The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Date night updated
Foxwoods, other venues offer options for fun evening out
Not that I’m old or anything, but I made sure I looked up the term “date night” to see if it still meant what I think it does.
And yes, it’s “an occasion when two people who are married, or who have been in a relationship for a long time, go out together in the evening to enjoy themselves,” says Cambridge Dictionary. A tension-reliever in a stressful world,
ideally. Food and entertainment venues love the idea of date night, for obvious reasons. But Foxwoods Resort Casino wants to go one better — branding itself a date night alternative, “more than just a dinner and a movie,” says a publicist. We recently tried a few of the resort’s newer attractions at the Mashantucket destination to see how they rate for a night of food and fun.
And below, we’ll list some popular options for date night around the state for folks not looking to drive so far.
Foxwoods, now a quarter-century old, was recently chosen as the Number One Casino Outside Las Vegas in the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
The eastern Connecticut Land of Oz,
which pulses with state and regional visitors in good times but feels a bit cold and empty in bad economic times, has made several aggressive moves to soften the blow of increased competition from Massachusetts gaming (MGM Springfield opened its doors on Aug. 24 and Wynn Resorts’ Encore Boston Harbor is due in 2019).
Foxwoods still relies on gambling, of course. But adding to its excellent Mashantucket Pequot Museum for nongaming attractions, tribal officials approved the Tanger outlet mall (which links portions of vast Foxwoods in a better way than in the past), and also new food and beverage places such as Caputo and Stony Creek Brewery, not to mention high-tech attractions unthinkable during the cutbacks of the recession a decade ago.
I previously sampled the HighFlyer Zipline, which allows you to take a seated, near-mile glide ride from the top of the 32-story Fox Tower to a landing area outside the museum. It’s a sweet rush of a ride but a bit pricey at $69.
This visit’s highlight was the Monza Kart Racing attraction, fitting nicely in the basement of the Fox Tower garage. The two-level track had a media preview with Joey Logano in July, but then its public opening was delayed over concerns about humidity and moisture buildup. New ventilation and fans were installed and an August planned opening turned into a September opening.
We found the track well-equipped, with solid, extra-large helmets for a certain reporter’s big head, friendly staff and a course that gives a heart-pumping eight-minute ride (for $30) that will yield 7 to 10 laps of ups, downs and turns.
The racing cars, says Monza manager Jason Howley, “are 9-horsepower Sodi go-karts. They come from France; gaspowered karts. And ... if you know what you’re doing while you’re driving them, you can get them up over 40 miles an hour.”
While Logano did a lap in well under 40 seconds, my best lap was 59.08
seconds and it took me 5 laps to pass my wife (I guess I was sightseeing). It can get a little crazy out there when there are more drivers on the track at once, and there’s a video instruction session for what to do if there’s a spinout or something.
“If we have a yellow-flag situation on the tracks, we can slow them down,” Howley says of the cars that are somehow linked to a computerized system. “...If we have someone who is breaking the rules, or driving a bit aggressively, I can turn you off if I want to turn you off.”
At the test drive a few weeks ago, Howley said the track was getting ready to put in beer taps and a dining area on the lobby side of the glass wall leading to the track. (Monza also has a track in Wallingford, by the way.)
For food this time, we chose one of Foxwoods’ collection of Big Night Entertainment Group offerings at the resort, Guy Fieri’s Kitchen and Bar, which turns out American-style (read: tasty but high-calorie) food and some fun drinks. There was a “misunderstanding” over a drink order that seemed like brazen up-selling, but the food was good. Boston-based BNEG also runs another fun place, the beautiful High Rollers Luxury Lanes (bowling, with food and drink), along with Shrine Nightclub, Red Lantern and Scorpion Bar.
Another recent addition to “eco-tourism” attractions at Foxwoods, which sits on 1,600 forested acres, is the Thrill Tower just outside the 10-year-old Fox Tower hotel. You can do the Sky Drop, a 120-foot freefall ($15), or Sky Launch, a quasi-bungee slingshot ride that propels riders upward ($25). We chose the former, enjoying the view on the way up in the double-belted seats and chuckling at the ominous music during the pause at the top. The plunge was pretty terrifying, like one of those falling nightmares after watching a Senate hearing for too long. The landing was safe, and it’s all over in a few seconds, about as quickly as you can lose $15 on the slots.
A lesser-known attraction was next. With its animatronic zombie out front, the XD Dark Ride sits quietly in the 25th Anniversary Celebration Zone (the concourse near Cedars Restaurant) — just eight seats facing a theater screen against the wall. Added 3D glasses provide a virtual experience with stereoscopic graphics, and a shooting device is wielded during the two available movies. We chose the most popular one, with zombies attacking after your vehicle crashes in the woods. It’s intense and jolting but sure to please horror and video game fans. Again, it’s pretty brief and costs adults $10.99.
If you’re staying over, the Grand Pequot Tower is tops (with a tony indoor pool), the Great Cedar is also wellrated and the Fox Tower is roomy with good views (it has a seasonal outdoor pool but only access to a smaller pool at Great Cedar instead of the Grand Pequot pool). Also, the Two Trees Inn is across the road from the casinos, with its own indoor pool.
Foxwoods is so big that you can easily total 10,000 steps on your Fitbit if you’re moving about the resort. But in decent autumn weather, you may want to get out and enjoy the outdoors before or after your date night. Foxwoods has a few trails that lead from the Great Cedar Parking Garage to and around the museum OR away from the resort to Lantern Hill and pond. We chose the Woods Trail, which you can pick up from the rear of the parking lot at Two Trees Inn (since part of the trails near the casino runs along a busy access road).
The trail soon leads you to a road, where you go right and walk 100 yards to pick up the (unsigned) continuation of the wooded trails that leads to the hill or pond and back. From the motor inn lot, it’s less than a 2-mile walk.
The thrill rides and trails add more than the expected level of activity to date night, so an outing at Foxwoods certainly fits today’s busy lifestyle better than a film and buttered popcorn. It’s a date night on steroids, without any heavy lifting. Whether it’s refreshing may depend on your choices and pace, your luck if you venture onto the casino floor and the depth of your pockets to start.
Speaking of choices and expenses, here are other options for a fun couple’s night out around the state, costing an estimated $100$300:
The Shubert Theatre’s Broadway Series (or most of its one-night bookings) are a lively and classy option. (If you don’t like parking in the garage, park around the Green or up Chapel or High Street and walk over). Precede the show with a dinner at one of New Haven’s fine restaurants, from Pepe’s or Modern Apizza to Goodfellas on State Street to (near the center) Prime 16, Zinc, Barcelona or (my son’s go-to place) Geronimo.
In the same vein, you can do a show at Long Wharf or Yale Rep (heady and challenging fare), which you can contrast with a lighteratmosphere meal at Shake Shack, BAR or Brazi’s.
Completing the trilogy of New Haven date nights, try the New Haven Symphony at Woolsey (or its bouncier fare at Hamden and Shelton pops concerts) and a meal at Miya’s Sushi, the renowned sustainable seafood eatery on Howe Street. Yale’s museums are also awesome, but you’ll need to go during day hours, usually.
If you’d like to make a visit to some of the area music clubs for a concert (a throwback if you’re no longer in your 20s), there is new-ish music at College Street Music Hall, Space Ballroom in Hamden, Firehouse 12 for jazz in New Haven and other small to medium-sized venues. If you’re near the shoreline, there are plenty of seafood joints on the way, from Skipper’s in Niantic to Edd’s Place in Westbrook (BYOB!) to Lenny and Joe’s Fish Tale in New Haven and Captain’s Catch in Milford.
For folks away from the shoreline, Hartford is a very reachable location for theater. Hartford Stage does a very good job and The Bushnell is a larger, more ornate version of The Shubert, with free parking across the street! Pair that with Peppercorn’s restaurant nearby (nice happy hour and great carpaccio). Also good: Trumbull Kitchen, Salute, Republic and Bear’s BBQ.
Mohegan Sun is a great choice for folks looking to see an arena show and choose from a variety of good eateries. On the lowprice end, there’s Bow & Arrow ($2 draft beer and wings amid walls of TV screens for sports-loving couples) and on the classier end is Bobby Flay’s Americain or Michael Jordan’s. If you’re staying over in Uncasville, Mohegan’s lodging was just named “Best Casino Hotel” in the USA Today Readers’ Choice Awards. Which makes Mohegan another choice for a busy Alt-Date Night.