1. Rocky Neck State Park
City: East Lyme, CT
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (860) 739-5471
Address: 244 W. Main St. (Route 156)
Description: Rocky Neck has 150 campsites from which you can walk under the train trestle (which is cooler than it sounds) and onto the beach. There are bathhouses (not always a feature at state park campgrounds), play areas, dressing rooms, picnic tables, and, of course, the beach. Although it is “beach camping,” most of the sites are wooded, unlike Hammonasset’s huge campground down the coast. The campground is open Apr to Sept, though the park is open year-round. Junior naturalist activities and nature lectures, walks, and shows are offered throughout the summer season. This is one of the few places in southern New England where bluffs meet the sea, and the views from the top are excellent. Don’t miss the Book Barn, only a mile down the road, the best used book store in New England (possibly in America).
2. Flander’S Fish Market And Restaurant
City: East Lyme, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 739-8866
Address: 22 Chesterfield Rd.
Description: Once a small fish market, this place blossomed once the owners, Paul and Donna Formica, began selling the clear clam chowder that made them famous. Now they have a restaurant with 150 seats, and have been in business since 1983. Along with the chowder, the lobster bisque and the clam fritters are excellent choices for appetizers, while the lobster potpie or the fried seafood platter is great for a hearty shoreline meal. For dessert, the brownie sundae and the Bourbon sauce bread pudding are both delicious. Of course, you can still browse the refrigerated display cases and take home the bounty of the sea. Don’t miss the seafood buffet on Sun from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., a nice alternative to the usual eggs Benedict brunch.
3. Rocky Neck State Park
City: East Lyme, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (860) 739-5471
Address: 244 W. Main St. (Route 156)
Description: The crescent-shaped beach at Rocky Neck is not huge, but it is picturesque, with clean, finely ground sand. If you’re interested in fishing, this is a good spot to catch flounder and striped bass, usually from a stone jetty by the beach. The impressive pavilion was constructed by the Works Project Administration back in the 1930s. There is wheelchair access to a deck across Bride Brook, and an observation deck over the salt marsh. Rocky Neck is also great in the winter. Just pull off I-95 and park, walking under the railroad and coming out onto an empty beach, with crashing winter waves. In the summer, if you’re just coming to the park to sit on the beach a while, here’s an insider’s tip: Park on Route 156 just east of the I-95 connector road, and hike to the beach on the trails, which skirt the salt marsh and put you right on the bluff after crossing the railroad on a bridge. You’ll save your fee in the summer, if you don’t mind a mile of pleasant woodland walking, that is.