Ventnor = Stars Hollow (No, really.)

A whimsical mother/daughter journey in search of a real-life equivalent to the small town in Connecticut from the beloved TV show, Gilmore Girls. Though Stars Hollow only exists in the show, we are dedicated to creating our own Gilmore-esque adventure!

     I've been busy procrastinating recovering, so here's a post recapping the trip... three days later. We got home on the 19th, and since returning to my sofa crease, I realized something. Stars Hollow is everywhere. Everyone has their own version of it. Mine, for example, is Ventnor. It's a small(ish) town where everyone seems to know one another. To be honest, we probably have most of the same places that Stars Hollow does. You name it, we (might) have it! For example, we have the obvious things. Like a supermarket (quite different from Doose's. No cute stock boys named Dean), a library, bakeries (like Weston's), and even dance studios (like Miss Patty's). But of course, we have our own Luke's Diner too. Except its called Hannah G's. The owner, Kevin, is just like Luke. It's kind of uncanny. Although, "Kevin's," as we call it, has WiFi and allows man buns, unlike Luke's.

To be fair, getting some of Luke's delicious pancakes will be quite difficult if you're texting while ordering.

Here's our Luke, irl (right). Let's pretend he's trying to convince Taylor Doose to not build the Ice Cream Parlor next door.

    Since watching GG, I have always wanted a best friend like Lane. Rory and Lane are inseparable, and I totally envied their relationship. Until I realized I have my own Lane. But I call her Jessica. The night we got home, I was pretty upset about something and I texted Jess. She lives in Brigantine, but for some reason, she was already in Ventnor. She was at my house in a matter of seconds so we could talk. Something Lane would do if Rory needed her. Or vice versa. We sat on my porch for awhile, and after she cheered me up a little, we got in her car and drove around. It was close to 10:00 on a Wednesday night, but that didn't stop us from blasting music and driving around Ventnor practically looking for trouble. The next day, we went to the mall and then to Books a Million (I shamelessly spent $16 on a Rory figurine and four GG buttons). When Jess and I hang out, its usually for at least 48-72 hours at a time. Since we see so much of each other, I totally feel like Rory and Lane since they (obviously) saw each other every day. Having Jessica as my best friend is another thing that makes me feel like my life is like a (slightly less interesting) version of Gilmore Girls.

Here's a greasy pic of Jess and I after we played Haunted Mini Golf on the Ocean City Boardwalk at like, 12 am.

Annndddd here's a picture of the most iconic duo in television history.

     Ventnor is my Stars Hollow, Jessica is my Lane, Mom is my Lorelai, and someday I'll find my own version of Dean, Jess, or Logan. But I'm sure that'll take some time. It took Rory quite awhile to find her boys!! For example: (To shorten these next few sentences, I'm going to start speaking Internet Teenager. Bear with me.)
     All of these ships canonically exist in the Gilmore Girls universe. Which means they were written into the original script, and not created by the fandom. The ship names, though, were created by the fans to make the couples easier to post about. Anyway, Narco (D&R) weren't a thing until the ninth episode of the first season, Literati (J&R) got together in the eighth episode of the third season, and Rogan (L&R) didn't technically get together until the 19th episode of the fifth season.

Jess, Logan, and Dean then...

Dean, Jess, and Logan in the revival!!

     Can we just take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous these guys are? And I thought they couldn't get any prettier!! Jared Padelecki played Rory's first boyfriend, Dean, so by default he's the best. Milo Ventimiglia will always be the favorite as Jess, and Matt Czuchry has a spot in everyone's hearts as Logan. Though I love them all, Jess will always be my number one. Actually, its a slight tie between Jess and Logan... Okay this is turning into a "Which of Rory's Boys Do I Love the Most?" blog. Anyway, moving on!

    In summation, I'm well aware that I can't be Rory. But I can be better than that. I can be Ellie. I can create my own Rory-esque adventure in my own Gilmore-esque town. And of course, in true Rory fashion, I'll probably keep documenting my "journey" on this blog. College starts in about two months, so I'm sure I'll be back on here comparing Rory's college experience to mine. To be fair, she went to Yale. I'm going to community college. But that doesn't mean I can't succeed in my future endeavors as well as she did. I don't want to become Rory, I want to be like her. At the end of all of this, I don't want to realize that I followed in a TV character's footsteps. I'm paving my own path. Since I want to be a writer, this blog is a good place to start. Hopefully as time goes on, I can figure out how to write a post without rambling on about random stuff! (And maybe I can learn how to write like a proper adult, and try to remember that I can't attempt to use emojis after every sentence.)

All Winding Rollercoaster Roads Lead to Stars Hollow

A whimsical mother/daughter journey in search of a real-life equivalent to the small town in Connecticut from the beloved TV show, Gilmore Girls. Though Stars Hollow only exists in the show, we are dedicated to creating our own Gilmore-esque adventure!

Readers might notice that my posts in this blog enjoy an almost-annoying length.  
If this disturbs you, please read them aloud in staccato-fast Rory and Lorelai speed.  
Or just pretend you did. Ellie and I often read things or have entire conversations in foreign accents, just to be totally obnoxious.  It makes us laugh so much, and brings us joy, so why not?  
We love words, so words expressed in various accents make life double the fun.  Right, Ellie?  

All Winding Rollercoaster Roads Lead to Stars Hollow

When did all of these people find out about Stars Hollow? 

But First Breakfast...

It was difficult to sleep off the anticipation of our Tuesday morning's adventure to Stars Hollow, so we did the next best thing to sleeping.  We ate breakfast.  The Mystic Marriott Hotel and Spa
provided ample choices for the hungry, sleep-deficient and gluten free, too.  This was our Dragonfly Inn! Sookie would have been in the kitchen, we imagined, preparing about eight different kinds of fruit trays, fresh juices and a wide array of egg-related foods for us to sample.

Mystic Marriott & Spa

Ellie loved the pancakes and bacon, while I indulged in scrambled eggs, fruit and yogurt with my green tea.  My sister Dianne ate eggs and muffins with her fruit.  It was going to be a steamy day in the Berkshires, so eating lightly and early would be the saving grace of our day. We brought along lots of water bottles for the trip. Luke's Coffee would have to wait until later.  And not by accident, Ellie wore her beloved Luke's Diner shirt for the big excursion.

(I still need to add a Photo here of Ellie in her Luke's Shirt)

You Can't Eat Legos and Other Sordid Facts

The first thing that I will point out is that you can never know the actual size of a location you visit until you are on the roads, and reading the maps.  Not the Google Maps, or Waze maps or any map that merely gives you the specifics of arrival times and faster routes.  We were bowled over by the vastness of Connecticut!  We chose to stay in Mystic because it was a historical nautical town like the ones we knew at home.  The only issue with that was it was about two hours away from our destination.  We posted in the blog about Mystic already, so you will understand why we ended up strolling the Mystic streets three times in three days! Fun shops, good food and the quaint little town beckoned to us.  Now, it was time to get to the heart of the matter.  At least or heart's matter.  Washington Depot, AKA Stars Hollow.

We passed plenty of Bob's Furniture Stores, signs for a cool-sounding Yale free concert series with Sheila E and the Stylistics, countless malls, and even crossed New London's river bridge, to name a few landmarks.  Ellie noted the big Pez Visitor Center signs in Orange, which we stored in the memory banks for later.

My sister Dianne joked that there must be comments added to the Yelp review saying, "Go to Pez! It's edible and fun.  Legos are fun, but you can't eat Legos! Well, it is not generally encouraged anyway, but we are not fans of the practice."  After five hours of driving to Mystic on Monday, then two more hours today, it was not surprising that we got a bit punchy and silly.

Tiny towns popped up on the road, each boasting an "established in 1694", or "1765", or sooner.  Most of the towns had Colonial English-sounding names or Mohegan Indian names like Naugatuck, Kent, Torrington,  New Bethlehem and a few very American names like Washington Depot.
Washington Depot was founded in 1779, current population 3,578, and is run by a Town Meeting form of government, just as it is in Stars Hollow on Gilmore Girls.  Not sure how that would work in my own hometown of Ship Bottom. Or any small beach town in South Jersey.  Beach Badges discussions alone would take up half the meeting!

Good Thing We Came in the Summer

The hilly terrain was a bit serpentine, and surprisingly steep at times.  I imagined that the stagecoaches which followed these paths in the slippery winter weather must have been very happy indeed to see a welcome sign! Did they ever talk about this kind of thing on Gilmore Girls?  New England winters are notoriously arduous.  I would have stayed in town, worn snowshoes 24/7,  and sent for everything to be delivered by USPS!  Thanks to Ben Franklin for inventing the Postal Service.




Our anticipation got the better of us during the trip, so it was a welcome surprise two hours into the trip to jostle Ellie awake, slumbering under her exploding Tardis blanket (another series obsession) as we passed the first sign our of town announcing the town of Washington Depot.  It was smallish and green, and nearly camouflaged by the massive pine trees and summer greenery popping up alongside the road.

Even Lane had trouble reaching Rory with all of those phones. 

Phone service and GPS were only scrambled temporarily as we arrived, and I was told that AT&T cellular phone towers are the only ones nearby.  That brought to mind Rory and her many cell phones for various locations, one special flip phone.  Just for Stars Hollow.  Good move on her part.

Can you BELIEVE these jersey GG fans? A blog, about us, Mom, no less? 

The car's GPS coordinates had been set directly to Marty's Cafe in Washington Depot.  This is where it is rumored that Luke's Diner was conjured up to be by Gilmore Girls show writer and producer Amy Sherman-Palladino.  Wish I had followed Luke to his Diner, or better yet, let him drive us in his truck.




Hmm. Maybe not. 

Sherman-Palladino has been interviewed about her GG creative process in detail by the fans and media. It seems that the tale of the Gilmores was brought to life in the real life Mayflower-Grace Inn.  It is the first notable sign you will see on the path as you enter town itself.  Nestled in a grove of magnificent trees and well-manicured gardens, it is also fortunate enough to be  surrounded by a gathering of a few little old white churches at the base of the hill.  Yes, we stopped at the Inn, but that is a story for the next post.

So this happened while we were in IRL Stars Hollow...

"It's a Gilmore Girls Reunion! Melissa McCarthy and Yanic Truesdale Soak Up the Sun in Greece"

Michel and Sookie met up in real life while were meeting up with Stars Hollow.

Next UP:

Ok, We Found Waldo, But Where's Rory?

Mystical Pizza, Magical Lights & Drawbridges

A whimsical mother/daughter journey in search of a real-life equivalent to the small town in Connecticut from the beloved TV show, Gilmore Girls. Though Stars Hollow only exists in the show, we are dedicated to creating our own Gilmore-esque adventure!

The Seaport Museum was worthy of a two-day sojourn alone, but these Jersey GG Fans 

needed to ration our time wisely this trip.  Next time, we will learn more. 

We arrived in Connecticut yesterday, so the festivities have begun in search of its irrepressible New England charm. Our hotel, at first glance is not unlike the Dragonfly Inn, yet it is about 90 minutes away on the coast in Mystic. We were warmly greeted at the reception desk by the manager, and headed up to the room to change into swimsuits for a relaxing soak in the hot tub.

A cocktail reception and a family style buffet dinner was waiting for us in the concierge lounge! Thank goodness, because we were famished.  We ate chicken with vegetables, and chatted wth the other guests.  We also overheard an older couple discussing visiting the Seaport, and how much they loved discovering new places together.  Cute older couples also seem to glean the best vital info, especially about things like when the servers put out the good desserts.  Eavesdropping is kind of like the old school Facebook trolling.  Maybe that is when I lost track of my purse.
The server saved the day by putting it aside for me to pick up later.  Way to go, Mom!

After we changed out of our traveling clothes, we headed to a quintessential seaport village called Mystic, complete with a drawbridge.



I liked the way the drawbridge looked from the angle.  

The adorable nautically-inspired shops and taverns called for the attention of each cute little family which strolled the sidewalks in search of homemade ice cream, chocolates and souvenirs. Strollers and wagons bounced along the sidewalks. There is even a Mystic psychic, but you probably saw that one coming. :)

The Whalers Inn was a beautifully restored building in town. 

Across the street, we saw a lighthouse in town.  

What a lovely night for a stroll. 

The town was in twilight as we windowshopped, and gazed into the restaurant entrances which were bedazzled with twinkly lights, and flanked by trees wrapped in white lights.  Most clothing, antique and gallery shops closed earlier, so if you want a souvenir you need to come in to town before 6pm.  We would easily imagine the Gilmores meeting at one of these upscale shops or sharing a slice and a beer or iced tea in Mystic.  It is about two hours from Washington Depot, so this would be nice day trip for them or anyone who likes whaling ships, seaport museums, drawbridges, ice cream and pizza.

Don't have a thing to wear?  

Well, now you can dress the part, thanks to the shops at Mystic.

We came to see one place in particular. Mystic Pizza, the inspiration for the movie starring Julia Roberts.  My son Kyle is a huge Julia fan, so this excursion was an homage to Miss Roberts and her longtime admirer. (Kyle is Ellie's twin brother. It is always a pleasure to see them talk together, especially after an extended absence. He just happens to have autism, which keeps our lives exciting and also helps us to appreciate extra unique mother/daughter travel experiences like this one!)




There is another pizza place in town, called Pizzetta, among many other enjoyable eating establishments. Both offer gluten free pizza, which made me smile. We passed restaurants and bars with chalkboard sandwich boards boasting margaritas and sangria, as well as craft beers.
Store front were smartly adorned in anchors, lobsters and whales. The themes are happily inescapable.

What drew us here ended up being less important than the town itself. It struck me that I had been here about 25 years ago, remembering only the seaport with my dad, LaQuay, who was an avid fisherman. The Seaport is so much more interactive and family friendly these days.  Lots of ongoing renovations of old structures, ample and inviting wooden benches and delightful windowboxes overflowing with bright seasonal blooms.  We even took a photo in the same area where we once sat with my dad.

The anchors seem to be everywhere, not just on the clothing.  

And they are larger than life. 

Now, I purposefully took in the neighborhood, and its surroundings with new eyes alongside my daughter and sister, who briefly worked and lived in Naugatuck, CT in the 90's. Everything from the shops to the beautiful bridge brought delight to the stroll down East Main Street. We took cell phone photos galore, until we could not see anymore. It was a peaceful, joyful night!

Sunsets on the Seaport are just what we were "weighting" for.  

Dianne let us take her photo for a change. 

The docks were safe harbor for the beautiful ships which sailed tourists all day long. 

I really enjoyed seeing these seaport houses refurbished complete with colorful windowboxes.

From Mystic to New Milford and Beyond

    A whimsical mother/daughter journey in search of a real-life equivalent to the small town in Connecticut from the beloved TV show, Gilmore Girls. Though Stars Hollow only exists in the show, we are dedicated to creating our own Gilmore-esque adventure!


 We officially arrived in Mystic, Connecticut yesterday evening. After briefly settling in at our hotel, we drove to the first "official" stop of our trip: Mystic Seaport! We found Mystic Pizza, and unfortunately, we didn't get any pizza. We did sit outside and stare at the building. Close enough, right?
     Today was the start of the real adventures. Our first stop was to Washington Depot, one of the inspirations for Gilmore Girls. A nice woman who noticed my Luke's Diner t-shirt gave me a list of places for my mom, aunt, and I to visit that were almost like the businesses in Stars Hollow. And since I'm such a mediocre great blogger, I'm going to write the list below!

Marty's Cafe and Cafe on the Green- Two cafes that could easily have been the inspiration for Luke's Diner. Marty's has the social atmosphere like Luke's, and Cafe on the Green has the matching aesthetic.

The Gunnery School- A local private school. Just like Rory's high school, Chilton.

Mayflower Grace Inn- The Dragonfly Inn and the Independence Inn were based off of this beautiful hotel. Amy Sherman-Palladino (the creator of Gilmore Girls) was rumored to have stayed here while writing the show!!

The Pantry- This small restaurant is supposed to be just like Weston's Bakery in Stars Hollow. Rory and Lorelai go there when they're mad at Luke.

The Washington Food Market- Doose's Market!! We stopped in to see if Dean was working. Spoiler alert: He wasn't. Don't worry, I didn't steal any cornstarch on my way out like Rory.

The Hickory Stick Bookshop- This place is just like the Stars Hollow Bookstore, except there's a lot more to look at.

Newbury Place- This store had Gilmore Girls merch, so of course we stopped in. (You can check my Instagram for pictures later :) #shamelessplug)

The Gazebo- Washington Depot doesn't have a gazebo, so we drove to New Milford to see the one there! (Again, Instagram will have pictures at some point lol #alwaysplug)

     After we took a few pictures in the gazebo, we drove through a few other small towns that could've been part of the inspiration for Stars Hollow. Stars Hollow doesn't exist, but I still felt like I was there. We ended our night with a swim in the pool and then a trip back to Mystic Seaport to get some ice cream. And now we're here! Mom and I are sitting next to each other typing away on our MacBooks. Let's hope our entries don't end up sounding the same. We leave Mystic tomorrow, but can't seem to decide where we want to go next. Hopefully we decide before checkout! Check back tomorrow for more updates! (She says in hopes of having actual readers)

From Ship Bottom to Stars Hollow

Jersey Girls: Connecticut or Bust...

A whimsical mother/daughter journey in search of a real-life equivalent to the small town in Connecticut from the beloved TV show, Gilmore Girls. Though Stars Hollow only exists in the show, we are dedicated to creating our own Gilmore-esque adventure!

So this is the story all about how, our lives got twisted upside down...Wait! Wrong television show reference. Let's start this again. On July 17, Ellie and Isabelle left their place of residence. That request came from... there I go again.

Thanks to growing up in Ship Bottom (a very small Jersey shore town where everyone knew everyone)  in the sixties and seventies, my brain is chocked full of sit-com theme songs and endless movie, TV and music references. My sister and I spent summers crabbing on the dock with hot dog-baited traps, catching waves and collecting shells, riding bikes and hanging out with friends on the block. But we did not miss our favorite weekly TV shows. We did not rely on VCR's, DVR's, or Netflix. Just incredible memories to retain those TV stories and ABC Movies of the Week for future reference.

Anyone who knows me is painfully aware that I can access an example of a situation for any occasion to aptly mirror the current one -- in the parable-like form of a book, TV or movie sound bite. I have always had the names of characters and the actors who play them on the tip of my tongue. My college thesis compared Dickens characters to the Muppets. Seriously. Thank goodness my daughter understands my problematic passion for creative expression. She caught the bug all on her own, which makes this Ulysses-seque journey even more like a buddy film for us. Ellie, or as I call her Isabelle (since we were both named after a long line of Isabelles back to Ireland, including my beloved mom and great aunt), has been singing to soundtracks in the car with me since she was 2, beginning with Blue's Big Movie Musical, and of course Barney's Magical Adventure. Oh, man! Now I can hear the traveling music queing up in my head, so I guess that the imaginary Lorelei I am channeling is beckoning me to load the car (sorry, no yellow Jeep in this driveway), and to remember not to oversleep --leaving no time to dress like a mature parent-- the way she did on Rory's first day at Chilton.

No cowboy boots and cut-offs here, so I will settle for the fun-sized chocolate bar journey of a lifetime with my daughter and my GG- loving sister Dianne, who will end up snapping all of the annoying GG-inspired shots for the blog. These Jersey Gilmore Girls will be sporting flip flops, drinking iced coffees and hitting Wawas before we reach the Connecticut border. Thelma and Louise? Nah. Think of it as a girl flick fashioned from a blog, made into a summer beach reading book, picked up for a movie deal on Netflix, then prompting scores of mother/daughter teams to mimic our blog and path.

Can you see where this is going? A Year In The Life: The Condensed Version

And so it begins...

Adventure begins... in like 8 hours.

    A whimsical mother/daughter journey in search of a real-life equivalent to the small town in Connecticut from the beloved TV show, Gilmore Girls. Though Stars Hollow only exists in the show, we are dedicated to creating our own Gilmore-esque adventure!

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  First post, yay!! Welcome to the blog (if anyone's reading)!! It's currently 3:00 in the morning, and I can barely contain my excitement. I'm sure you're thinking, "Ellie, why would you be so excited to drive 3 hours away to some random towns in Connecticut?" I'M GLAD YOU ASKED, IMAGINARY OTHER HALF OF THIS CONVERSATION! Gilmore Girls has helped me get through some stressful things in the past year. Things like becoming a high school senior, mourning my breakup with a guy who I thought was the love of my life, turning 18, and then eventually graduating high school. Thinking about (and possibly rewatching) Rory's journey to Yale can probably really help me when September rolls around and my college classes start. I used to always want to get into journalism, and when that's what Rory chose, I felt so unbelievably connected to her. Though it didn't work out too well for her, I still want to give it a try. I mean, she didn't write her first book until she was 32 (whoops, slight A Year in the Life spoiler). I wrote mine when I was 7. So I got her beat in the book-writing sense. In the college sense? Yeah, she totally has me beat.
     I hope this trip to Connecticut really opens my eyes and gets me thinking more about life and actually existing in the world. I don't like to leave my room too much, and just the thought of going outside gives me severe heebie-jeebies, but I'm really excited to see what new memories I can create on this trip. Of course, in true Rory fashion, I'm going to be writing and documenting the whole trip. My mother, on the other hand, will probably forget to log in to the account and record her side of the trip (in true Lorelai fashion).
     This blog may not interest everyone, but me being the nerd I am, I want to document every second of my Stars Hollow search. I will find a Stars Hollow equivalent, and I will stop for Mystic Pizza on the way. First entry done! Woohoo!! Here's to maybe like four many more!