Simsbury: Good art, eats and places to bike

If you’re from southern Connecticut, Simsbury is one of those “you can’t get there from here” places. I once took my daughter to her basketball game there and arrived in the second quarter. It’s an hour, 15 minutes from Fairfield or Guilford and 55 minutes from Hamden.

But the scenic place is a lovely day trip from anywhere in the state, with at least five worthy attractions:

1. Simsbury Chamber of Commerce Art Trail

Outdoor Exhibit Thirtysix life-sized bronze sculptures by the late Seward Johnson are placed throughout this homey town for a summer run that ends Sept. 29, marking the town’s 350th anniversary. So there’s still time to see these realistic-looking statues of folks enjoying small pleasures in Johnson’s “Celebrating the Familiar” series. Amid COVID-19, the 3D snapshots of Americana (mother tying a girl’s shoe, man reading newspaper, G.I. arriving home) work as a metaphor of our favorite sights frozen in time while we contemplate a new, messy reality.

The sculptures quietly sit throughout the town, including Marilyn Monroe with her skirt flying upward in a smaller version of Johnson’s 26-foot tribute to the iconic scene from Billy Wilder’s 1955 comedy “The Seven-Year Itch.” Other statues are at a couple of other must-sees, including Drake Hill Flower Bridge.

2. Drake Hill Flower Bridge A Johnson statue shows a man and boy fishing midway on the colorfully adorned span over the Farminton River. Built in 1892, the 183-footer is one of three surviving Parker

truss bridges in the state, replaced for car travel by a two-lane bridge in 1992. It’s right off a well-known bike trail (below).

3. Millwright’s

Restaurant Celebrity chef Tyler Anderson (also in charge at High George and Hamilton Park in New Haven) made a savvy pivot during COVID-19 by purchasing an outdoor cooking trailer and installing seating on the old-mill restaurant’s bridge and rear property (under canopies). The word since from several folks who visited was that the upscale food was as delicious as ever (including glazed pork belly) and in a potentially safer location outdoors.

So we visited for brunch and found delight in a

roasted poblano pepper topped with grits and cheese and an Eggs Benedict with lobster and crab. The prix fixe brunch with a couple of interesting cocktails will run about $100, but the place also has takeout options Tuesday-Friday with humbler items, such as tacos and fried chicken. (The other option Sunday is a lobster bake from 4-7 p.m.)

4. The Farminton Canal Heritage Bike Trail

Simsbury was ranked No. 1 by Bike Walk Connecticut in 2014, and there’s a reason. You can park down in Avon near Red Oak Hill Road and head north on the trail for roughly 10 miles north through town before returning (we did most that once), but you can also make a 28-mile loop using the Farmingon River Trail to the northwest and then returning south on the Heritage Trail through the center of town, where there are places to eat and shop.

5. Talcott Mountain State Park This 574-acre public area sits in Simsbury, Avon and Bloomfield. There’s a 40-minute hike up to the Hueblein Tower, a 165-foot-tall mountaintop lookout. The first third of a mile is steep, so don’t get discouraged.

Simsbury Chamber of Commerce / Contributed photo Artist Seward Johnson’s sculpture exhibit is on display throughout the town of Simsbury, which is marking its 350th anniversary.

Joe Amarante / Hearst Connecticut Media Flowers on the Drake Hill Flower Bridge over the Farmington River.

Joe Amarante / Hearst Connecticut Media The Marilyn Monroe statue near a Simsbury intersection.