1. Ethan Allen Hotel
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (203) 744-1776
Address: 21 Lake Ave. Ext.
Description: This large hotel just off I-84 is the place to stay in Danbury. There are 193 rooms and suites, at a variety of prices for all budgets. It’s actually owned by the Ethan Allen Corporation, and is on their campus here in Connecticut (patriot and founder of Vermont Ethan Allen was born nearby in Litchfield). So, you can imagine they have done a good job of decorating their own hotel. The rooms all come with tons of amenities, more than your standard hotel, with great extras like robes, newspapers, and coffeemakers. The adjoining Fairfields Restaurant has been serving patrons since 1974, and the lounge is a great place for a nightcap. There’s an outdoor pool in the summer, and though this is technically in Fairfield County, the Ethan Allen is a great place to stay as a gateway to the Litchfield Hills.
2. Danbury Hospital
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Health Care
Telephone: (203) 739-7000
Address: 24 Hospital Ave.
Description: Part of the Western Connecticut Health Network, Danbury Hospital has 371 beds and employs 4,000 staff and 750 physicians. As a university teaching hospital, it is associated with three major universities: the schools of medicine at Yale University and UConn as well as the University of Vermont. Comprehensive care is available in cardiovascular services, cancer, weight-loss surgery, orthopedic and spine care, digestive disorders, and radiology. Danbury Hospital is the first in the state to be a member of the Connecticut Green Building Council.
3. Danbury News-Times
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Media
Telephone: (203) 744-5100
Address: 333 Main St.
Description: The News-Times covers Fairfield County and the southwestern part of the state, including the towns of Brookfield, New Fairfield, Newtown, Bethel, Ridgefield, Redding, Roxbury, New Milford, Sherman, and Kent. It has a circulation of about 30,000.
4. Bangkok
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (203) 791-0640
Address: 72 Newtown Rd.
Description: Bangkok was the first Thai restaurant in Connecticut, and Chef Taew has continued to maintain her exalted position many years later. The waitresses serve you at the wooden booths in traditional costumes, but this is not so much a gimmick as a reflection of the authentic food. They keep the genuine ingredients like coriander and lemongrass, which have strangely dropped off the menus of other Thai restaurants. Coconut milk, spicy shrimp, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, basil, hot chilis, noodles, rice, beef, galangal leaves, and more are all cooked freshly on the spot. The price is right here, too: Bangkok’s reputation and longevity have not caused Taew to raise the prices. If you like things really spicy, make sure to ask the waitress for it. They’ll be happy to oblige.
5. Ondine
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (203) 746-4900
Address: 69 Pembroke Rd.
Description: Ondine looks like a French country inn, right in the old “hat city” of Danbury. Inside, the Staffordshire china and comfortable chairs will put you in the mood for some creamy French goodness. Chef Dieter Thiel has done his surroundings justice. The potage billi bi is a saffron cream-of-mussels soup that will at first astonish you, and then make you fall in love. Try the sea scallops poached in white wine; few do it better. The fixed-price menu gives you a startling number of choices among the five courses, for a more reasonable price than the rest of the a la carte menu by far. If you want fine dining in Danbury, this is a clear choice.
6. Rosy Tomorrow’S
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (203) 743-5845
Address: 15 Old Mill Plain Rd.
Description: When a place advertises itself as a “historic eatery” and was founded in 1980, you might get suspicious, especially in a state with taverns hundreds of years old. However, on the menu you can read the history of “Rosy,” who by all accounts grew from an orphan into an amazing woman and patriot. Her victuals booth at the Danbury Fair ran from 1915 to 1981, and was the inspiration for this restaurant. Inside the fairly priced and decorated restaurant, you’ll find amazing burgers, including their “garbage burger,” which is a thousand times more appetizing than it sounds. Sit upstairs to look down over the bar (if you can, because the place is always packed) and try a pint of Rosy’s Ale. And perhaps ask the old fortuneteller at the entrance if you’re in for a lifetime of happiness.
7. Meeker’S Hardware
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (203) 748-8017
Address: 90 White St.
Description: In the downtown area of Danbury, you’ll find this huge brick building next to the train station and an old-fashioned Pepsi-Cola mural. It is the only hardware store in America that is also on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s been here since 1889, and was originally four stories. The top two burned down in 1896, and they’ve kept it the present appearance since then. If you’ve only been in giant warehouse hardware stores, this will be an experience (and it has great prices, too). Meeker’s is still a family business after over a century, and is a great place to go not just for your hardware needs, but to browse the shelves of history.
8. Danbury Fair Mall
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (203) 743-3247
Address: 7 Backus Ave.
Description: In 1821 a small agricultural fair began on this spot in Danbury as a venue for farmers to show off crops, cooking, and animal husbandry skills. Then in 1932 a stock car racetrack began here as well, operating until 1986 when this mall was built. We can sigh at the lost past, but should also rejoice at present opportunities. The Danbury Fair is the fifth largest mall in New England, with 200 retailers and restaurants, and is located right off I-84. The stores include all the big and small ones you’d expect to find, as well as ones like Teavana, Yankee Candle, and White House/Black Market. Best of all, you can still ride the carousel here, and you should.
9. Danbury Museums
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (203) 743-5200
Address: 43 Main St.
Description: This collection of buildings in downtown Danbury includes the John Dodd Hat Shop, the 1785 John and Mary Rider House, and the Marian Anderson Studio. The studio is probably the most moving—it’s the actual place where the opera singer rehearsed for 50 years. Her struggle for racial equality as a singer is inspiring to all. Less than a mile away, or a 15-minute walk if you like, at 120 White St. (www.danbury.org/DRM) is the Danbury Railway Museum, built in the restored Union Station that was featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. It’s full of memorabilia and model train layouts, and the yard contains 70 vintage railcars. There are very short rail rides in the yard daily, but the daylong trips to the Hudson Valley are the ticket to buy. Call for a schedule.
10. Military Museum Of Southern New England
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (203) 790-9277
Address: 125 Park Ave.
Description: This is the largest private collection of 20th-century military vehicles in America. There are vehicles from all branches of the military, from staff cars to tanks, and they range from World War I through Vietnam to the present. The biggest (not literally) attraction here is the 1917 Renault tank, the first made in the US. They have an “open turret weekend” once every month during the summer when you can climb into the tanks yourself. Along with the numerous vehicles, they have 10,000 artifacts like mess kits, uniforms, and weapons.
11. Charles Ives Concert Park
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (203) 837-9226
Address: 43 Lake Ave. Ext.
Insider Pick:
Description: Danbury’s own composer Charles Ives was the father of what in the 20th century would become known as “American music.” This Pulitzer Prize winner loved open-air instrumentation, and that’s just what you’ll get here at the Ives Concert Park in his hometown. There are essentially two levels of seating—the seats and a general admission area where you can bring a picnic (beverages must be purchased there) and sit on blankets or chairs on the lawn. If you just care about the music and not seeing the performers up close, this is the way to do it. Singers know this is the place to play, and the park’s summer schedule is packed with big names. They have a winter schedule, too, with concerts and plays at Western’s Berkshire Theatre or the Ives Concert Hall.
12. Richter Park Golf Course
City: Danbury, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (203) 792-2550
Address: 100 Aunt Hack Rd.
Insider Pick:
Description: Built in 1970, this is one of the country’s top golf courses, consistently rated and listed in numerous magazines. That’s top courses, not just top public ones, though in that case it is one of the nation’s top 25. It has challenging holes with deceptive greens, and there’s a lot of water here, coming into play on 14 holes. In 2008 they redesigned and renovated all their bunkers, and they have implemented an online reservation system. Try going early in the season when the rates are half what they are during prime time. The clubhouse and restaurant serve solid, consistent food, better than you’ll find at most other courses and clubs. Richter Park is not only golf; it offers hiking trails and tennis, as well as concerts in the summer.