Welcome to My Home: Good Old Vernon, CT

One of the biggest appeals of coming to Boston College is its proximity to downtown Boston.  We all love going into the city and exploring the sights, like Newbury Street, Boston Common, and Faneuil Hall.  But guess what?  We collegiettes™ come from literally all over the world!  We grew up in one home our whole life or moved to dozens of new places.  We were raised in small towns and huge cities!  Just because we are in Boston doesn’t mean we can’t see the rest of the world.  This is a series to introduce us to the many unique and interesting places that we come from, better known as home.

Welcome to Vernon, CT!  Here, there are no skyscrapers.  There are no celebrities, casinos, or beaches, no shopping malls or movie theatres.  In Vernon, CT, there are no Starbucks (let’s all take a collective gasp now).  I know, I know… how can we possibly live without our daily dose of over-priced caffeine?  If you’re a Connecticut resident yourself, you may not have even heard of my wonderful town, but trust me, it’s a place worth getting to know, even if you can’t buy a tall soy caramel macchiato here.
 
Food
Even though we don’t have Starbucks, we have plenty of other chain restaurants (McDonalds, Friendly’s, 99, Dunkin Donuts), I promise.  But where’s the fun in that?  Here in Vernon, we have some other great eats that you can’t find just anywhere.  One of the most notable places in Vernon is a restaurant called Rein’s Deli, which won Best in Tolland County for lunch, family, and value in Connecticut’s 2011 Best Restaurants.  At Rein’s you can get anything from potato pancakes to a triple-decker turkey and bacon club.
 

 
My personal favorite place to eat is Vernon Diner.  True to the diner standard, this find is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Although they make great wraps and have killer waffle fries, you can’t leave without trying their chocolate chip pancakes, which are divine.  I could use a stack right now…
 
Entertainment
Okay, so the list is slim.  As I said, there is no mall or movie theatre in Vernon (but I promise there’s one the town over!).

Golf Land:That’s right.  Mini golf, batting cages, go-karts, and an arcade.  Obviously I’ve had my birthday here… as has every other Vernon child under the age of 15.

Spare Time: Clearly every town needs a bowling alleyand this one was just redone and is looking and smelling (they made it smoke free) great!  Every Thursday in the summer they have all you can bowl and all you can eat pizza for less than twenty bucks.  I may or may not have done this more times than I care to admit the summer before my senior year.

Henry Park:So this may not be the best place to hang out at night, but it has a lot to offer during the day!  In fact, I learned to swim at this grand old park.  Plus, every summer Vernon hosts its “July in the Sky” fireworks celebration at Henry Park.

Historical Fun (Is that even possible?)

Fox Hill Tower:This 72-foot structure is a memorialfor Vernon Veterans and is a popular destination for prom pictures.

The Tunnel: I know this sounds somewhat frightening, but I promise it’s not the scene of a horror movie.  The tunnel is just an old railway tunnel that a street now passes through.  It’s only wide enough for one car to get through though, so after school and during rush hour it causes a little bit of a traffic backup…

Other great aspects of Vernon, CT include the old Victorian Houses, the 5-mile Rails to Trails hiking/biking route, and Valley Falls Park (a popular destination for grade school field trips).  Although it may not sound like much to you, Vernon, CT is a great place to live.  So next time you’re driving on Rt. 84 and you pass the billboard that says “There’s more to do here than just cow tipping…no really,” you’ll know it’s true.
 
Photo Sources:
http://vernon.reinsdeli.com/ordereze/Gallery/Galleries.aspx
http://historicbuildingsct.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Tower-on-Fox-H…