Outlet Shopping at Clinton Crossing, Lunch with Friends at Gruel Britannia, A Special Visit to Special Fairfield Friends, A Fun Cookout with ‘Dinner Club Couples’.

Saturday, August 24, 2024

Boston-Connecticut

Outlet Shopping at Clinton Crossing, Lunch with Friends at Gruel Britannia, A Special Visit to Special Fairfield Friends, A Fun Cookout with ‘Dinner Club Couples’.

We had another glorious day today! It was all about returning from Boston to Fairfield, but en route we had such a lovely time too.

Leaving Boston and Shopping at Clinton Crossing Outlets:

We Left Andover, Massachusetts, rather early in the morning and without having breakfast as we wanted to get a head start. We had a 1.00 pm appointment for lunch with friends in Fairfield Connecticut, but prior to that, we wanted to stop at our favorite designer outlet stores at Clinton Crossing in Clinton, Connecticut, to get some shopping done. The road journey (with Llew at the wheel) was quick and uneventful and we arrived in Clinton at about 11.30 pm which left us about an hour for shopping.

It is always fun to return to Clinton Crossing and to the Westfield Outlets that are a couple of exits before it. We went to Westfield first and were absolutely shocked at how deserted the place is. Most of the designer stores have closed down and were empty—the place looked like a ghost town and that too on a Saturday! We could not believe it. I was looking for a black short-sleeved shirt with a collar but could not find it anywhere.

Not to be daunted, we drove on to Clinton. There, it did look as if everyone and his brother was out shopping. Llew specifically wanted a pair of Nike sneakers; but when he went to the store, he found the line outside it so long and the wait time to enter the store to be over a half hour! That was it! We could not afford the time. I looked for a couple of things I wanted (Clark shoes) and did, in fact, find two pairs of sandals I actually liked. There was nothing to be found in my other favorite stores: Ann Taylor, Coach, Lindt, etc. But with those sandals in the bag, we left with the thought that we would return on a weekday morning to pick up Llew’s shoes.

Lunch at ‘Gruel Britannia’:

My friend Leslie and her husband Sunil had planned with us to meet at ‘Gruel Britannia’, a little British eatery on the Post Road in Fairfield, where I love the food and the ambience (given that I am such a confirmed Anglophile). Leslie was already there when we arrived, a little after 1.00 pm and found ourselves seats in the house. Sunil, her husband, joined us just a bit later.

Before we sat down to catch up and order our food, I saw the owner of the place, Karen, whom I know well. I went up there to meet her and was quite delighted at the lovey reception I received. I asked if we could take pictures together and she readily agreed. In fact, she gave me her phone number and begged me to whatsapp them to her so that she could use them on all her social media pages. It was a lovely reunion as Karen is always warm and friendly—aside from being an amazing chef.

When I did return to our table to order, we ended up with me ordering Bangers, Mash and Onion Gravy (which was just superlative), a ⁠Turkey Sandwich with Bacon and Avocado and a Side Salad for Leslie, ⁠Shepherd’s Pie for Sunil and ⁠Coronation Chicken Salad for Llew. It was a proper pub lunch and the meal offered us an opportunity to chat about everything that has been happening locally since our departure, to the travels we had recently undertaken and our plans for the future. All too soon, it was time for us to part, but we were really pleased that we were able to see another set of friends whom we love dearly.

A Visit with Special Friends in Fairfield:

The next hour was spent in the home of our friends, the Deans, in Fairfield. They are the lovely people who had left their beautiful mountain cabin home in the Grand Tetons National Park for our exclusive use (even though none of them were staying there at the time). It was fabulous to see Virginia again and to meet Jimmy who was recovering from recent surgery. We sat outside on their deck overlooking their lovely garden and were thrilled to have the opportunity to meet their son, Jimmy, who was visiting from Montana. We were too full to have even a cup of tea with them but we did enjoy our chinwag and our chance to tell them how much we had enjoyed their mountain home and how grateful we were for the opportunity to stay in it.

An Evening’s Cookout with our Dinner Club Friends:

All that was left then was our evening’s plans—for which we were running a bit late. But we were trying to squeeze in visits with a variety of friends in different places—so it was inevitable that we would end up late at some events.

When Llew and I lived in Fairfield, we had been members of a Dinner Club that met every quarter to enjoy a meal in the home of one of our members. I had requested my friend Bonnie (in whose home we were staying) to see if she could organize one of our Dinner Club evenings while we were in town. Bonnie was quick to oblige and tried to make it happen: but, since August is such a busy month, several of the members had other plans. In the end, it was just Art and Bonnie and Dan and Amy who were free to join in.

Nevertheless, Bonnie went all out to organize a really lovely pot-luck do. For starters, there was a delicious Lamb Sausage from an Italian deli which we enjoyed with drinks on her beautifully-decorated deck. Then, Art did some fantastic grilling—we had flank steak with chimichuri sauce as his main dish and Bonnie provided all the sides: Boston baked beans, a lovely salad with ripe peaches, tomato and mozzarella, Amy brought a simple salad of arugula with shaved parmesan cheese. There was also grilled corn on the cob. For dessert, Bonnie cut us huge slices of her Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Best of all, was the very companionable chatting we did as darkness fell over Fairfield and the fireflies came out to play on the lawns. It brought back all the years of friendship that Llew and I have enjoyed with our Book and Dinner Club friends with whom we have been through so many good times and bad during our lives in the USA. It was such a lovely setting, reminiscent of the many years of Dinner Club evenings we have enjoyed through the decades.

with that, our day came to an end and we were happy to be able to simply climb up one floor and get into bed—after trying hard to give Bonnie a hand with putting things away (although she would have none of it).

Until tomorrow, cheerio…