1. Water’S Edge Campground
City: Lebanon, CT
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (860) 642-7470
Address: 06249
Description: This family campground in northern Lebanon is set around a small lake (thus the name), where you can swim or fish. There’s also a swimming pool, basketball courts, horseshoe pits, a sand volleyball court, 2 playgrounds, paddleboats, and an arcade. They have a camp store with all you’ll need, and laundry facilities. Throughout the season they offer different activities, from pizza parties to horseshoe tournaments, but this quiet family place does not have the resort atmosphere of something like Strawberry Park. If you’d rather not sleep on the ground, there are actually 5 rental units available (cabins and trailers); otherwise, there are about 150 sites to choose from, many right around the lake and some back in the woods, if that’s what you’d prefer. The Air Line State Park Trail is only a few steps from the entrance, so bring your mountain bike or boots and set off toward Willimantic.
2. Lebanon Green And Historical Society
City: Lebanon, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (860) 642-6579
Address: 856 Trumbull Hwy.
Insider Pick:
Description: This is a must-see for anyone interested in the history of America or just being human. The remarkable mile-long green was the center of provisioning the Revolutionary War, and is surrounded by 68 historical homes. Yes, 68. One of them is the home of governor Jonathan Trumbull (who Washington said really won the war), and his red clapboard store was the War Office where Lafayette, Rochambeau, and Washington planned their moves in over 1,000 meetings during those few years. Trumbull’s son’s paintings are the ones you see in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC. Other homes include that of William Williams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; Dr. William Beaumont, father of physiology; and William Buckingham, friend of Abraham Lincoln and governor of Connecticut during the Civil War. Most of the buildings on the green are still private homes today, but you can visit the Trumbull houses and the War Office, and walk this long green, where America planned its path to freedom.
3. Air Line State Park Trail
City: Lebanon, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (860) 295-9523
Description: Called the Air Line because of its straight path, this railway was completed in the 1870s, 20 years after it was expected to be. In the 1880s fancy train cars with white-suited porters ran the line to Boston until 1902, when freights took over until the 1960s. Today you can hike or ride a 50-mile section of this wonderful path all the way from East Hampton to Putnam, though some sections remain gravel and difficult to bike. The section south of Willimantic (technically in New London County) often rises up above the surrounding swamps and woodlands on a causeway, while the northern section cuts through the surrounding rock. Rudyard Kipling rode this railroad often, and wrote, “Without a jar, or roll, or antic / Without a stop to Willimantic / Rain nor snow ne’er stops its flight / It makes New York at nine each night.” You can no longer take that train, but you can still ride the rails, and this is one of the best places to do it in Connecticut.