• For years, I spent countless hours stuck in traffic driving to the Hamptons from my home in NYC.
• I got fed up and started spending weekends in Madison, a coastal Connecticut town.
• Madison’s beautiful beaches and cute downtown offer lots to do without the crowds.

I vacationed in the Hamptons for decades but eventually got a bit tired of it.

I can’t count how much time I’ve spent sitting in traffic on the Montauk Highway, searching for parking spots at the beach, and waiting for tables at trendy restaurants.

Fortunately, “destination dupes” are all the rage right now with many turning to TikTok to find less-crowded, cheaper, and more under-the-radar alternatives to their dream vacation spots.

So, I found my own “dupe” of the Hamptons about 100 miles away in New England: Madison, Connecticut.

The town defines coastal calm, with just about everything the Hamptons has minus the crowds. It’s still upscale but less expensive — and my drive from New York City to Madison isn’t so bad.

Here’s why I love Madison so much.

The beautiful beaches get me every time

The local beaches attract me like a magnet. Fortunately, Madison has about a dozen.

My favorite is Hammonasset Beach State Park, with about 2 miles of Long Island Sound shoreline and trails that I can bike on. It’s felt clean and uncrowded each time I’ve visited.

I stay at a bed-and-breakfast that blends cozy with chic

There are several bed-and-breakfasts in Madison, plus a beachfront Hilton hotel.

I usually stay at The Homestead, an upscale B&B that hits the right balance between charming and modern. Its dozen or so rooms are individually decorated with high-end furnishings and posh perks like Japanese toilets, showerheads infused with vitamins, and record players with an eclectic selection of vinyl.

Each guest has access to complimentary bikes, towels, and beach chairs to borrow. Plus, its gardens and decks with firepits make it easy for me to spend time outdoors.

I also love its gourmet snacks and elegant breakfast buffet with things like quiche, cake, fresh fruit, and yogurt.

There’s plenty of retail therapy and artwork to be found in town

Madison’s downtown is low-key, laidback, and walkable, with excellent New England vibes.

I can get lost for hours at RJ Julia Booksellers, which I consider one of the best independent bookstores in the entire country.

I always stop at Savvy Tea Gourmet, which sells a variety of unique teas and has in-store tastings. When I’m not sure which tea leaves to buy, the owner steers me in the right direction.

The town also has a cluster of cute clothing boutiques. My favorite is The Dressing Room, where the staff is friendly and the sales are legit.

Along the way, I take in some of the local art. Madison has plenty thanks to the Sculpture Mile, a free outdoor public art installation of museum-quality sculptures scattered around town.

Madison Cinemas is perfect for rainy days

When it’s cold or rainy, you’ll find me at Madison Cinemas watching arthouse and international films.

The century-old theater has freshly-popped popcorn topped with real butter and local beer and wine.

There’s often something happening on the town green

Madison’s historic town green is its leafy centerpiece. I like to stroll the peaceful paths and listen to live music during the free concerts on Sunday evenings in the summer.

It hosts a great farmers market every Friday afternoon from May until Thanksgiving and the town often has seasonal festivals.

The culinary scene is great, too

Madison has a few eateries I try to stop at each time I visit.

French bistro Bar Bouchée transports me right to Europe with its ambiance and traditional Gallic fare. I can also never resist ordering the profiteroles drenched in warm chocolate sauce.

I book a table at The Wharf when I want to eat fresh seafood with a view of the water. My go-to order is the warm lobster roll served with a mountain of crisp shoestring fries.

When I crave pasta like my Nonna used to make, I head to Café Allegre. The Italian eatery serves classics like spaghetti with fresh clams and robust rigatoni with meatballs and sausage.

Madison is also lovely in the fall and winter

In the fall, the area’s numerous farms and farm stands overflow with fresh produce and pretty flowers. My favorite is Bishop’s Orchard in neighboring Guilford, where I go apple-picking each autumn.

The beaches are fun to visit throughout the year, too. The water usually stays warm well into October, so I can have a dip surrounded by fall foliage.

I even go in winter for chilly seaside strolls and snowshoeing on the maze of wooden boardwalks.

As the Hawthorne Fire continues to burn into its twelfth day, crews remain on scene in Berlin using new equipment to help them battle the flames.

This comes as the state sees more fires spark up due to the current dry weather.

As crews from all over the state and the country continue to fight the Hawthorne Fire in Berlin, officials say they’re holding steady with limited fire growth.

The fire is now burning at 127 acres. Firefighters are focusing on tackling hot spots in the southeast part of Lamentation Mountain. They’re using drones with infrared cameras to help.

“If we do it in the morning and in the evening before sunrise and after sunset, we get a better interpretation of what the actual fire or the spot fires are on the area,” Bill Perkins with the Connecticut Incident Management Team said.

They say this technology has already helped crews on the ground.

“Those red dots that we see on that camera become less and less and for us, that’s a good thing,” Perkins said.

The dry weather across the state has sparked other brush fires, including one in Roxbury which caused roads to be shut down in the area.

In Bristol, smoke could be seen in town as firefighters battled a fire that sparked up again in the area of Mountain Road.

Those are some of the fires the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) said it’s monitoring.

“That’s a thing for our firefighters to be aware for rapid spread rates of fire and extreme fire behavior,” Rich Schenk, fire control officer for DEEP, said.

With a red flag warning in effect Friday, state officials say conditions were ripe for fires to start.

“Fire growth and the probability of something igniting is at an extreme level so that’s why we are super concerned,” Josh Cingranelli with the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security said.

They’re urging people across the state to take precautions such as clearing out leaf piles.

“Use a leaf blower. Get those leaves away from your house in case something does ignite. Then it’s not right up against your house,” Cingranelli said.

Fire officials are urging people to follow the burn bans to keep other fires from potentially happening.

With less than a week until Election Day and 10 days into early voting, hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents have already cast their ballots.

For the first time, Connecticut residents can vote early. Early voting started on Oct. 21, and as of Tuesday night, more than 430,000 ballots have been cast, according to the Secretary of the State’s office. West Hartford has the most people voting early with 10,207 ballots cast, followed by Norwalk with 9,690 and Stamford with 9,511. Fairfield and Milford also have strong participation in early voting, with 9,453 and 8,766 votes.

Most early voters are registered Democrats, with 112 towns showing Democratic majorities among early voters. In comparison, 57 towns have the most early voters as unaffiliated, and 14 towns lean Republican. 

Voter registration in Connecticut is concentrated in the state’s biggest cities. Stamford leads with 76,418 registered voters, followed by Bridgeport with 71,382 and Hartford with 64,244. Norwalk and New Haven complete the top five, with 58,085 and 57,551 registered voters, respectively. 

Certain towns stand out for their high turnout relative to registered voters. Sharon leads with 37.8% of registered voters casting ballots early, followed by Salisbury at 37.1% and Woodbury at 34.9%. Madison, Clinton and several others show over 30% early voting participation.

Other cities show low early voting turnout relative to their registered voters. Hartford leads in low participation, with only 5.8% of registered voters casting ballots early. Waterbury follows with 6.9%, and New Haven with 7.9%. Bridgeport and New Britain have 8% and 10.1% early voting rates, respectively.

Check the Connecticut Voter Guide 2024 for more information on the elections.