Meeting Helen and New Years at Foxwoods

My last day of work was Thursday and I had wanted to do something to celebrate.  John takes trips to Foxwoods Casino, which is on an Indian Reservation in Connecticut about 3-1/2 hours away.  It’s also close to my friend Helen’s house, so I suggested to John we go there for the weekend so I could have a chance to meet Helen in person finally! I was a little concerned about the weather as on Thursday we had a whole bunch of snow dumped on us.

img_2070b

The snow stopped early enough that we were able to finish shoveling Friday morning and still head out to Connecticut.

We arrived in the early afternoon and John showed me around the huge casino complex to get oriented. We had plans to meet Helen and her husband for dinner that night at a Thai restaurant close to our hotel. It’s always so much fun to meet a blogger in person. Unlike just meeting someone new and trying to get acquainted, you already are through the internet, so conversation is easy. I’m normally fairly reserved with people I don’t know, but this was different. We spent over 2 hours at dinner! It’s amazing how time flies when you are conversing.

On Saturday, John went to the casino and Helen (despite having a cold) and I spent the day together doing window shopping and having lunch. She took us to downtown Mystic and also Mystic Village, which is super charming. Selfie on the bridge!

img_2113b

It was a little chilly, but certainly not all snowy like we left at home! We had a good time browsing shops and chatting.  I was thrilled to finally meet Helen in real life! 😀

Here is a shot of the bridge we were standing on.

img_2115b

I just thought that was a cool shot. Very steampunk.

We had some lunch at Bleu Squid, which is kind of a strange name for a bakery/cheese place. I had a lobster grilled cheese sandwich, which was delicious!  Bleu Squid also seems to be pretty well known for their cupcakes and there were so many choices!  I picked up a cupcake for myself and one for John to have later.  Mine was salted caramel.

img_2151b

Yes, please!  This was yummy!  It had a lot of frosting on it, which is my favorite kind of cupcake.

The day went fast. I hope to come out again for a visit and maybe get Helen to come up our way!

John and I spent New Year’s Eve at Foxwoods.  Foxwoods is really 4 casinos all interconnected.

img_2147b

You can walk for miles all around the inside. Seriously – I ended up with over 3 miles of walking in the casino that night.

img_2079b

There are smoke free areas, thank goodness or I probably would have come at all. Still, walking through other areas and it was stinky. Yuck.  The casino is really pretty inside. Not quite as lavish as Vegas casinos, but very large and spacious.

img_2093b

.

img_2085b

.

img_2081b

We met a new friend:

img_2131b

There is also an outdoor skating rink. It was closed this night I think because it was raining, but it would have been neat to skate out there at night.

img_2141b

There was a ton of entertainment going on at the casino from a big ballroom event with Ice T and Coco ($$$$) to all the bars and lounges with music. Tons of people, too.  I pretty much hit my people quota for the next 6 months.

I can’t believe we actually made it to midnight. I thought I was going to conk out, but we did it!

img_2143b

I wish a wonderful 2017 to all of you!

16 thoughts on “Meeting Helen and New Years at Foxwoods

  1. Shelley B

    It’s just so awesome that you and Helen got to meet up. I agree, first time encounters with bloggers are so different because you do just start talking like you’ve known each other forever. Love that you got to see Mystic and have such a fun day together; your entire weekend sounds great!

  2. Helen

    It’s always very fun for me to read what others think of this area, and especially Foxwoods. I can remember when there was nothing there but a bingo hall, so even for us, it has been fascinating to watch it grow over the years.

    There is so much more to see around here, you definitely have to come back! I hope next time I don’t have an awful cold so you can get my actual voice in your head lol! Thank you for spending some of your getaway weekend with me, it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

  3. debby

    How fun that you and Helen finally met! It sounds like you had such a good time together. I’m with you on the smoke in casinos 🙁 But how nice that they actually had a smoke free area. I have not seen that before. Not that I frequent casinos that much. The outdoor skating rink is beautiful! In my younger days I would have loved skating on that.

  4. Fran

    So great that you and Helen met! Sounds like you had a great time together and you had a great weekend.

    All public buildings, restaurants, cinemas, you name it, here in the Netherlands are smokefree. You are not allowed to smoke inside anywhere.

  5. MB

    It’s always fun to visit the Indians but I’d rather gamble with my friends. It’s cheaper and more fun. There will be a new Wynn casino in my neighborhood soon too. Next time you’ll have to stop in Boston on the way home, or detour through Vermont, depending on whether you want more people or more trees so we can meet up one of these days.

  6. MB

    I work smack dab in the middle of all the tourist spots and live just north of the city with easy access to biking trails, beach, etc. Up north, we are in Groton State Forest with great hiking trails, lakes and scenic views. Come visit anytime!

Comments are closed.