Connecticut is third smallest of the fifty states, but this little state will surprise visitors with its big variety of attractions.
Connecticut has something for everyone - antique shops, art, aquariums, beaches, boating, camping, canoeing, casinos, concert halls, country roads, craft shops, cruises, fishing, hiking, history, kayaking, museums, sailing, skiing, snowmobiling, swimming, theaters, tours - the list goes on. Home to numerous creative individuals (Mark Twain, P. T. Barnum, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Noah Webster, to name a few), the Constitution State also witnessed the invention of various useful items, like the can opener, color television, Colt revolver, helicopter, Polaroid camera, portable typewriter, and the sewing machine. With all that creativity that Connecticut seems to nurture, it's no wonder that it also hosts Yale University.
We'll begin our quick tour of the most notable sites in Connecticut with the former estate of William Gillette, an actor and playwright who was famous for his Sherlock Holmes representation. Gillette Castle State Park in East Haddam is on River Road, off SR 82, and overlooks the Connecticut River. It encompasses 180 acres and showcases Gillette's twenty-four-room, 8,500-square-foot mansion, which resembles a German medieval castle. Hiking trails, picnic areas, and food can be enjoyed daily from 8 to dusk; the castle is open daily from 10 to 5.
Two miles from the center of the upscale, historic town of Farmington, is the Hill-Stead Museum. Set in a 1901 thirty-six-room Colonial Revival house, the museum contains, among other objects, collections of etchings and paintings of famous artists, including Claude Monet. Ming dynasty Chinese porcelain is featured along with porcelains from other Chinese dynasties. A sunken garden also lies on this 152-acre estate. Guided tours are available daily every half-hour.
Educational cruises leave from the University of Connecticut at Avery Point in Groton. On this fifty-five-foot research boat, the EnviroLab, trained educators guide passengers through a two-and-a-half-hour enlightening experience where they learn how to identify fish, measure lobsters, and test the waters. If lighthouses are your passion, boat tours of New London Harbor will provide history of the region and a tour of the 1909 New London Ledge Lighthouse. You can also go on seal tours from this location.
Hartford is known as the insurance capital of the world, and numerous of this multi-billion-dollar industry's companies sport some stunning architectural examples in the offices they have in this city. Mark Twain's nineteen-room 1874 Victorian Gothic house in which he lived for seventeen years is near the Harriet Beecher Stow Center in the stylish Nook Farm district of Hartford. Hartford is full of a variety of activities, too numerous to mention in the space allowed for this article. Be sure to make this a stop on your visit to Connecticut.
A personal favorite, we never pass through Connecticut without stopping in Mystic. Exit 90 off of I95, Mystic is a charming area that has something for everyone. Several thousand species of sea life can be admired at the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration. Outdoor walkways wend around sea lion pools and over fish ponds, and the interior of this aquarium is no less entertaining with everything from lobsters to beluga whales.
Mystic Seaport, also Exit 90 off of I95, encompasses seventeen acres and affords visitors the opportunity to experience what life in a mid-nineteenth-century seaport was like. And last but not least in Mystic is Olde Mystic Village, made up of over sixty shops and restaurants. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Olde Mystic Village is strolling about the cobblestone and brick streets of this complex designed to resemble a Colonial New England seaside village.
Don't forget to stop by Yale University in New Haven to admire the ivy-covered historic buildings.
A suburb of New York, Norwalk is host to the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk on the west bank of the Norwalk River. These five acres house the aquarium (containing animals that are native to Long Island Sound), a sea turtle tank, two touch tanks, a jellyfish encounter, and an IMAX theater. It is also home to Maritime Hall, a showcase for nautical relics and boats.
In spite of its small size, Connecticut lacks nothing in entertainment value. Glorious scenery, from forests to quaint towns and villages to seashores, will give the most jaded visitor the feeling of peace and renewal that should always follow us back from any vacation.
