New Haven may be the best city to visit in Connecticut. Located on Long Island Sound, the city has the benefit of small mountains behind it and the ocean in front. Above is a photo of New Haven, taken from Five Mile Point Lighthouse, which is photographed below.
I’ll admit there’s a lot I haven’t done here yet, and I most definitely have to return. From my short visit, I was mostly impressed by Yale University and some of the views the city offered along the coast. New Haven isn’t a perfect seaside town, but between the university, history, and waterfront, there’s a lot to explore. The photograph above shows one of the streets around Yale University. Yale is the third-oldest university in the United States, founded in 1701, 75 years before America became a country.
The place I most wanted to visit in New Haven was Center Church on the Green. The church was built several hundred years ago and has an underground crypt with graves dating back to the 1600s. Many of those buried there were prominent early residents of New Haven. The old cemetery photographed above is also in the Yale area, but it isn’t the same as the underground crypt! I only missed out on the crypt because somehow I ended up at the wrong location and believed it was closed to visitors. Next time!
Lastly, I did a short hike outside New Haven, which offered some good views and even some unique history. During the hike I only took this one photo of what’s known as Judges Cave. Its history is tied to the English Civil War and the execution of King Charles I in 1649. When his son Charles II eventually returned to the throne, those involved in his father’s execution were hunted down. Two of the regicides, Edward Whalley and William Goffe, fled across the Atlantic and eventually hid among these rocks near New Haven while avoiding capture. The formation became known as Judges Cave and remains one of the area’s more unusual historic sites.
