The Nickname "5 Hole State" Seems to Lack in Gravitas

Little Known Facts About Nutmeg:

1. In high doses, nutmeg can cause psychoactive effects in humans.
2. In high doses, nutmeg can be lethal.
3. Nutmeg is yummy on eggnog and quiche.

Just finished a long roundtrip drive back and forth across the great state of Connecticut.  Five plus hours of traipsing up and down I-95 really allows the mind to wander.

If the old Haven was such a great place, why did people feel the need to leave and found a New Haven?

It is nearly impossible to distinguish the original London from New London.  Here are two easy hints to help you out.  One of these cities has the River Thames running through it, and the other has the Thames River running next to it.  Also, one of these cities is home to the El 'N' Gee Club; one is not.

The shape of Connecticut is cartographically silly.  (The word "cartographically" happens to be grammatically silly, too.)

Image from Google Maps

I understand the jagged southern boarder.  You say terminal moraine, I say the The Fates wanted to separate Connecticut from Long Island as quickly as possible and accidentally ripped the page.

What's the deal with Fairfield County?

I understand that the tax base in this corner basically supports the rest of the state, but wouldn't continuing the straight border from Ridgefield to Stamford just look better?  In all honesty, the residents here identify themselves more closely with New York than they do with the rest of Connecticut.  Having lived here for three years, I speak with authority.  This is a region of New England that does not get NESN on their TVs.  It's not that you have to pay extra to get NESN here ... Cablevision just doesn't offer it!

What about this part?

Or the northeast corner of the state?

It's like they weren't even trying when drawing these boarders.  I know straight lines can be be hard to draw, and I've already discussed how boring they are ... but come on.  They do serve some purpose.

All of this reminds me of my grade school days growing up in Connecticut.  There was a unit in social studies where we learned all that a young child needs to know about our home state.  For example (yes, another list):

1. The state is called the Nutmeg State because early settlers enjoyed inflating discarded pigs' bladders and then kicking them through the legs of unsuspecting neighbors.
2. The state flower is the Mountain Laurel.  In Connecticut, it is illegal to pick these delicate flowers or destroy the precious plants.  Brave climbers, however, can scale the highest peaks of the mighty Quinnipiac Range and photograph these rare botanical marvels in full bloom.
3. The state bird is the Robin, because all of the robins in the world actually nest in the state of Connecticut.  Early in the morning they scatter to moist plots of land around the country to feast upon helpless earthworms.  Each and every evening, though, they all flock back to Litchfiled County for a good night's sleep.

After learning about Connecticut, our class went on to explore other states.  Each student was to research a different state and present what they had learned to their classmates.  The most challenging part was the terracotta maps we were asked to make, showing the location of major cites and landmarks within each of our particular states.  I foresaw the challenge that lay ahead in creating an intricate, ceramic map.  Undulating coastlines and cartographically challenging borders would tax my young, inept hands.  I chose Utah (Colorado and Wyoming had already been picked.)  I'm sure I did a fine job with my presentation.  I remember that pictures of Bryce Canyon National Park looked really cool, and that Ogden and Provo were funny names for cities.  I now wish I had looked more deeply into the history of the state before my final presentation, however.  My fourth grade classmates would have loved a nice diorama depicting the Mountain Meadows Massacre.