The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Attention tourists: State is friendly again
Kevin Reyes and Adam Nizich are state employees, but let’s call them what they really are — cheerleaders for Connecticut.
The two 20somethings greet visitors in Connecticut’s Welcome Center off Exit 2 of I84 eastbound in Danbury, just over the New York line. Their enthusiasm for their native state prepares them to deal with tourists heading to the casinos, the aquariums, looking for historical sites or inquiring about family activities.
“Our job is to sell the state,” said 24yearold Adam, who lives in Cheshire.
“We feel responsible,” said 20yearold Kevin, of Waterbury. Connecticut is “my home and I want to promote it and am happy doing it.”
They’ve been on the 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. job since Aug. 1, when the Tourist Information Center, a room within the Welcome Center, finally reopened after being closed for nearly four years.
The good news is, all six Tourist Information Centers in the state are expected to open soon. Yes, summer will be about over, but let’s look on the bright side and consider that at least staff will be in place for the autumn leaf peepers.
I’m feeling more of a glasshalffull outlook now considering the long mission to get the Welcome Centers that had been closed since October 2014 to reopen. It was an embarrassment to our state that visitors were welcomed with portapotties if they happened to stop after 2:30 p.m. I’ve written about this several times, and readers responded with horror stories of their experiences.
Finally — finally! — on July 1, the locks became a specter of a pennypinching past and the indoor bathrooms were opened for 24 hours, seven days a week.
The centers are maintained by the state Department of Transportation; the tourist rooms are staffed through the state Department of Economic and Community Development, and as I chided in a July 12 column, were still shuttered at that point. “What a lost opportunity,” I wrote.
Turns out, the person in charge of staffing the state tourism centers feels the same way.
“It would have been wonderful if we had more time,” said Rosemary Bove, the Tourism Industry Outreach Manager whose duties include managing the Connecticut Welcome Center Program. We chatted by phone Thursday, even though she was on vacation. “We’re excited to finally get them up and running.”
The centers in Danbury and West Willington on I84 and in Darien and North Stonington on I95 are now open, she said. Staff has been hired for the one in Westbrook on I95 and as soon as the DOT is finished renovating the place it will open, perhaps by the end of next week.
That leaves just the Greenwich center on the Merritt Parkway to be staffed.
All total, there are 18 approved sixmonth positions for the seasonal work.
What the centers could use are more brochures for regional attractions and events, Rosemary said. She has sent an email blast, but businesses and groups can send or take their brochures to the centers. What was good to hear is that she is also open to volunteers supplementing the staff to talk with tourists. (Some readers have asked me about that. Her email is rosemary.bove@ct.gov.)
Thursday morning when I stopped by the center in Danbury — a gateway to New England — it appeared well stocked with brochures, such as Connecticut Museums, and local flyers for events such as the Bridgewater Country Fair, which is this weekend.
On the desk was a fine stack of placematsized colored maps depicting the state’s highways, towns and cities.
When people have Google maps and apps like Waze, do many tourists ask about oldfashioned maps? I asked Adam and Kevin.
Yep. “Some want to see the scenery that New England offers on the back routes,” Adam said.
“GPS will always take you on the highways,” Kevin added.
Minutes later, a middleaged man walked in asking for a map.
“I just wanted to make some sense of where we are,” he said later in the parking lot, a traveler from New Jersey to New Hampshire. He didn’t want to give his name. “I’m just your average tourist.”
Back in July, Kathy and Peter Rupcic had stopped at the Welcome Center in Danbury for a map, but the tourist information part was still closed. They were on a road trip from their home in Hamilton in the Ontario province of Canada, had just spent three days in the Catskills and were heading to an Airbnb in Bridgeport. They were looking forward to some beach time.
I thought you might like to know how the trip turned out for this friendly couple.
“We had a great time — so many unpredictable experiences and insights came home with us,” Kathy emailed me after I sent her a link to the column. “We never did get to Pleasure Beach, or any beach near Bridgeport . ... Totally shocked that any access to water comes with a fee or permit. Pleasure Beach is free but we spent a lot of time trying to get into the others. We cut bait and headed for a visit to the Yale campus, which to us Canadians, is a pretty big deal. The next day we drove up the coast to Ocean Beach and Mystic. Beautiful.
“Our Airbnb was in an old historical neighborhood where most of the mansions once belonged to the many captains of industry of that city. In fact, I think the one we stayed in once belonged to the magnate of Remington cartridges. We had no idea that Bridgeport was so rich in story. It really blew our minds and we’re so glad that on our final day, we hung around, visited the PT Barnum Museum, a great brewery (Aspetuck), made friends with locals, and got invited to a night under the stars at the Levitt Pavilion! To us, the best souvenirs we can bring back are new friendships.”
Isn’t it interesting to see our state from the view of a tourist?
People come to visit Connecticut for many reasons, whether it’s the activities, scenery or history. But recently I met two travelers who wanted to come here for a reason that surprised me.
On July 20, the hottest Saturday of the year, my husband and I were leaving the Statue of Liberty ferry parking lot in New Jersey. (“Can we return to the ideals of Lady Liberty, please?”)
We saw a young couple hitchhiking and they looked absolutely wilted from the 100degree heat. We stopped; they were so grateful for the car’s air conditioning. They were camp counselors on a day off and decided they could walk the 20 or so miles to see the Statue of Liberty, but returning proved a physical challenge.
They were from Mexico City and once their camp jobs were done they would be going to either Philadelphia or Connecticut before heading home.
What do you want to see in Connecticut? I asked.
The Warren Museum, was the quick answer. You mean to see the artifacts of the paranormal investigators?
Yes, they heard it was interesting. Monroe is a long walk from a train station, I advised.
We may not have the Liberty Bell here in Connecticut, but I bet Philadelphia doesn’t have a museum of the occult. As Kevin and Adam will tell you, our state has a lot of inviting haunts.