Looking for a New England?

A CONNECTICUT LIMEY: Craft beers, lobster, and treetop activities combine to make a perfect getaway for Richard Sutcliffe.

UNCHTIME drinking can be fun, and particularly when the sun is shining.

So, on recently finding myself at a new craft brewery deep in the picture postcard state of Connecticut as the temperature gauge nudged beyond 90C, what better way to while away a couple of hours than enjoying a relaxing few pints before tucking into the local delicacy of lobster for lunch?

Dock Time, the signature brew of the newly-launched Stony Creek Brewery that couldn’t be more refreshing if this beautifully cool lager had fanned me down at 60-second intervals, was the lunchtime beverage of choice and as I started another pint while gazing out over the River Branford from a sun-baked terrace, there really was no place I’d rather have been.

What I hadn’t factored in, however, as I took in the idyllic setting and savoured every mouthful of the nearby Lobster Shack food truck’s delicious offerings was that my next stop-off on a whistle-stop tour of New England involved a rather more energetic activity than enjoying the sunshine.

I was heading to Empower Adventure Center, where the plan was to not only negotiate five zip-wire lines through a forest but also a military-style cargo net and – worst of all – a high-wire traverse endurance test that wasn’t designed for someone with four newly-quaffed pints in the belly.

Which is how, an hour or so after draining that final drink, I found myself 45ft off the ground in a forest, not daring to look down and attempting to stay upright on said high wire while clinging on to one of several small dangling ropes that were supposed to aid movement from one treetop to the next.

Momentarily frozen to the spot despite being safely strapped in via a harness and with sweat that carried a distinct whiff of Do Dock Time by now pouring off m me, I still had half of the distance to cover. Going back made as little se sense as trying to get my knees to in inch forward.

I was told afterwards that my fa face was ashen-white as I, finally, re re-started. I am also told that my to tongue was resolutely stuck out, awa well established Sutcliffe-trait w when concentrating on anything fr from the washing up to deciding on what lunchtime tipple to enjoy.

E Eventually, the other side was re reached. Relief? You betcha. Even if there were two more 650ft ziplin line courses to negotiate.

These, though, proved a breeze and, by the time burly instructor Dan was congratulating our party on a “job well done” as we handed in the kit, there was an undoubted sense of achievement at having completed a course that many New England companies visit as key teambuilding exercises.

After such a testing but ultimately thrilling experience, the only thing to do was once again enjoy some of those

As I gazed out over

the river there really was no place I’d

rather have been

delightful craft beers that have transformed the drinking scene in America.

No city and very few towns in New England remain untouched by the phenomenon of micro-breweries, which is how I happened upon a true gem of a pub called City Steam Brewery in Connecticut’s capital, Hartford.