by boat, by car, by foot- get to >> Fairfield, CT

By Karen Beaudoin

2007-10-02

Drive time
4 hrs., 24 mins./262.7 miles

Make your way to I-95, passing through NH and into MA. Take I-495 S via Exit 59 toward Worcester. Merge onto I-90 via Exit 22 toward Springfield. After 42 miles, merge onto CT-15 S via Exit 57 on the left. Next you’ll merge to I-91 S via Exit 86 toward New Haven. After 36.5 miles, merge onto I-95 S via the exit on the left. Take Exit 21 (Mill Plain Rd.), then turn left onto Mill Plain Rd. and right onto Post Rd.

Touring tips

• Fairfield will host Santa from 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on Nov. 25 at Sherman Green. The jolly old elf will arrive on a hook & ladder truck with sirens blaring and greet youngster at the gazebo. Admission’s free and there will be plenty of holiday goods and refreshments along with horse and wagon rides.
• To see all of Fairfield (and the county), try a ride with A Yankee Balloon around sunrise or sunset. Cost is $225 per person. Go to www.ayankeeballoon.com for more.

No doubt Fairfield is a residential destination for anyone who lives within the CT borders. With claims to fame that include Joe Namath, “Money Magazine” and nearby New York, Fairfield is also a pretty fair vacation destination.

Situated on the Gold Coast of CT, Fairfield boasts many neighborhoods, some which are notably affluent. In fact, in July 2006, “Money Magazine” named Fairfield the ninth best place to live in the U.S. and the top residential spot in the Northeast. The crime rate is low, the schools are great and the suburban character is enhanced by scenic Litchfield County, which is nearby. The Stepford Wives was filmed in Fairfield in 1975.

Other famous connections include past and present residents like former football star Namath, composer Leonard Bernstein, Grammy-winner John Mayer, actor Jason Robards and Fairfield native Meg Ryan.

Fairfield County offers some of the best shopping and museums in New England with the P.T. Barnum Museum and the Beardsly Zoo in Bridgeport and the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk. Nearby Danbury is home to the Danbury Fair Mall, the largest in New England.

For outdoor enthusiasts, there’s the Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Fairfield, a 160-acre wildlife sanctuary open Tuesday-Sunday ($2) which includes six miles of boardwalk trails. The Audubon Birdcraft Museum and Sanctuary, at a separate location, has hands-on exhibits including a honeybee observation hive and a six-acre songbird sanctuary.

Art lovers can check out the Gallery of Contemporary Art at Sacred Heart University, which mounts five shows each year including an annual student and faculty show, or the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University, which hosts musical and dance performances. Coming up on the schedule is “A Year with Frog and Toad,” winner of three Tony Awards, on Nov. 4 and Pilobolus, an innovative and imaginative modern dance company of bodies in motion, on Nov. 16-17. Go to www.quickcenter.com for more.

For accommodations in Fairfield your best bet is the Best Western Black Rock Inn ($129-$189) off Exit 24 of I-95. For dining try Ash Creek Saloon or Joe’s American Bar & Grill for casual fair. If you’ve got money to burn like a Stepford wife head to La Colline Verte at 75 Hillside Rd., where dinners range from $45-$80.