HottyToddy Hometown: Old Lyme, Connecticut

After a week of winter weather, many Southern students were unfamiliar with the conditions, but a number of students from the North now call Mississippi home.

HottyToddy.com staff reporter Margaretta Carter and her parents in their hometown of Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Located equidistance from New York City and Boston with two hour Metro North and Amtrak trains going either way sits my quiet beach town at the mouth of the Connecticut River. My hometown on Long Island Sound is Old Lyme, Connecticut. The quiet nest out of the busy cities along Interstate 95 is 28 square miles and has a local population of around 8,000 residents but almost doubles in the summer season with vacationers.

The summer season is by far my favorite. The beach communities fill up and I spend my warm months down at the Old Lyme Beach Club, founded in 1939. My parent’s wedding reception was held there and I have been a member for my entire life. Every summer I catch up with old friends to thaw out from the cold winter to have lunch and swim off our pier into the Sound. Learning how to sail, boat, fish and duck hunt is common for Old Lymies. In the winter, Old Lyme sits just 2 to 3 hours from many ski mountains in Vermont and New Hampshire.

Old Lyme is a classic New England historic town with settlers believed to have been from around 17th century. The town cemetery contains some of the graves of the original settlers. Old Lyme is named after Lyme Regis, England and is a namesake for Lyme Disease carried specifically carried in ticks.

The Sill House

Our restrictive zoning regulations in Old Lyme prevents any commercialization of fast food or chain restaurants, so quaint local businesses thrive with seafood eats, ice cream shoppes and boutiques. The surrounding towns boast wonderful small restaurants with tons of charm and food you wouldn’t find anywhere else.

Coming home to me means returning to the town my great grandfather lived, Robert Carter, a colonial restoration architect. He designed the local post office, town shopping center, fire house and many private homes. He lived on the historic Lyme Street in the “John Sill” house, now owned by the Lyme Art Academy.

Being in a town where everyone knows everyone’s families and the local businesses are run by family friends makes Old Lyme a perfect home to return to on my college vacations. I know the second I cross over the Baldwin Bridge along the Connecticut River, I am once home again in my sandy, charming town.

Margaretta Carter is a HottyToddy.com staff reporter and can be reached at mdcarte1@go.olemiss.edu.