Movie magic transforms Stonington

STONINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) -- Some big stars and a little movie magic are now putting a quiet part of the state on the map.

Stonington Borough hits the big screen. Movie goers have been flocking to the new local landmark.

"Tell all our friends that we ate there and that's us standing with our grandchildren," said Charlie Bienkowski from Florida.

News 8 took you to the scene last September with Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, and a movie crew that transformed the borough into the fictional town of Hope Springs, Maine.

"They painted a whole mural on the side of the building for one second," said John Papp of Noah's Restaurant.

John Papp's Noah's Restaurant served as the Nor'Easter Diner for breakfast and lunch scenes in the film.

"All these light fixtures had to be dropped three feet," explained Papp.

There are some details you'll only see if you stop by.

"We've never even had place mats, we've been in business for 33 years and they came out with these," said Papp about place mats shown in the film.

If you want to make sure you don't miss any of the locations filmed in Stonington Borough, come out to the old Lighthouse Museum. Not only is it in the movie, but the Stonington Historical Society (SHS) also has walking and boat tours on the weekends so you don't miss any of the sights.

"They'll be able to see the different parts of the town that were in the movie," said Madeline Grace of SHS, "and then kind of get the inside scoop on how the filming went."

A somber Tommy Lee Jones heads to the museum in the movie and takes an audio tour.

"It was a very interesting experience to have all the crew on set and changing the museum around and everything," said Kaitlin DeNovellis, Assistant Curator.

There is another change that locals notice. Traffic in the film goes the wrong way up Water Street.