October 4, 2011, 1:28 PM
Litchfield County, Easy on the Wallet
By SETH KUGEL
A J’s Steak and Pizza might be intimidating, I was told — kind of a bikers’ bar. But the burgers were cheap and good, the peanuts were free, the place was still open and it was right down the road from the room where I had just dropped my bags.
Something about the warning didn’t quite compute: an intimidating biker joint down the road from the Mary Stuart House, my cozy little bed and breakfast on rural Route 4 in Litchfield County, Conn.? The same Litchfield County known as a weekend escape for New Yorkers prosperous enough to afford a second home but put off by Hamptons haughtiness?
I chuckled as I walked into the friendly basement bar. Sure, it was intimidating … if you fear the sound of peanut shells crunching under your feet, the specter of CNN on a big screen, or the prospect of a bartender pushing the blue cheese and caramelized onions that would boost the price of your bison burger to $9.25 from $8. “You get the pungent with the sweet,” she said, all foodie-like. I was hardly quaking in my boots.
To be honest, the real terror had come a week earlier, when I got my assignment: a frugal weekend in Litchfield County. Friends were skeptical; Twitter followers sent me the 140-character equivalent of raised eyebrows. “Good luck with that” was typical.
Read the Full Article Here: NY Times, Frugal Traveler, Oct 4, 2011
