Surprises in Litchfield, CT

My husband and I had such a wonderful time driving through Litchfield County, Connecticut a week ago on a Fall leaf peeping trip that I'm finding it hard not to show all the photos I took, so the collage above is a representation of the many scenic sights that we saw along the way. Fall is such a lovely time of the year!
(All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them once, and then again when they re-open on a new page)

Very often on a trip like this we come across the most interesting and unexpected sights...a few of which I'll show in today.....

The first is Lourdes in Litchfield, a ministry of the Montfort Missionaries since 1958. Located at 50 Montfort Road in Litchfield, Connecticut, the shrine is part of the grounds of Montfort House. The 35 acres is open to the public from dawn to sunset.  The grotto replica Mary's apparition to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France and is a place meant for prayer and meditation. Outdoor services are held from May 1 to mid-October at the grotto, weather permitting.

Past the grotto is a paved walking path up a hill that leads to the Way of the Cross.

Large statues winding around the steep hillside show all the Stations of the Cross. It was inspirational to see them in such a beautiful and natural setting.

Our next surprise is that there is a wine trail in Connecticut!  Having recently visited Sonoma and Napa Valleys in California, where we visited many wineries, we knew we'd like to visit a counterpart in Connecticut and stopped at the Haight Brown Vineyard which resides on ten acres atop the historic Chestnut Hill in the town of Litchfield.

Opened in 1973 it is Connecticut's first established winery!

The grape harvest was already completed for the 2010 season, but the grapevines were still green.

We decided to go inside and share a wine tasting. Since the growing season is short and the temperatures are cooler here than in California the Haight Brown Vineyards produces many white wines such as Chardonnay, Riesling, and Covertside White. They also have selections of strawberry and apple wines, and a limited selection of red wines made from imported grapes.

We did our wine tasting with an accompaniment of cheese and chocolates which complimented the wines. It was an interesting way to try them!

Last, we saw this pretty house in Litchfield that reminded us of many houses that we saw in Quebec, Canada, as it had a metal roof. The bright red roof is so bright and cheerful, don't you agree?

I'm linking with Susan of A Southern Daydreamer for her blog's "Outdoor Wednesday" event, and Sue's "Rednesday" on her blog It's A Very Cherry World, and Cathy's "Adventure Express" on her blog A Bit of the Blarney and Jenny Matlock's blog for her "Alphabe Thursday" as this week the letter is "F" and I can't think of a better F than all these fall images! Please visit these blogs and join in all the fun!