Category Archives: Photo Challenge

Photo Challenge #575

Posted on January 4, 2026 | 54 comments

There are many places you might find a sardine can — or a representation of one. That was the subject of last week’s Photo Challenge (click here to see).

There are the seafood places: Superior, Fjord Fish Market.

And other food spots: Stiles, Gold’s. Black Duck.

One reader even guessed Urban Outfitters.

The correct response though, was Westfair Fish & Chips.

Tucked in the back of Westfair Center — with just a few tables, but a very active takeout business — the spot is one of Westport’s hidden jewels.

Dan Vener and Andrew Colabella both nailed it.

I thought more readers would. But maybe — coming a few days after Christmas — they were still in ham and egg nog mode.

Still, for those who enjoy the Feast of the Seven Fishes …

Anyway — continuing our culinary theme — here is today’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.

(Photo/Marina Drasnin)

(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)

54 Comments

Posted in Local business, Photo Challenge

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Photo Challenge #574

Posted on December 28, 2025 | 11 comments

There are many brick structures in Westport.

The old Patagonia/Westport Bank & Trust downtown. Greens Farms Elementary School.

And — the subject of last week’s Photo Challenge — the Compo Beach locker rooms, next to the (also brick) pavilion, and Hook’d concession stand. (Click here to see.)

Fred Cantor, Andrew Colabella, Lynn Untermeyer Miller, Sal Liccione, Robert Mitchell, Jude Siegel and Linda Vita Velez all knew where those bricks stand.

They (the bricks) are in a lot better shape than those lockers, that’s for sure.

In keeping with our maritime theme, here is this week’s Photo Challenge.

If you know where in Westport you’d see it, click “Comments” below.

(Photo/Bill Dedman)

(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)

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Posted in Beach, Photo Challenge

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Photo Challenge #573

Posted on December 21, 2025 | 11 comments

Where in Westport would you see an official-looking sign that says “Beagle Xing” — complete with the image of an alert, about-to-cross beagle? (Click here to see.)

Fairfield County Hunt Club?

That’s a good guess — and the one favored by most responders to last week’s Photo Challenge.

But it’s wrong.

The location — one that only Jen Fridland knew — is the corner of Redcoat and Cavalry Roads, clear across town from the Hunt Club.

But neither Jen nor I — nor anyone else, it seems — knows the back story to the beagle sign. If you do, click “Comments” below.

And click “Comments” too if you know where in Westport you’d see this sight:

(Photo/Rachel Konstantin)

 

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Photo Challenge #572

Posted on December 14, 2025 | 13 comments

The Lillian Wadsworth Arboretum is one of Westport’s hidden jewels.

The 12-acre site on Woodside Lane, adjacent to Earthplace, is a tranquil spot with woods, trails, and a couple of picnic tables.

There’s a small wooden shed there too, with black shutters. Like the park, it too may be overlooked.

But Lou Mall, Andrew Colabella, Amy Schneider and Tony McDowell all knew it was the subject of last week’s Photo Challenge. (Click here to see Susan Garment’s image.)

The first 3 of those readers must be Wadsworth Arboretum fans. McDowell of course is the recently retired executive director of Earthplace. So he’s definitely walked that property.

Congrats to that quartet. As for everyone else: Check out the Lillian Wadsworth Arboretum. It’s worth a visit, any time of year.

We’re outdoors again, for the next Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see this intriguing sign, click “Comments” below.

And if you know the “beagle” in the back story, please include that too. You don’t see signs like this every day.

(Photo/Mandy Lewitton)

13 Comments

Posted in Environment, Photo Challenge

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Photo Challenge #571

Posted on December 7, 2025 | 9 comments

You don’t often see a Buddha-type figure sitting in the middle of a bar.

But it’s right there, at Rainbow Thai.

And more than a dozen “06880” readers nailed the Bridge Square restaurant, as the site of last week’s Photo Challenge. (Click here to see.)

Congratulations to Robin Gusick, Seth Schachter, Susan Yules, Amy Schneider, Sal Liccione, Andrew Colabella, Will Gibson, Bridget La Rosa, Clark Thiemann, Beth Berkowitz, Pam Kesselman, Seth Braunstein, Michelle Garvey and Francesca Meilana.

We’ll drink to that!

Here is this week’s Photo Challenge:

(Photo/Susan Garment)

If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.

HINT: It’s not an Accessory Dwelling Unit.

(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)

9 Comments

Posted in Photo Challenge, Restaurants

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Photo Challenge #570

Posted on November 30, 2025 | 26 comments

There’s a lot to love about Trader Joe’s.

And a lot to hate about its parking lot.

The clusterf***edness of the layout — the convergence of the entrance and exit (merging with traffic from Compo Acres shopping center); the narrow lanes; the shoppers walking through — is legendary.

The back of the lot is much calmer (though the exit that way, onto Compo Road South, is no prize).

Savvy customers know to park there — away from the chaos — and walk a few extra yards. You can leave via the Wells Fargo exit, then make a U-turn through the Exxon gas station if you need to.

Meanwhile, back there, Compo Acres management have put up a couple of quasi-helpful “Additional Parking” signs. They point to “Route 1 East” and “Route 1 West” — names by which no one ever calls the Post Road. (Click here to see.) 

Alfred Herman, Sal Liccione, Clark Thiemann, Seth Schachter, Dave Eason, Peggy O’Halloran, Andrew Colabella, Jonathan McClure and Martha Witte all know where those signs are. Congratulations — and stay safe!

Interestingly, our Trader Joe’s is not the only one with a teeth-gnashing parking lot. It seems to be a chain-wide thing.

In fact, the company’s lots are so notoriously bad, Food & Wine wrote an entire story about it. Click here to read.

We head back indoors for this week’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.

(Photo/Susan Garment)

(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)

26 Comments

Posted in Local business, Photo Challenge

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Photo Challenge #569

Posted on November 23, 2025 | 15 comments

When Ralph Sheffer served as Representative Town Meeting moderator — from 1959 to ’69 — the handsome building on the Myrtle Avenue hill was Bedford Elementary School.

For the past 40 years, it’s been Town Hall. Once a month, the RTM meets in its auditorium.

Sheffer — the RTM’s 5th moderator, and at the time its longest-serving leader — now has a place of honor there.

He’s remembered with an old-fashioned iron sign, on the right side of the lobby.

That was last week’s Photo Challenge. Andrew Colabella, Sal Liccione (both RTM veterans), Tom Feeley, Patty Strauss (longtime town clerk) and Lynn Untermeyer Miller knew exactly where it is. (Click here to see.)

Ann Sheffer emailed privately. She knew too. But as the daughter of the honoree, she thought it would not be fair to chime in.

This week’s Photo Challenge is open to everyone. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.”

(Photo copyright DinkinESH Fotografix)

15 Comments

Posted in Local politics, Photo Challenge

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Photo Challenge #568

Posted on November 16, 2025 | 14 comments

The lower part of Jesup Green — by the Taylor parking lot, between the grass and the Saugatuck River — has been a bit of a time warp.

Things exist there that have not been seen, or used, for decades.

Only (very) recently were signs for the Minnybus stop removed. The last diesel bus deposited riders at its central hub 40 years ago.

Nearby, 3 plastic thingamajigs sit. Once upon a time, they were filled with free newspapers — the kind advertising homes for sale, entertainment options, and the like. (Click here to see.)

Those papers are long gone. But the stands still stand, unused and ugly.

They could be called eyesores — except most people look right past them.

Not Elaine Marino, Andrew Colabella, Christy Charise, Morley Boyd, Charlotte Epstein, Cathy Malkin, Amy Schneider, Phil Kann, Sal Liccione, Lynn Untermeyer Miller, Ivy Gosseen and Linda Vita Velez, though.

They all knew the answer to last week’s Photo Challenge.

Can you answer this week’s? If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.

(Photo/Dan Woog)

(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)

14 Comments

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Photo Challenge #567

Posted on November 9, 2025 | 20 comments

Compo Road South is one of Westport’s most traveled streets.

Drivers slow down as they approach the stop sign at Soundview Drive, before South Compo turns into Hillspoint Road.

Coming the other direction, they still drive slowly. (Hopefully.)

Still, only 5 readers (Dan Vener, Andrew Colabella, Matt Murray, Seth Schachter and Sal Liccione)recognized last week’s Photo Challenge — John Maloney’s image of a rounded, orange-ish door, set among a lattice fence — as #324.

Click here to see. And check it out the next time you’re near the beach.

Here is this week’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see this probably-outlived-its-usefulness scene, click “Comments” below.

(Photo/Dan Woog)

(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!) 

20 Comments

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Photo Challenge #566

Posted on November 2, 2025 | 6 comments

Sal Liccione was the first reader to answer last week’s Photo Challenge.

He was correct: JD Dworkow’s image showed the entrance to a small apartment building behind Jeera Thai and Finalmente restaurants, on the Post Road. The entrance is on Church Lane. (Click here to see.)

Sal should know. It’s behind his own apartment, opposite Bedford Square.

Two other readers — both of whom do not live in the area — knew the location too: Amy Schneider and Seth Schachter.

This week’s Photo Challenge shows a very different door. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.

(Photo/John Maloney)

6 Comments

Posted in Downtown, Photo Challenge, Real estate

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