My hometown of Wethersfield Connecticut - settled in 1634 - nestled right between Boston and New York City

Lucky Lou's & First Church in Old Wethersfield, Connecticut on Oct 20 2016 by Paul Braren.

For a while now, I've been wanting to share a bit about my beloved hometown of Wethersfield. How nice to recently discover that a real author has already done all that legwork for me, a really nice job of putting it all together. Two quality pieces actually, just published this month. They really capture the special magic of this Colonial American town of 26,668 souls in a quiet Central-Connecticut suburb, nestled among lush green hills. A mere 2 hours drive from New York or Boston, or 22 minutes to Bradley International Airport (BDL). A short 40 minute drive to New Haven Union Station, where Metro North takes me right to NYC's Grand Central Station for about $21. Very conveniently located for getting to various computer user groups, and for various consulting opportunities I've had these past 20 years in IT.

Back in the 90s, as the local telco installer wired up my home, he mentioned I was the very first residential ISDN subscriber in town. These days, I already enjoy about 200Mbps down, and 20Mbps up for internet, a perk of living in a large metro area of nearly a million humans, where this 16 channel DOCIS 3.0 cablemodem can fly. Coming up next, fiber-based Cox Gigablast.

I've seen about 35 of the 50 United States, and I love exploring each location for unique charms. And each time I return home from one of these business trips, I realize just how fortunate I am to live right here.

You don't have to look far to see my love for where I live, such as my aerial shot here, and my Google+ background showing Old Wethersfield here.

Other than college near Boston and my 5 years in gorgeous Ithaca NY, I've been in lovely Wethersfield since age 1, and my parents and a sibling still live here. I raised my kids who went to public school here, and even married my wife in the church described by author Malerie Yolen-Cohen:

While he was in town, in 1781, George Washington worshiped across the street at The First Church of Christ, built in 1761. John Adams, too, was a guest, and after climbing the steeple proclaimed it the "most grand and glorious sight seen."

I've even had the opportunity to climb up that very same steeple myself. Glorious view indeed! Here's me flying right past that steeple, in a small plane on final approach to Brainard Airport/KHFD.

So, if you're into history, or even if you're British and still a bit miffed ;-), check out these historic articles:

• Wethersfield CT: Connecticut Started Here
  by Malerie Yolen-Cohen for Getaway Mavens, Dec 3 2015.

• 15 Cool Reasons to Visit Wethersfield, CT
  by Malerie Yolen-Cohen for HUFFPOST TRAVEL, Dec 4 2015.

If you're a TinkerTry reader and in the area and wish to say hi, please don't hesitate to contact me so we can try to arrange a meet-up!

JAN 01 2016 Update

JAN 07 2016 Update

See also some of my public Google+ photos from around town, here's some of them:

JUN 06 2016 Update

JUL 25 2016 Update

Contacted Cox about Gigablast availability at my address. Was routed to a third party representative who tried to answer my pre-sales questions, claiming that Gigablast roll-out is intended to be complete by 2017 for all Cox internet customers. I was then transferred to a Cox representative, who said the 3rd party is likely incorrect, and that Cox doesn't have a set date. She also mentioned that Flanagan's Landing Apartments in the next town over called Glastonbury is where Gigablast is first arriving in Connecticut.

Oct 20 2016 Update

Time to share two more seasons.

Sep 24 2018 Update

What a treat to learn I apparently live in The Hallmark Channel! Let me explain. My sister lives on the Broad Street Green in Old Wethersfield, and back in early September, she received a neighborly letter from a local video production company named Honeysuckle Lane LLC. The letter politely informed her that filming was set to happen right in her neighborhood from Sep 16 to Oct 04, 2018. What a surprise just how big this filming was! I grabbed some shots today to share a little look behind-the-scenes. Seems very kind of actress Alicia Witt to hang out with the locals after the long day of filming was done at The Silas W. Robbins Bed & Breakfast, as dusk settled upon our lovely hamlet of Wetherfield. Quite the crowd gathered around to watch the magic happen.

See also the many tweets under the hashtag #christmasathoneysucklelane, with an air date of Monday, November 18th at 9pm, and the movie will feature Alicia Witt @aliciawitty, Laura Leighton @LauraLeighton, and Colin Ferguson @colinferg.

Sep 30 2018 Update

More pics, from more filming today. This time, given it's the weekend with wonderful weather in the 60s, rather impressive crowds formed during the filming.

Nov 24 2018 Update

Turns out the first airing is tonight, rather than Nov 19. Apparently these actors work pretty long hours, with some of the last days of the shooting running from noon to around 2am, and I'm surprised that many of the inside shots are apparently done inside the actual buildings, rather than some soundstage somewhare.

Should be fun to watch with my extended family tonight, with so many scenes set in so many very familiar places.

Watch a Sneak Peek, a Preview + Sneak Peek, or read the summary.

It might also be streamed to cable subscribers via the Hallmark Channel Everywhere app found in the App Store or Google Play.

At 3 minutes in to this second video segment, you'll hear Alicia Witt explain that this is not a sound-stage:

That's the town of Wethersfield Connecticut, which was actually like a real-life Hallmark Christmas Movie Town. It's the oldest town in Connecticut, and we filmed in this Bed & Breakfast that is running to this day, this incredible old house...

Sep 03 2019

Here we go again!

• Christmas Movie Being Filmed In CT Town
  A movie that will air on either the Hallmark or Lifetime channels is being shot in Connecticut.
  Sep 03 2019 by Chris Rhatigan at Patch

WETHERSFIELD, CT — Wethersfield is undergoing a holiday transformation in September. A Christmas movie is being filmed in town by a Rocky Hill production company, according to an NBC Connecticut report.

The film will air during the holiday season on the Lifetime or Hallmark channels. The production team has picked a few sites for shooting, including private residences and some of the town's historic buildings.
...

Turns out they're filiming in Hartford Connecticut too!

Nov 06 2019

It's called Rediscovering Christmas, described on IMDb, debut is Dec 15 2019 at 8pm. Here's a Google Search for more info, see also Christmas Movies Filmed in Connecticut.

See also at TinkerTry

• Took a sleek Cirrus SR22 plane out for a half hour spin over Connecticut today, awesome!

• Tornadoes, hurricanes, and snowstorms motivated me to get a generator, here's a look at my ETQ TG72K12 with 8250 Watts, 14 HP, low THD, and clean sine waves

• Brushes with fame, how I (barely) missed Steven Sinofsky, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs visits to a wired, well-connected Cornell University

• Motorola Arris SB6183 16 Channel DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem, future-proof through 686 Mbps?

• Firsthand experience with ASUS RT-AC68U, Netgear R7000, and Linksys EA6900 802.11ac WiFi routers

See also

• 15 Prettiest Winter Villages in New England

• Wethersfield, Connecticut
  Wikipedia