Walk in Paradise!

This morning we walked for miles at Gay City. We took the family dog Chip!

The name "Gay City" comes from the name of the ancient mill town the park includes, named after the Gay family. First settled in 1796 by Elijah Andrus, leader of a religious sect, it grew to a mill-town of about 25 families, the majority of them were Gays ( in the sense of the name only I think!) The residents kept to themselves and lived separately from other towns. They built a sawmill on the Blackledge River and a wool mill that became a successful business until the war of 1812. The mill was burned to the ground in 1830 triggering an exodus of the families to the urban mill cities. A paper mill was later built which revitalised the town but that too burned to the ground after the Civil War and the town was abandoned. Local legend has it that the park is haunted...but they were not out today because of the heat!!

It is a beautiful place to walk and find silence. Every now and then it is broken by loud crickets or bullfrogs (that I have yet to see). When they get going it is some noise!!

Today was a "down day" so that meant we did less...so after the big walk at Gay City, we shopped. I bought 2 handbags, 2 tops and a ring. I also bought the smartest pair of pyjamas that I would wear out!!

We visited the Scrapbook store so I stocked up on delightful bits and bobs for my holiday journal.

The girls are all off out to "Pig's Eye" where you buy a glass for $5 and anything on keg is $1 a glassful!! I hope they are up early for our day in Mystic tomorrow. We have a boat trip lined up, a visit to a cider mill and a tour round an old whale boat!

Having a ball....