| MARCH 2016 CONNECTICUT 7 |

| editor’s note |

Albert Yuravich ayuravich@connecticutmag.com

Twitter.com/AlbertYuravich

We were racing against time.My wife and I had just left Carlsbad Caverns, and were on our way

to the White Sands National Monument. Now well into the desert Southwest portion of our cross-country drive from the East Coast in

December 2014, we had to get there before sundown, when cars are no longer allowed to enter the world’s largest gypsum dunefield.

Terrain began to change as we entered Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico’s high plains. As we gained in elevation, arid flatlands with little more than shrubs gradually gave way to rolling hills, streams and the greenery of trees. We were already several thousand feet above sea level. But we had no idea how much higher we’d be going.

That changed when we caught sight of a car approaching from the opposite direction. We quickly realized it had snow on it. But no snow covered the ground within sight, and, though it was late December, it was well above freezing.

We drove another 15 or so miles along a twisty and narrow U.S. Highway 82, taking us up almost 5,000 more feet. Beautiful vistas left us stunned. Finally, we spotted snow along the side of the road.

We were now over 8,600 feet. Soon after, we saw homes, buildings and a gas station. We realized we had entered a tiny mountain town. Its name was Cloudcroft. Snow was everywhere.

Stumbling onto Cloudcroft — what we would later learn is a village of less than 700 people and one of the highest-elevated municipalities in the U.S. — was a genuine surprise. In my mind, New Mexico was the mostly desert home of Breaking Bad’s Walter White.

Before we knew it, we were heading down, leaving the tiny slice of snowy civilization behind us. Later that day, we reached White Sands just in time to watch the sun descend into the unending dunes.

Many of our trip’s highlights were planned stops. The mountains of New Mexico were not scheduled, but were a pleasant revelation.

As you turn the pages of this issue, we hope you enjoy a similar journey, one filled with the expected and the unexpected.

As the new editor of Connecticut Magazine, having come aboard around the beginning of the year, allow me to be your tour guide.

Want to see some amazing architecture? You don't need to even leave the state. Starting on page 31, we bring you the wonders worth checking out, including tallest buildings, laudable landmarks, astounding abodes, Yale’s mix of history and future, and hidden gems. On page 49, Erik Ofgang takes you back in time to 1871, when dozens of whaling ships — including three with Connecticut ties — were abandoned in the Arctic north, seemingly never to be seen again. Also featured: the state’s troubled history with stadium development (page 9) and a roundup of Connecticut’s lush arboretums by Kate Hartman (page 43).

As for what’s new, don’t miss the debut of a new consumer protection column — The CONNsumer (page 28), by Kevin Hunt, formerly of the Hartford Courant. MaryEllen Fillo, who was most recently the Java columnist for the Courant, has two stories in this issue — a Q&A with Iranian author Azar Nafisi (page 12) and a look at Hartford Stage’s Romeo & Juliet. Read more about them below.

And we know you expect thorough dining coverage, so we’re giving you a brand-new helping in The Connecticut Table (page 58), with One Drink and a calendar of beer and wine event best bets.

We hope you enjoy what you’ve come to know and love about Connecticut Magazine. And we hope you like the new voices, stories and artwork we offer in this issue, and many more to come. And we want to hear from you! Want to see us do something new, or bring back something we haven’t done in a while? Let us know.

Also, I’d like to thank writers Erik Ofgang and Kate Hartman, Senior Designer Alyson Bowman, as well as my predecessor, Ray Bendici, all of whom have been tremendous resources.

With any luck, we’ll deliver a few pleasant surprises for you in this issue, and many more to come.

| contributors |

WRITER

MaryEllen FilloWRITER

Matt Alesevich

Kevin Hunt is the former consumer columnist (“The Bottom Line”) for the Hartford Courant. He now writes for TechHive.com. Vinyl records and music played through vacuum tubes are among the retro tech he still enjoys. He lives on the Connecticut shoreline, where, on a clear day, he can see Long Island.

WRITER

Kevin Hunt

“The CONNsumer” (28)“A CONNECTICUT CAT LADY” (13)“AZAR NAFISI” (12), “ROMEO & JULIET” (25)

MaryEllen Fillo is an award-winning journalist who lives in Plainville. With over 45 years at the Hartford Courant, she has covered business, politics and education, as well as travel, food, home and entertainment. A foodie at heart who loves to cook, she is also an amateur gardener who works with several nonprofit organizations.

Matt Alesevich is a travel journalist covering human interest stories around Southeast Asia. Over the past few months, he’s reported for a variety of international news organizations including VICE, Global Post and Al Jazeera Plus. He is a 2002 graduate of Bunnell High School in Stratford, where his parents still reside.

Pleasant surprises