Ferris Acres Creamery
Newton

It's not often that you can eat your ice cream and save the family farm at the same time, but this creamery is one reason why the Ferris family's 80-acre dairy farm remains in business. "Besides the fact that the ice cream has a very unique creamy taste, the dairy cows that provide the milk for the ice cream are usually seen grazing in the fields by the shop." Since 2003, the Creamery has been scooping out premium-quality ice cream made from Ferris family recipes. Of the 20 rotating flavors, cake batter comes highly recommended. Milk shakes, ice cream cakes, and soft-serve with toppings are also available.

Gillette's Castle State Park
East Haddam

Actor William Gillette--the original Sherlock Holmes--built this castle on a bluff "perched atop the rolling hills of the Connecticut River valley" in 1919. From this intricately designed 24-room medieval abode, now a state park, you can marvel at sweeping views of the Connecticut River. While the park and its hiking trails are open year-round, tours of the castle operate daily from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. The rooms open to the public include nine bedrooms, seven baths, a kitchen and pantry, a third-floor suite, a library, and a study. Read more.

Angel's Watch Inn
Westbrook

Whether you take advantage of extensive wellness therapies, walk the grounds, or take a horseback ride nearby, you'll enjoy the idyllic New England charm that surrounds Angel's Watch Inn. Located in a stately Federal-style building from 1880, this romantic spot is just 30 minutes from Mystic and a little over a block from Long Island Sound. The inn's hosts, members of the Barry-Millspaugh family, are "absolutely wonderful," doing whatever they can to "give you your own private heaven." Amenities including in-room fireplaces, dual-person pedestal soaking tubs, mini-refrigerators stocked with complimentary beverages, and DVD players that are "top-notch." Relax and rejuvenate--but be sure to arise in time for the "most delightful" breakfast soup. Read more.

Modern Apizza
New Haven

"New Haven is famous for its pizza," and Modern Apizza holds its own among neighborhood rivals. Open since 1934, the restaurant's brick-floored, coal-fired oven heats up to 700 degrees, thus accounting for "the pizzas' supreme goodness." The thin crust's contact with the oven's brick floor gives it a "roasted taste and slightly blackened appearance." Seafood lovers will eat every last crumb of the white clam pizza, prepared with or without cheese, and presented with lemon wedges on top. Carnivores will crave the meaty Italian bomb. One thing's certain: everyone will find their favorite pie here. Read more.

Dinosaur State Park
Rocky Hill

If you've ever doubted whether there were dinosaurs in Connecticut, these tracks will set the record straight. In 1966, 2,000 dinosaur tracks were accidentally unearthed during an excavation for a new state building a few miles south of Hartford, and two years later Dinosaur State Park officially opened. Today, 500 of the tracks are enclosed under a geodesic dome while the other 1,500 are buried for preservation. The tracks are of "amazing quality," and the center goes beyond its display to host interactive projects for kids. With 55,000 square feet of exhibit space and two miles of nature trails showcasing plants that thrived during the Age of Dinosaurs, Dinosaur State Park encourages visitors to spend at least an hour and a half wandering the grounds. The park is open year round, and the exhibit center is enclosed, so your experience will be "weatherproof." Read more.