Exploring Stonington's Velvet Mill
Our plan was originially getting some pizza and some beer in Stonington but this place had some gems to share before we left on our way to Mystic.
Lemme tell you about the Velvet Mill. As we were driving toward the coast, we saw this giant red mill building with people walking all around it. We parked and wanted to look around since Beer'd Brewery was somewhere around there. On the corner of the mill, there was a sign of shops after shops located in the mill. We walked around to the front of the mill and saw a sign for the brewery. I assumed walking in that door would put us in the brewery. No. No, it did not.
Where it did put us was somewhere wonderful. It was like a market with stalls from independent vendors selling their wares. I strolled trough and made note of the few I was going to come back to. My mind was on the beer train and we were close to coming in the station. I look up and see the Beer'd Brewery icon slapped on a wall in the far corner. We get there and in glorious fashion, we found the brewery.
We get to the counter and order flights. This is the moment I found out how much people of Connecticut loves their IPAs. At this time, I wasn't a big fan of IPAs but we tried a good variety with different mixes of flavors. It had a nice atmosphere; everyone was having a good time and relaxing the afternoon away. Just a heads up, this is a Fri-Sun brewery. We just so happened to be in the area on the right day. After the flights, we ordered a pint of our favorites then walked back to the market.
We stopped at a stall that sold maple syrup and maple candy and picked up a little syrup container and a package of candy. If you never tried those maple candies, they are awesome! I buy them wherever I see them. It's a soft (ish) candy that starts melting in your mouth as soon as you take a bite.
We stopped at Burly Stone Soap Company's stall that offered wonderful scents. I picked up a 5 pack of sample size shop in a gift pack for $5. I kept their card because I will be buying more soap from them later. My favorite soaps were: The Camper ( cedar, tobacco leaf & campfires), and The Dude (beer, oatmeal & leather). If you want to pick any of their awesome soaps, check out their website, here.
Last stall that we hit up was actually Seacoast Mushrooms. They had a good gourmet variety and we picked up some oyster mushrooms. We strolled through the rest of the market and set off for some lunch.
I was told that Stonington Pizza Palace was the place where the locals go to get awesome pizza.
We ordered our slices and took in our surroundings. The locals we talked to were very nice and when our pizza came, it was awesome! I'm a cheese, cheese and more cheese fan myself but slap mushrooms on pizza and I'm game.
After lunch, we drove around Stonington, spotted the lighthouse and headed off to Mystic. I really liked this town and wouldn't mind coming back.
