LINCOLN SQUARE — In case you haven't heard, after a nine-year absence, "Gilmore Girls" will begin streaming Friday on Netflix with four new episodes.
The "A Year in the Life" mini-series reunites viewers not only with creator Amy Sherman-Palladino's cast of lovable oddballs but the delightfully quirky small town they inhabit: Stars Hollow, the municipal equivalent of a manic pixie dream girl.
Washington, Connecticut, long tipped as the inspiration for Stars Hollow, is hosting a fan fest to coincide with the "Gilmore Girls" Netflix debut. But for devotees of the fictional town's brand of charm — wacky community meetings, quaint Mom-and-Pop shops and general neighborliness — we found a real-life doppelgänger closer to home.
Lincoln Square.
Need we say more:
[Facebook; DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
The Welles Park gazebo only scratches the surface of eerie similarities between the two locations.
Doose's Market has its equivalent in Gene's Sausage Shop (4750 N. Lincoln Ave.) though sadly, no Dean to bag your groceries.
[TownOfStarsHollow.org; DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
Rory would undoubtedly find the Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln Ave., a more than suitable substitute for Stars Hollow Books.
[TownOfStarsHollow.org; DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
Lane could comb through stacks of vinyl at Laurie's Planet of Sound, 4639 N. Lincoln Ave., and then check out the drums at Old Town School's Different Strummer, 4544 N. Lincoln Ave., where she might run into Miss Patty teaching a dance class. Then she'd head home to Midwestern Arts and Antiques, 4648 N. Western Ave.
[TownOfStarsHollow.org; DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
Stars Hollow is serious about its pets (RIP, Cinnamon). Lorelai could pick up treats and toys for Paul Anka (assuming the pooch is still alive) at Ruff Haus, 4652 N. Rockwell St.
[TownOfStarsHollow.org; DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
Need a sugar fix? In lieu of Weston's Bakery, Lincoln Square has Cafe Selmarie, 4729 N. Lincoln Ave.
[TownOfStarsHollow.org; DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
Lincoln Square even has its own town center, Giddings Plaza, complete with troubadours.
Sadly, there's no Dragonfly Inn, but if Lorelai and Sookie could scrape together $3.5 million, they could buy the Abbott House, 4605 N. Hermitage Ave., which is begging to be converted into a bed and breakfast — or, this being 2016, an Airbnb.
[Redfin]
Aside from the glaring lack of a bona fide diner, Lincoln Square ticks off nearly every Stars Hollow box.
Flower shop? Check. Pizza parlor? Check. Movie theater? Check. Twelve shops "devoted entirely to peddling porcelain unicorns"? Maybe not 12, but Gallimaufry Gallery, 4712 N. Lincoln Ave., can carry the collectibles load all on its own.
Dare we say with its Little Free Libraries, apothecary and festivals featuring men in lederhosen, Lincoln Square might even out-twee Stars Hollow.
[DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
