STOP THREE: Norwich – The Norwich Inn 607 West Thames Street
High Roads and Low Roads (Tours)- Route 9 and a little bit of Route 9A
- From Main Street, turn left onto Market Street
- Turn right at first cross street onto Water Street
- Follow Water Street – at lights it becomes Washington Street. Go over the bridge over the Yantic River
- Go down West Side Boulevard and take a left onto Route 82 (West Main Street)
- At next lights, take a right onto Route 32 (Thames Street). Thames Street becomes West Thames Street. Follow to the signs 1.8 miles
Travel notes: This ride took me 8 minutes to traverse the 1.6 miles and I stayed there for 19 minutes. The street (Route 32) ran parallel to the Thames River. I wonder how many places are named for different places in England?
About the Norwich Inn:
This inn was opened in 1929 and it was a pretty swank place. Important people who stayed there include the Prince of Wales, George Bernard Shaw and Frank Sinatra. It had 75 rooms and backs up to a golf course. The Inn went through several owners after WWII and then unfortunately, fell into a state of decline. The City of Norwich ended up purchasing it and it was used as a boarding house, complete with an overflow jail in the basement. In 1983, it was purchased by a businessman, who added villas on the property and a spa in addition to upgrading the guest rooms. In 1994, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation purchased the property and they further expanded the spa and remained the property The Spa at Norwich Inn.
Notes from Letters:
Norwich Inn. Wednesday evening. The letter has to be written after 1934 because it mentions my mother Barbara in it. It also is addressed to Artena Jason so they are married. Notes from this letter include: “Business is terrible here this week, I suppose the reason is that our old Faber, having beaten us up, and quite a few against our brands that there is nothing we can do but play along. Next week we are to work in Worcester. I will be glad to have Joe along with me for we certainly click together and it makes it so much nicer to have someone you rather like along with you And it will make the week go faster.
Norwich Inn on a Tuesday evening. This letter again is written after 1934 because it mentions my mother Barbara in it. This letter goes into detail about a fight that they had the weekend before. Some sentences are: “This hotel dear is one of the nicest places I have ever stopped at as they have a beautiful terrace, chairs all throughout, and the hotel is done in colonial style. Even though this is a few miles out of town, it is worth it for you have an outlook on mountains and a beautiful garden. Honestly, I wish that you and Barbara were here to enjoy this with me. I know that you would love it here but dear before the summer is over, I am going to take you with me for a few weeks and let you see all the world. My check did not arrive as of yet and all of us are now broke so somebody did not have enough money to clock out of the hotel and do some thing ever over the weekend so he stayed there and yesterday he took a room here with us and left all his baggage at the Mohican so now he hast to pay for two rooms and only charge up for one well dear as soon as my check arrives, I shall send you a few dollars to hold you over until the next check comes in on Friday.” There was one line that was pretty interesting. “Here we are as it is once more, it seems our destiny to write letters back and forth.”
Notes from the visit: I spoke to the Desk Clerk who has worked there for 20 years. He showed me a picture of his aunt who got married there. He was very interested in the letters, letterhead and envelope and took pictures of them. This hotel was in direct contrast to the Wauregan, just a few miles away. I stayed there for about 20 minutes.
Waiting 