Breaking The Sound Barrier

The neighborhood of Marvin Beach was formerly a farm named after the Marvin family. Each of the six streets is named after his sons.

We met Scott Kuykendall, a resident, who gave a brief history. He said that what makes Norwalk special is the fact it’s been a working harbor going back to the revolutionary era. “A lot of the other surrounding communities are just closed off,” he said. “(The access) is what makes Norwalk Norwalk.”

In front of his house was the fragrant smell of a hedge called privet. “Reminds me of summer,” sighed photographer Kathleen O’Rouke. “I want to live here.”

–Elizabeth Kim

Disclosure: I am a huge history nerd.

Pictured is Fitch Point, where British troops landed in July 1779 before the infamous burning of Norwalk. Local historians Ed and Madeleine Eckert think the Fitch point landing allowed the Brits to bring their horses ashore. Only 30 houses were left standing.

-Devon

We have had pretty easy time staying close to the beach but we hit our first roadblock a gated community called Charles Cove. We talked to a developer of the community Mary DeKyln, who built the custom units in 1987. The 50 units posed a roadblock. I asked Mary if the public had access. She said, “well, we do.”

-Devon

We just stopped at the marine store and checked out the fueling docks. With fuel at $3 per gallon, the last fill up cost $1,079. Man, I’m glad my Corolla has a 12-gallon tank. There’s a 115-footer on display in the parking lot with a “for sale” sign. It’ll set you back a cool $3M, a maintenance guy said.

No wonder the economy is killing the recreational boating industry.

-Devon

No one home?

I’ve never really been much of an early riser, but wow, it is beautiful this morning! The sun is shining, there’s a great breeze and we’ve sunscreened and bug-sprayed every inch. Kathleen, Liz and I are parking at the Norwalk marina, and starting our trek from East Norwalk to South Norwalk.

-Devon

Today, Devon Lash, Kathleen O’Rourke and I are taking the baton as we set out on day 11 of the Sound walk. Today we hit Norwalk, where we hope to run into many people taking advantage of the short holiday week. I am inviting anyone from the area to join us. It looks to be a beautiful day. We’ll be the group of women wearing blue T-shirts that say “Breaking the Sound Barrier.”

Below is our approximate itinerary, although we will be taking diversions along the way. We begin roughly at 7:30 a.m. If you have a suggestion or tip, send me an email.

Calf Pasture Beach

Norwalk Cove Marina
Shore & Country Club, 220 Gregory Blvd

Gregory Blvd & 5th St.

Washington St. Bridge

Rex Marine Center

Red Clay Shore

Seabreeze Pl.

CHECK OUT: my video from day 10 of our series.

Reporter Christina Hennessy and I walked from Duck Pond Road in Westport to Calf Pasture Beach, following the coast line (most of the way).

Yeah, we cheated a little, took some private roads and omitted a couple of areas where walking would really have been impractical or even impossible.

Christina really was the team leader here, I was just along for the ride. And to complain about almost everything almost all of the time.

–CP

We are now back in the office. It was a beautiful day. And even though I grew up on the sound, I continue to learn more about it everyday.
Christina

We finally made it to our end point for today, Calf Pasture beach. More importantly, I got my lobster lunch (with drawn butter, corn on the cob and a couple onion rings swiped from Christina).

I’m a happy photographer.

-CP

Starving. No food in sight. Need cheesburger.

Must reach Calf Pasture, thought of French fries are giving me the will to live and complete this hike.

-CP

We arrived at cedar point yacht club to find the junior sailors ready to set sail. We managed to go from there around the southern tip.

Christina

NOTE: We had to turn back at a jetty because I am unwilling to break my ankle/get stuck in a tidal marsh for this project. Also crossing to Canfield island appears to be unfeasble, at least under these tidal conditions. -CP