OLD SAYBROOK 1999 12KM SHORELINE WALK (YR1486)

Connecticut Valley Volkssport Club, AVA-784

DIRECTIONS

COMMENTARY

  1. Turn right as you leave the River Mart store and take yor first right onto the Old Boston Post Road. Cross to the left sidewalk at Quarry St. (first left) and continue on Boston Post Road until you reach Great Hammock Rd., Route 154.
  
  1. Turn left on Great Hammock. Stay on the left after the sidewalk ends as you walk across the marshes. Watch the traffic!
 Restrooms are available at the Old Saybrook Town Beach.
  1. Turn right on Indianola, just where Route 154 makes a sharp left curve. Walk the short block to the water (this is Long Island Sound), then turn left on West Shore Rd. and follow the shore past Cornfield Point Beach.
  
  1. Take the fourth left onto Billow Road. At Pratt Road turn right, back toward the water, until the driveway to a large stone inn and restaurant starts. CHECKPOINT #1: Not the name of this Inn.
 The Inn is popular wedding and banquet spot. The open air deck upstairs is generally open to the public, even when events are being held downstairs. Restrooms are usually available. The site is known as Cornfield Point.
  1. Turn left on Sea Lane following the street along the water. Scenic overlooks with benches will be at various points on the right. Then take a left on East Lane and a quick right onto Route 154.
  
  1. Foloow Route 154 for several miles, at first along the beach. Walk on the right side of the road (no sidewalks). Soon you’ll pass the entry into the private Fenwick residential area where Katherine Hepburn has a house by the sea. Then cross a causeway and come to a stop sign.
 Before reaching Fenwick Point you cn see, 14 miles offshore, the lighthouse featured on our "B" award. This is known as the "Outer Light" (1886) – it has a fog signal, radio beacon, and 250-watt lamp. Actress Katherine Hepburn, who turns 92 in May, 1999, spends most of her time in Old Saybrook, where she lives a quiet and provate life. As you walk along the causeway, look back to your right to see Old Saybrook’s other light house (the "Inner Light," built in 1803) at Lynde Point.
  1. Take a right, past the Saybrook Point Inn and walk out to the water – here it’s the Connecticut River – and the flagpole.
 Restrooms available at the Saybrook Point Inn.
  1. Double back past the Inn, then cross the street toward the railroad wheels. Walk counterclockwise partly aound the foundation of the railroad roundhouse, and then to the short boardwalked area.
 At the railroad wheels wheels is the foundation of a Connecticut Valley Railroad roundhouse, built in the 1870’s and torn down about 1922. From the boardwalk you see an attempt to restore a tidal marsh which had previously been drainded. This ws the former site of a Nehantic I(ndian village, which was captured by the Pequots.
  1. At the end of the boardwalk, take the foot path to the Say Brooke fort and walk to the right, around the walls, to the statue. CHECKPOINT #2: Note the name of the statue in front of the fort.
 The fort, built in 1635 and destroyed by fire in 1647, was the first English fortification in the colony of Connecticut and was besieged for months by the Pequots. Archeologists found nothing left of the fort and constructed the outline you see now based on original plans.
  1. From the statue, walk out to College St. (Route 154), go right, then turn right again on Cromwell Place. At the end of Cromwell Place, turn left on North Cove Rd., walking along the water and then back to route 154.
  
  1. Turn right on Route 154, which becomes Main Street. At the First Church of Christ Congregational, cross to the left side of the street. Cross the Boston Post Road and return to the River Mart.
 Across the street from the Congregational Church on the historical sign (blue), you’ll learn that Saybrook, founded in 1635, was the first English settlement on the southern shore of New England. It was named after Viscount Say and Seale and Robert Lort Brooke. This is one of many 18th century homes on Main St., including the Humphrey Pratt Tavern (1785).
We hope you liked your walk through Old Saybrook today. If you have comments or would like to know more about other volkssport events in Connecticut, contact Carol or Lee West, Trailmasters, Conn. Valley Volkssport Club, 366 Main St., Wethersfield, CT 06109. 860-721-1185

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Last Updated: 04/23/1999
© Copyright 1999 Bob McDougall