take inventory of all the clothing that Llew has left behind with them to be brought to Bombay slowly at Rasik’s convenience. I removed everything, then carefully folded everything again, took pictures of everything to show them to Llew and packed and put them back into the bag.

I then went down for lunch which was leftovers from our dinner at their’s on Friday with some additions: we had chicken biryani (from Sher Khan in Hartford), prawn chilli fry and fresh salad with ingredients bought from the Farmer’s Market. For dessert, there was an absolutely delicious Chocolate Mousse Cake (my favorite) as it was Parth’s birthday yesterday. It was truly a delicious meal and I was glad to have them to share it with me.

When lunch was done, I said fond goodbyes to them and Rasik dropped me back to my friend Leslie’s place in Westport.

A Rest Before An Evening Out with Family-Members:

To my astonishment, I found that Leslie and Sitara had returned from their bridal shower and were chilling out at home. We chatted for just a little bit before I excused myself to have a bit of a lie-down and a much-needed rest.

A good half hour later, after chatting a bit with Llew who is still in Goa, I got up to have a shower and get ready. My brother Roger (who had just returned with his family from Montreal) was coming to pick me up at 6.00 pm and I was ready for him when he got there. We had a nice reunion and then he drove me over to his place in Fairfield.

It was nice to meet his wife, Lalita and his son Arav. Their daughter Anaya was at a 3-day YMCA Counselling Camp and was not at home. We had a very full evening as we explored the lushness of their deck and garden—full of colorful perennials and annuals. Roger definitely has a green thumb that he has inherited from our mother and, after admiring the tomatoes on their deck, we sat down to have drinks and nibbles—a Gin and Tonic for me with crisps, cheese and crackers (goat cheese, smoked Gouda), salted nuts. They were nice nibbles (not too heavy) while dinner was organized: bowtie pasta with artichokes, lemon and basil, grilled shisito peppers and grilled chicken (which was grilled in an air fryer—something that everyone is suddenly talking about). For dessert, there was Haagen-Daz ice-cream (chocolate with a dark chocolate coating which was exceptional). The evening gave way to twilight and twilight gave way to darkness as the evening lengthened and we spent a lot of time chatting and enjoying the good food and the lovely summer’s evening.

By 9.00 pm, I said bye to everyone and got ready to leave. Roger dropped me off, back to Leslie’s place, where I stayed up with them chatting for a while and sending pictures of an awesome day to my friends.

Then, sleep beckoned and I brushed and flossed my teeth and made it to bed.

Until tomorrow…cheerio!