Romantic Willimantic

We have an apartment!

The second apartment-hunting trip took place yesterday and lasted 12 hours, and at the end we signed a lease. Our new home is in the town of Willimantic, a place famous for its former textile mills (it used to be known as “Thread City”), its Victorian houses, and its frogs. Yes, these frog things are everywhere, though the most famous ones -- sitting atop spools of thread – decorate the Frog bridge. (See the picture!) Apparently, one night in 1754, during the French and Indian War, the residents of Willimantic were woken up by strange and loud noises. They decided it was the enemy and prepared for an attack, only to discover that the sounds belonged to hundreds of bullfrogs. Or so the story goes.

Willimantic is an actual town, with some shops, restaurants, the population of about 15,000, and a bit of a heroin problem (according to some sources). It’s cute, but somewhat economically depressed; rough around the edges, but, we are told, not really dangerous. Aside from Frogs, it has a food co-op, a Polish breakfast place, a yoga studio, a brewery, and a bus that goes to the University of Connecticut, which is about 7 miles away. It’s known as a very liberal blue-collar town. Though of course it’s also full of artists, college professors, and students.

The apartment we found is in the nicest part of Willimantic, up on a hill. The whole street is beautiful and peaceful. Our place is the whole second floor of a house. It’s got four bedrooms, a 2-room eat-in kitchen, a cozy living room, and a huge attic. The wonderful lady who owns it lives downstairs. The rent is $950, which is amazing given all the space we get. The best part is probably the apartment’s layout -- Movie Dictator and I can work in our separate studies and not bother each other. What we need now is one of those apartment-size washer/dryer combos that don’t require special hookups. If you know of a good one, let me know.

We’ll be moving at the end of May, and once we’ve moved I’ll post some pictures. But for now I leave you with another photo of Frog Bridge and Willimantic.