Wife and I are a unique case. We both graduated college with MBAs (community College for 2 years, Uconn for 2 years, different grad schools), and we both came out of school with student loans. We lived like absolute hobos out of college and payed down debt as fast as we could. Like...

rice and beans

driving uber at night

prepaid phones

library card for when we needed to get on the internet

no streaming services

no cable

kept the temp at 50 in the winter and no AC in the summer

Drove 1 car and carpooled

Etc etc etc...

Bottom line, we paid off $130k in student loans and own our home with no mortgage at the age of 38.

We live on 8 acres in East Granby in a 3000sf recently remodeled colonial, and are putting in an 800sf addition in the summer. We have a combined income of about $260k / year.

UConn cancelled classes so I’ll take what I can get

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Nice. It’s been a lot of years since I was 25, so I guess the rules have changed.

You can rent a car under 25- you just pay more in insurance.

aaaaah, there ya go. Yeah okay, well there might be fewer people in one of those Connecticut Long Island Sound beach towns, although I've seen them pretty jammed up, too.

Be ready for gray sand, cold, kinda murky water, average food with the occasional stand-out place, and local town rules that might make for rare and/or expensive parking. You might luck into a craft brewery with food trucks parked out front, best of all worlds.

Have fun regardless. Wish I lived in the UK. I know, I know. Still. Wish I did.

Switching is so easy. Do it!

My kids school canceled before even one flake and I am salty. They have a penchant for panic closing and we end up getting no snow. Hopefully at least this time will be worth it.

Better than most of the country. Abysmal compared to Europe/Asia

That cold snap we had last February seemed to do a number on the ticks this past year

Mystic is the best option for a place you can walk around on the shoreline with excellent restaurants and nightlife. It's small, so you can experience most of it in a night or two.

Mystic area is gorgeous.

"Meanwhile, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which controls the supply of the drugs, announced last month that it would not increase manufacturing quotas for 2023, despite the shortage – again, without providing a reason."

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/29/adderall-shortage-us-adhd-ritalin-drugs

The DEA could fix this tomorrow. They chose to unleash this suffering.

No problem, I really like it here so it's cool to big it up. Either works as far as I see. If you have a tab open you'd just tip when you settle up, makes it easier. Don't know when you are coming over, but I can highly recommend going to a baseball/basketball/whatever sport interests you game. Minor league, super chill, really great atmosphere and you might even end up there on $2 beer night. Somebody will be happy to tell you the rules as you get smashed. And baseball is a fucking amazing game, so much history and I think it will tick the boxes of authentic US experience.

What would constitute as the ‘real’ America? Is Belgium not a ‘real’ country because it’s small? What an ignorant statement.

Tips are per drink and your tips are noticed if paying cash. Otherwise folks run tabs on credit cards here. Average is $1 or so a drink.

The store I work at averages around 110-150 transactions on a normal to busy day. Today we went to 212. Friday and Saturday were also notably busy. People were impatient, snarky, and downright rude at times. I'm glad I've been given the day off tomorrow because I'm not sure I could handle any more of that, even after having Sunday off lol

Mystic is the best option for a place you can walk on the shoreline with nightlife.

As a European guy who lives in CT, I think it’s a good compromise between “seeing America” and not being surrounded by tourists, you’d also be close enough to visit Boston/New York for a 1-day trip if you guys wanted to

I think New Haven is a great example of a small American city which has a fun nightlife (Yale town) with lots of access to bars, very good restaurants, and you’d also have access to major public transport (trains) for day trips to NYC and even Boston.

Uber will be common here too plus the best pizza America has to offer!

This is a restaurant atop the sea wall in Stratford, CT to give you some idea.

http://www.littlepub.com/stratford/menus.php

More touristy places (e.g. Mystic) will cost a bit more.

I concur with everyone else. Connecticut is a fantastic place to live, but not much of a vacation destination for a young couple who have never been to the U.S.

If shoreline is what you’re after, you want to be on the Atlantic and not Long Island Sound.

You really need a car in CT, but you’re too young to rent one. (Last I knew you had to be 25.)

When are you coming? A lot of the nicer shoreline activities are pretty seasonal. I'd say Mystic seaport and the Aquarium is one, downtown New Haven for restaurants, bars, normally I'd say museums, but 2 of the 3 are closed for renovations, but the Yale art galley is still open and is free. Of course you have to have New Haven pizza. Pepe's, Sally's and Modern are the big 3. Go to all amd report back with YOUR favorite because it's a very decisive argument.

if it means i don’t have school tomorrow and i can bake all day i’m cool with it

What month will you visit?

Without driving, you’re limited on how much of the coast you’ll really be able to see. Most of it is accessed by car and Ubering all over will get costly.

I would do a little New England tour. Maybe fly into Boston, then you can take the Amtrak to Mystic. Mystic is mildly touristy but not bad. It’s a very cute New England town on the water, whaling history, lots to do. Enough tourists around that you should be able to Uber without issue. Then from Mystic, head to New Haven or Stamford on Amtrak. You’ll find city vibes there, still coastal, with a nice nightlife. Then you could even end in NYC, taking the cheaper MetroNorth in. Spend a couple days and fly out of JFK.

Full disclosure - I have never personally used Amtrak but I do know these cities mentioned have Amtrak stations at least. Don’t know the schedules and how frequently they run.

That guy is a bit much, but to be fair there isn't a quintessential American town. They don't compare. The towns in New England are nothing like towns in the south. Especially the coast line of CT which has the wealthier areas. If you want to see a wealthy New England town, that's one thing. But it won't be a good representation of an "American town".