MUSAP ~ Martha's United States of America Photos: Connecticut ~ when it rains, head to the casino.

I wanted to be on the road when school started this year so I decided an overnight to Connecticut would be fun. Mother Nature didn’t quite agree and it was a rainy day when I headed south. I had several possible locations in mind, but changed plans as the rain started coming down harder and harder. So I detoured to Foxwoods Casino for a little fun.

The weather was a little better when I left Foxwoods so I headed south again thinking I would do some photography around the waterfront in New London. As I was driving I noticed a park and decided that could a fun location so I pulled in to check it out.

I discovered it was the Ledyard Water Powered Up Down Sawmill, a National Historic Landmark. It was Labor Day and no one else was around and all the buildings were locked, but it was still a nice play to visit.

There was amazing stonework all around the property - walls, stairs. I discovered an old stone cave down a side road… wasn’t brave enough to go in to explore! I wonder if it was built by early settlers or Native Americans...

There is a pond with surrounding trails that are well maintained. There are picnic spots around the pond and swing sets too. It was a nice walk despite being soggy underfoot and cloudy above. I was having trouble with the light... and with photography it's all about the light.

I didn’t see any wildlife. I did hear a few frogs jump into the water as I got too close. There were some wildflowers that caught my eye. I didn’t notice the water droplets until I stopped to take the picture.

Next to the Sawmill Park there was a great old.cemetery ~ the Peckham - Brown - Main Cemetery. I love wandering places like this and trying to read the headstones. There are so many stories written there. Lots of really old stone here and one plain wooden cross protected by a garden gnome.

I found some mushrooms under the pines between the cemetery and the park. So of course I had to do another mushroom series… mushrooms and moss make me think of fairy worlds.

There was evidence of the changing seasons - red, orange, and yellow leaves starting to appear. This is another place that would be fun to photograph through the seasons, like Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge in Maine.