Frog Rock - “Stoned Sober” - Eastford, Connecticut - Zippy the Pinhead Locations on Waymarking.com

Zippy's "Stoned Sober" strip features his discussion with Frog Rock, a roadside tourist attraction since 1881. The pair ruminate on decades' worth of events - world wars, Elvis, video games - and Frog Rock's stoicism.

The real life setting is a green painted boulder at a rest stop along Route 44 in rural northeastern Connecticut. Former State legislator Thomas J. Thurber (a Republican from Putnam) passed by the glacial erratic during his travels during the later part of the 19th century, noted its resemblance to a frog, and applied its first transformative coat of paint. It was a popular roadside picnic area for many years.

From Wikipedia: "After road work left Frog Rock further from traffic and left the site prone to vandalism, the State of Connecticut offered the land to neighboring towns. Receiving no offers, the state put the site up for sale. In 2012, Joe Lernould bought the 2.5-acre wooded rest stop from the state for $27,000 and then opened a small seasonal antiques store, gift shop, and food truck."

The rest stop picnic area is now Frog Rock Summer Shack with a permanent takeout restaurant, owned and operated by Julie Burgess since June 2022. It offers burgers, hot dogs, lobster rolls, clam chowder and milk shakes - typical New England summertime fare. Open seasonally, the place also features a playground, a small antiques store, live music on the weekends, classic and collector car, Jeep and hot rod meetups, and other community events. BYOB.

Oh, and that frog has a fresh coat of green paint! (February 2023)