WHERE WE STAYED, SHOPPED, and ATE IN LITCHFIELD, CT

Remember when Maddie and I did our Needlepoint Camp in Palm Beach two years ago? We had to skip last year, but this year it was back on!! In an ideal world, we would have traveled somewhere warm, but we both wanted to stay closer to home to make the trip a little easier as life looks a little different for both of us! After going back and forth on a couple of ideas, we landed on going to The Mayflower Inn in Washington, CT. It’s an easy drive for both of us and in the heart of Litchfield County.

This is SUCH a good place for a girls’ trip if you’re local and want a cozy weekend away. This is by no means a comprehensive guide to Litchfield. We were there for such a short period of time and working with the nursing and napping schedule of a six month old. (Personally, I wouldn’t recommend bringing a baby and just keeping it adults only. Jack’s my little companion right now as he never took a bottle and hasn’t quite mastered a sippy cup yet.)

One note, you definitely need a car to get around if you plan on doing restaurants and shopping and exploring outside of the hotel. There are a few different towns in the area, but they’re all about 10-20 minutes apart by car.

WHERE WE STAYED:

The Mayflower Inn

This was my second time staying here and first time since the Inn went through renovations. Much of the inn is now designed by Celerie Kemble and it is really beautiful! (Not every room has been renovated though, which I feel like is worth noting.) The absolute greatest draw of the hotel, especially in the wintertime, is The Well, the inn’s spa. Honestly, I can’t say that I’ve spent too much time in luxury spas, but I’m willing to say that The Well set a pretty high bar for me. The on-site restaurants are also pretty good. It’s the kind of hotel where you really don’t have to leave the premises if you don’t want to go too far.

Did I mention that this is the hotel that Gilmore Girls is based on?!

WHERE WE SHOPPED:

I wish we had had a few more days to poke around shops. Litchfield is known for their antiquing, but with a baby in tow it just wasn’t going to happen. (Definitely want to return!) Maddie and I still found our way to a few adorable little shops though.

Plain Goods (New Preston, CT)

Plain Goods was top of my list for places I wanted to visit. It’s such a beautiful store and it lived up to the Instagram hype, for sure. Two floors of gorgeous goods– like homewares, fashion, accessories, trinkets, and children’s items. They didn’t allow photographs inside, but I wish I could have shown you every nook and cranny!

Privet House (New Preston, CT)

This is in the same little main street in New Preston. I parked right outside of it and wasn’t sure what kind of store it was going to be… but it was such a great surprise! A lovely store with so many treasures for the home. Collections of baskets, and tableware, and odds and ends for your home. I picked up a set of wooden nesting bowls for Mike.

Little-ish (Litchfield, CT)

One of my Instagram followers recommended swinging by Little-ish and, wow, it’s the most darling toy store in the world. Honestly it didn’t even feel real– it felt like a set of a movie! It’s tucked away off the main road and the actual store is a teeny tiny bright green hidden gem. It’s not your average toy store either. I feel like often even if a store is cute, it’s usually the same kind of toys that you see in every other retailer. Little-ish has a unique curation of toys and activities for babies, children, and even tweens. I purchased little bead kits for our nieces and then a stuffed dog for Jack that he carried right out of the store.

Milton Market (Litchfield, CT)

This store is also in the same nook as Little-ish. A gorgeous selection of homewares! We could have perused this store for at least an hour.

Hickory Stick Bookstore (Washington, CT)

I always try to pop into local bookstores wherever I travel! This one is very cute from the outside and worth poking around inside.

WHERE WE ATE:

Mayflower Inn 

We ate most of our meals at the Mayflower Inn just to keep things simple. They have two dining experiences (The Garden Room, which is an elevated prix fixe menu and The Tap Room, a more casual dining experience. Well I guess three experiences when factoring in in-room dining. We didn’t make any reservations so we didn’t have to commit, so we ate breakfast in the Garden Room and then did in-room dining for dinners/dessert. I loved the French toast for breakfast, the lumaconi pasta for dinner, and the mudslide for dessert.

Arethusa a mano (Bantam, CT)

This came highly recommended. It’s part of a family of restaurants that are all a part of Arethusa Farms, which is now owned by two Manolo Blahnik executives. (There’s also a fine dining restaurant, Arethusa al Tavolo. across the street.) Arethusa a mano is a cute little cafe with a wide range of flavored coffees, bakery treats, and casual breakfast and lunch fares. I got the tuna nicoise salad over greens… it was delicious!!

Arethusa Farm Dairy

Even though a winter squall was coming through, it didn’t stop us from getting ice cream cones. We both got the sweet cream chocolate chip and agreed that it was ridiculously good.