The Most Photographed Landmark in Connecticut Might Surprise You

Connecticut's Most Photographed Landmark

If I asked you to guess Connecticut’s most photographed landmark, what would you pick?

Gillette Castle? Holy Land USA? Mohegan Sun? All solid guesses — but not the correct one, at least according to Family Travel US, which says Connecticut’s most photographed landmark is Mystic Seaport. Sure, it’s historic, it’s charming, it’s got boats and cobblestone streets — but the most photographed spot in the entire state? Really?

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Mystic Seaport is beautiful, no doubt. The ships, the river, the salty air — it’s classic New England. But calling it the most photographed feels like the kind of answer you give if you visited Connecticut once on a fifth-grade field trip. It’s the safe pick. The obvious pick.

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To be fair, it does photograph well — the light, the reflections, the whole coastal aesthetic. But I know the truth. I’ve seen one person shoot one particular place so obsessively that I’m convinced it’s the real winner.

My morning-show partner Ethan Carey — aka Friar Tuck, Bagel Samurai, Big Zen, The Cooker, Lenny Lakes, Goon, Larry Leisure, Phil Collins — has been photographing Candlewood Lake every single weekend since 1979. That is a staggering number of photos, and he has kept every last one. He edits them in his dungeon and never stops. He is the Rain Man of water photography: he’ll stare at them for eternity, then fling his laptop at me in a panic and say, “You don’t even care — why am I showing you?” He retreats in shame and later takes it out on me in passive-aggressive ways.

Mystic, the most photographed landmark in Connecticut? Do your research, Family Travel US. You got it wrong — and there’s a hard drive in New Fairfield that can prove it.

You know what he's thinking in this picture? I can't wait until she puts the camera down so I can take some pictures to show Lou.