Niantic (East Lyme) boardwalk

For anyone traveling to southeast Connecticut, here is a recent article from the local newspaper ';The Day'; describing the boardwalk along Niantic Bay and Long Island Sound in Niantic. The view is nicer when walking east to west (you see quaint coastal CT), than when walking west to east (you see the power plant). The walk is flat, and part of the eastern end is elevated enough to see over the train tracks and enjoy the northward view up the Niantic River, with a boatyard and waterfront houses. No bikes or dogs are allowed on the boardwalk. Kids love the passing trains, which frequently toot their horns for waving pedestrians.

Niantic (zip code 06357) and East Lyme (06333) are the southern and northern halves of one municipality, which can cause confusion. Main Street is immediately north of the train tracks and the boardwalk is immediately south of the tracks.

From THE DAY...

What: Niantic Overlook, AKA the Niantic Bay Boardwalk, downtown Niantic.

Why you should know it: In 2005, with much fanfare, the town of East Lyme officially opened a 1.1-mile walkway along Niantic Bay. For years, there was little access to the waterfront in downtown Niantic because of the railroad tracks that run along the water. But in the early 1990s, townspeople got together and formed the nonprofit East Lyme Public Trust Foundation. The Overlook was its first project and the foundation raised more than $4 million in public and private funds.

Walk on the wild side: After a few setbacks, namely a Nor%26#39;easter that ripped up part of the new walkway, the entire length of the boardwalk is now open. You can amble along and enjoy the water view that stretches between Hole-in-the-Wall Beach off Baptist Lane, and Cini Park under the Niantic Bay Bridge. Part of the path is a synthetic “wood” boardwalk over dunes and seaside shrubs, while the other part is a gravel walkway built on rock formations. It%26#39;s a pleasant stroll any time of day.

Walk to the walkway: Keep your carbon footprint small. There are only about 100 parking spaces available at Cini Park and the lot at Hole-in-the-Wall Beach is under construction, so parking is limited there. But the town is working on a $500,000 environmentally friendly storm-water drainage demonstration project at Hole-in-the-Wall that includes a 100-car parking lot and a beach support building that will have bathrooms, storage areas, outdoor showers and a water fountain. While the bathrooms are open now, the rest of the building and the parking lot will not be completed until the fall.

”I%26#39;m coming Elizabeth, I%26#39;m coming!” If you have a weak heart, take your medication and be prepared for the Amtrak train to suddenly appear and roar by you, leaving you in a blast of hot air and grabbing for something, or someone, to hold on to. You are only a few feet from the tracks, and the train comes fast and with little warning.

We the people: If ever there was a public project, this is it. There are more than 1,280 commemorative plaques along the walkway memorializing town folk past and present. Some pay tribute to those who have died but others commemorate folks with fond memories of this seaside town. There are also 19 informational signs, some painted with the slight hand of a watercolorist, that give facts on the natural and historic life of the bay. There%26#39;s an explanation of the origins of McCook Point - it belonged to the “Fighting McCooks%26#39;%26#39; - and another gives the history of Millstone Point - it was a rock quarry that is now home to three nuclear power plants.

Think seafood: If you work up an appetite, mosey on down Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue where seafood shacks, ice cream bars, pizza parlors and quaint restaurants abound. Skippers, at 167 Main St., is a fried seafood Mecca. The fish sandwich is a delicate white fish wrapped in a thin layer of batter. The mostly take-out restaurant is situated above the tracks, so you can sit at outdoor picnic tables and continue your commune with the water.

- KATHLEEN EDGECOMB