Category Archives: Photo Challenge

Photo Challenge #589

Posted on April 12, 2026 | 11 comments

Spring will come.

Eventually.

To goose it along, last week’s Photo Challenge featured a farm implement.

It was rusted, and looked like it had been in the field forever. But, in true New England fashion, it still seemed usable. (Click here to see.)

Susan Iseman, Seth Schachter, Brian Taylor, Sal Liccione and Ivy Gosseen all knew exactly where to find it: Wakeman Town Farm.

Westport’s environmental and educational center gets thousands of visitors a year. There’s a lot to see and do at the Cross Highway fields and farms.

And one day – hopefully very soon — we’ll all be able to enjoy it, in actual spring weather.

Here is this week’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see it, click “Comments” below.

(Photo/Mark Mathias)

(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 Environment, Photo Challenge

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Photo Challenge #588

Posted on April 5, 2026 | 6 comments

Back in the day, model trains ran on small tracks above the tables at Dunville’s.

It wasn’t random. The popular restaurant/bar sits a few yards from the Saugatuck train station.

Times change. Dunville’s is now Little Pub. The model trains are gone.

But a sign — “Beware of the Trains” — remains.

It sits above the kitchen door.

It seems — judging by the responses to last week’s Photo Challenge — to be little noticed. Only 3 readers — Richard Stein, Andrew Colabella and Dave Eason — knew the answer.

And many who do notice it may not appreciate why it’s there.

But Richard, Andrew and Dave are townies. IYKYK.

This week’s Photo Challenge may be tough too. But it sure is appropriate for spring.

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

(Photo/Scott Smith)

(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 Photo Challenge, Restaurants

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Photo Challenge #587

Posted on March 29, 2026 | 6 comments

For a while, I worried that last week’s Photo Challenge would be perhaps the first ever to completely stump every reader.

Then Amy Schneider — followed 2 days later by Dave Eason — struck gold.

Both knew that the image of a bus shelter — incorrectly identified by a couple of readers as located near the Senior Center — is actually on Post Road West. (Click here to see.)

Dave gave a full description: “north side just east of North Kings Highway near #176. For the real Westporters, between the old Steele’s Texaco and The Small Car Company.”

Or, in 2026 terms: diagonally across from Schulhof Animal Hospital.

Will this week’s Photo Challenge prove easier?

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

(Photo/Steve Stein)

(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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Photo Challenge #586

Posted on March 22, 2026 | 7 comments

There was an added mystery to last week’s Photo Challenge.

In addition to guessing where in Westport the image was — the date “1806,” carved in concrete set in a red brick building — readers tried to figure out why it was there.

The structure — the Bank of America branch on Post Road East, next to Design Within Reach (the old post office) — clearly does not date from the early 19th century. (Click here to see.)

Ed Davis — one of 5 readers who correctly guessed the site — has what sounds like a plausible answer:

Didn’t that building used to house Connecticut National Bank in the 1960s-1970s? According to Google, CNB used to the the Bridgeport Bank, which was founded in 1806. Maybe it is to commemorate the founding of the bank (and not the building).

Mystery solved! (Perhaps.)

Congrats to historical sleuth Ed, along with Pat Saviano, Morley Boyd, Lynn Untermeyer Miller and Seth Schachter. You can bank on them to know many answers.

This week’s Photo Challenge  doubles as a really nice image of Westport.

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

(Photo/John Maloney)

(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 Categories, Local business, Photo Challenge

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Photo Challenge #585

Posted on March 15, 2026 | 15 comments

George Washington visited Westport (then part of Norwalk) at least 3 times.

In 1780 he is said to have discussed war strategy with the Marquis de Lafayette and Comte de  Rochambeau at the Disbrow Tavern (where Christ & Holy Trinity Church is today). He returned twice in 1789 as president, coming and going on an inspection tour of the Northeast. He spent 1 night at the Marvin Tavern — located on the Post Road, opposite King’s Highway South — but did not have a bang-up time. In his diary, he called it “not a good house.”

A plaque commemorating one of those visits — dedicated in 1932, on the bicentennial of the Father of Our Country’s birth — was the subject of last week’s Photo Challenge. (Click here to see.)

I was pretty sure at least a few readers would guess the wrong tavern: Marvin’s “not good” one.

But every one who knew it was a tavern nailed it. The old Disbrow site is where the plaque rests — 246 years after Washington’s visit, and 94 years after it was dedicated.

Congratulations to Todd Ehrlich, Pat Saviano, Andrew Colabella, Morley Boyd, Seth Schachter, Wendy Schaefer, John Lisée, Amy Schaefer, Jonathan McClure, Janet Navon and Matt McGrath. You know your history!

But do you know the site of another historical marker? This one is not Washington-related. It’s from 1806 — 7 years after he died.

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

(Photo/Andrew Colabella)

(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 Photo Challenge, religion

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Photo Challenge #584

Posted on March 8, 2026 | 16 comments

Everyone — well, nearly everyone — loves Old Mill Grocery & Deli.

Including — perhaps, especially — dogs.

Hanging prominently next to the door of the popular Hillspoint Road institution is a large jar, filled with canine treats.

It’s one more reason that OMG serves everyone (and everything).

And it was last week’s Photo Challenge (click here to see).

Pat Saviano, Gabby Velez, Cat Malkin, Linda Stern, Matt Murray, Jonathan McClure, Micheal Simso, Sal Liccione, Andrew Colabella, Audrey Fox and Lisa Hayes all quickly identified the very easy image. Arf!

This week’s Photo Challenge comes courtesy of Mark Mathias. The other day — just after George Washington’s birthday, and before the snow melted — he snapped this shot:

(Photo/Mark Mathias)

The plaque commemorates one of George Washington’s 2 visits to Westport (then a part of Norwalk), over 250 years ago.

It was dedicated on the 200th anniversary of his birth. (At that point, the original Old Mill Market was already in its second decade.)

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

(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!)

16 Comments

Posted in Beach, Local business, Photo Challenge

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Photo Challenge #583

Posted on March 1, 2026 | 12 comments

Deadman Brook — the body of water that feeds into the Saugatuck River between the Imperial Avenue parking lot and Levitt Pavilion — is little noticed as it winds its way downtown.

We scarcely notice it at Sconset Square, next to Casa Me, where it disappears under the Post Road.

Even fewer folks see it upstream, at Violet Lane off Myrtle Avenue.

But there’s a handsome bridge there. And it was the subject of last week’s Photo Challenge. (Click here to see.)

Morley Boyd, Andrew Colabella, Sal Liccione and Richard Hyman were the only readers to correctly identify John Maloney’s image.

(Sal and Morley had a big advantage: They live nearby and on Violet Lane, respectively.)

Fun fact: It’s “Deadman Brook,” not “Deadman’s” or “Dead Man.” The name refers not to an actual deceased person, but to a family name from long ago.

Though they too are no longer with us.

So it’s on to this week’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.

(Photo/Ed Simek)

(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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Photo Challenge #582

Posted on February 22, 2026 | 10 comments

Two things can be true at once.

And last week’s Photo Challenge had 2 answers.

The photo (taken by yours truly) shows a photo (by Richard Frank) that hangs in the Westport Library stairwell nearest the cafe. It’s part of the Westport Public Art Collections. (Click here to see.)

But there’s another print of the same image. You’ll find it at Gold’s Delicatessen.

It might be in some private collections in town too. It captures the powerful, yet playful, Muhammad Ali perfectly.

Lynn Untermeyer Miller, Les Dinkin, Robert Mitchell, Clark Thiemann, Jilda Manikas and Larry Bartimer all checked in with the Library answer.

Adam Starr, Larry Weisman and Tom Feeley said Gold’s.

Just like Ali: You’re all champs.

In keeping with the winter weather that’s not going away, here is today’s Photo Challenge. I think it’s hard. Your mileage may vary.

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

(Photo/John Maloney)

(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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Photo Challenge #581

Posted on February 15, 2026 | 12 comments

The Westport Library café is a great place to hang out.

The coffee and food are delicious. The view of the river is spectacular. You’re never rushed, and there’s no music playing (loudly) in the background.

But who looks at the ceiling, as they enjoy their time?

Andrew Colabella, Ed Simek, Beth Berkowitz, Seth Schachter, Wendy Schaefer and Tom Feeley — that’s who.

They’re the 6 alert readers who quickly identified the Library café ceiling as the image in last week’s Photo Challenge. (Click here to see.) 

Congratulations — you really know what’s up down at the library.

Now, do you — and everyone else — know where to find this week’s Photo Challenge? If you do, click ”’Comments” below.

(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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Photo Challenge #580

Posted on February 8, 2026 | 12 comments

“You can’t get there from here,” the saying goes.

Except — improbably — you can walk directly from Compo Road South to Compo Beach, without taking the long way on Soundview Drive or (even longer) Compo Beach Road.

Just pop through the gray wood gate, underneath a red brick arch.

It’s hidden in plain sight. But it was last week’s Photo Challenge (click here to see).

And it was quickly identified by more than a dozen readers, some of whom noted that they used it frequently.

Congrats to Bob Colson, Maureen Coogan, John McKinney, Joyce Barnhard, Missy Targowski, Kitty Graves, Dave Eason, Matt Murray, Nancy McKeever, Michael Szeto and Katie J. Phillis.

If we gave out prizes, you’d get a free beach sticker.

But obviously, you don’t need one.

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

(Photo/Amy Schneider)

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Posted in Beach, Photo Challenge

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