When I was in Connecticut for the Monarch Workshop, I also had time to explore around downtown Bridgeport. It was my first time in Connecticut, and I had basic expectations based on media-based stereotypes and preconceived notions. I expected to meet a lot of girls named Bridget wearing pastel cardigans and pearls talking about cooking quiche, and I’m glad to say I was wrong. (Side note, I think the stereotypes we have about other states are really interesting and funny. What is yours of Maryland? Is it crabs and The Wire?)

Things I noticed about Connecticut, and by this I mean specifically Bridgeport:

The yellow lights are super quick. Don’t even think about running them.
The architecture is gorgeous, and there are a surprising number of abandoned buildings.
There are not a superfluous amount of 7-11’s and grocery stores, possibly to a fault.
Roads are randomly one-way, for what appears to be no reason. The streets are generally large enough to accommodate two-way traffic and there doesn’t seem to be a pattern for which ones are one way.
There is signage for things you usually have to find on your own. i.e. “Benches –>”
There are a lot of middle-aged Latino gangsters. It was hilarious.

Generally, the town was really chill and in the process of being built up. There’s lots of creative businesses blooming there, like B:Hive and The Bananaland. Things close pretty early in the day, and there really aren’t too many restaurants or fast food chains. One of the weirdest things that happened was the morning I was leaving, I stopped in the McDonalds across from my hotel (the only one in the area) and it was like I was walking into the past. Like Grand Central Station in the 70’s or something. There were young women in traditional African dresses reading the stocks section of the newspaper and old men playing chess who winked at me and called me “sweetie”.

One of the best parts of Bridgeport, though, was the street art. Today I want to share photo dump some of the murals and graffiti I saw downtown and on my way out of the city.

Which one is your favorite?

Check out other street art tours of Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Tanzania. If you’d like to submit a street art tour to Uncustomary Art as a guest post please contact me.