Niantic. Connecticut: First Photo of 2024, January 1, 2024.

I return to Niantic at least once a year, if not more. And it seems like I have started many of these yearly campaigns in Connecticut along the old Shoreline. There are a bunch of reasons for it:
A) We used to visit the in-laws on Long Island and would be heading back on January 1.
B) The Connecticut and Rhode Island shore has become associated with annual re-sets for me. It’s a new year, so what better thing to do than go say hello to the Atlantic and sit with my own quiet for a while.
C) There aren’t as many people wandering around the seashore in the winter than in the summer. I can always get a parking space and I can always get a seat.

The Villiage

Niantic is a village in the town of East Lyme, Connecticut. It has a great beach, a nuclear power plant, and apparently Priscilla Presley spent part of her childhood here. I didn’t know that until I looked it up on Wikipedia. It is also home to the Book Barn, which has an annex in downtown Niantic. They used to keep their railroad books in the annex across from the tracks, but in recent years they have rearranged the inventory. Link to the Book Barn: https://www.bookbarnniantic.com/

The village also has a nice selection of restaurants and in summer a great ice cream shop. The thing that is probably best known for it is its beach and boardwalk. If you go to the end of Baptist Lane there is a small parking lot that is easily accessible in the off-season. From here you can pass through the ``Hole in the Wall’’ a pedestrian passageway beneath the railroad tracks. There is also public restrooms here that seem to be open year round.

Once you are through the Hole in the Wall, you emerge at the start of the boardwalk and trails that lead to the beach and nearby McCook Point, which is a small park with walking paths. The view takes in Long Island Sound and you can easily see the New London ferries going to and coming from Orient Point and it also gives you a great look at the Amtrak’s Shoreline as it sweeps along the beach from the drawbridge over the Niantic River to the trees of McCook’s Point. That is about a mile in a straight line, I don’t how much it is with the curve thrown in.



The Trains

As you can see from Acela 2292 on its way to Boston, you can get a great view of the trains as they sweep around this corner. And there always seems to be a train, so if you are surprised you can usually recover. East/north bounds are easier because they blast by you and you can hear them. West/south bounds can sneak up on you, but if you train your ear you can pick up the subtle rattle when they cross the draw bridge. That soft rumble has etched itself into my mind and snaps my attention like an alarm clock now.

Shoreline East Commuter I want to make more of this blog than I have in recent years. I post photos here and tend to rush to get them up, so the text is a bit boring. I also went through a period where I thought any text at all was boring, so I cut way back on everything except to say where and when I took a shot.

I took these shots late in the morning and you can see the light is flattening out. The best shots are usually west/south bounds in the afternoon because you can stand at McCook Point with the sun at your back. Although, one of my all-time favorite shots I took here was actually on a cold, dark, winter’s day. I thought I had posted that photo here at some point, but it looks like I didn’t, so I will dig through my files to see if I can find it and post it later.

Niantic is also a great place take video because you can get long shots of entire trains rounding the curve and then zoom in on them as they are practically headed right toward you.

Is it worth a trip? I think so. In season there are lots of things to do for the whole family and off season it is still a nice walk and a great place to browse used books – if your interests drift that way.

Have you been to Niantic? Planning one? Let me know what you think. I read all the comments. Also if you have a suggestion on a place I should visit, let me know.