Cruisin' 'The Ave' — Sen. Chris Murphy Tours Downtown Greenwich

It was the day the Senator came to town.

U.S. Sen Chris Murphy (D-CT) paid a visit to Greenwich Friday afternoon and was treated to a tour of the downtown shopping district — compliments of the entire Board of Selectmen, led by First Selectman Peter Tesei. Democratic Board of Estimate and Taxation member John Blankley and fellow Board of Education member Debbie Appelbaum joined the tour.

The jaunt included stops at VineyardVines, a favorite fashion haunt of the selectmen including Democrat Drew Marzullo and Republican Dave Theis, as well as Fred D. Knapp & Son Funeral Home and Richards of Greenwich. Murphy graciously posed for a photo with his Greenwich entourage and the VineyardVines staff.

And on the way to Richards, Murphy also ran into Suzanne Testani, the program director of the Greenwich Senior Center...who just happens to be a ranking Republican member of the Trumbull Town Council and the wife of Jack Testani, the former Trumbull chair of the Republican Town Committee.

Of the visit, Tesei said, "We welcomed Senator Murphy and enjoyed the opportunity to showcase some of our leading local retailers — VineyardWines and Richards."

Marzullo said Murphy "wanted to stop by Greenwich" on his return trip to Washington, DC. Earlier in the afternoon Murphy and U.S. Rep. Jim Himes were in Stamford, where Murphy announced his plans to introduce legislation that will help grow startup businesses.

The legislation would provide "angel investors" with tax incentives to invest in startup businesses and will simplify the process angel investors must go through to invest in these small businesses, according to a statement from Murphy's office. "Angel investors" are typically individuals that put significant capital into startups in order to help them hire more employees or grow in other ways.

And it wasn't clear Friday night whether Murphy ponied up and purchased some of the VineyardVines Greenwich-centric clothing. But, rumor has it that the selectmen promised to send the senator a VV tie.