Connecticut

CONNECTICUT

Bethel
Dagwood Burger (root beer, shakes, car hops)

Bethlehem
Bellamy-Ferriday House (gardens)

Bristol
Am Clock and Watch Museum

Bridgeport
Discovery Museum
Beardsley Zoo
Barnum Museum (circus history)
Am Clock and Watch Museum (3,000 pieces, sundial garden)
New England Carousel Museum (miniature circus also)

Bridgewater
Bridgewater Chocolates (chocolate peanut butter patties)

Bantam
Wood’s Pit BBQ

Bristol
Lake Compounce (Am’s oldest amusement park)

Brooklyn
Creamery Brook Bison (wagon ride)

Canaan
quarry

Canterbury
Prudence Crandall Museum (in honor of attempt to teach black girls)

Cheshire
Barker Comic and Cartoon Museum

Collinsville
Charter Oak Landing (underground river canoeing--no joke; Reserve Road;
860-693-0385)

Coventry
Caprilands Herb Farm (30 herb gardens)
Nathan Hale Homestead

Cromwell
Amy’s Udder Joy Exotic Animal Farm Park

East Granby
Old New-Gate Prison and Copper Mine

East Hartford
Center Cemetery

East Windsor
Fire Museum
Trolley Museum

Essex
CT River Museum (replica of nation’s 1st sub Turtle)
Steam Train and Riverboat
Griswold Inn (restaurant with banjo band on weekends)

East Lyme
Flanders (fish market and restaurant)
Main Street (only oceanfront one in Ct, boardwalk)
Thomas Lee House and Little Boston School (1660 wood house and 1734 school)
Smith-Harris House

East Haven
Shore Line Trolley Museum (100 classic ones)

East Haddam
First Church Cemetery
Nathan Hale Schoolhouse
Goodspeed Opera House (tours, musicals)


East Hampton
Comstock Covered Bridge (pedestrian only)

Fairfield
Wilson's Holy Smoke Barbecue (Texas-style bbq, Memphis-style ribs, pulled pork, pulled chicken sandwich, homemade sauces, black-eyed pea salad, mac n' cheese, mashed sweet potatoes, collard greens)3

Falls Village
Music Mountain (America’s oldest continuing summer chamber music festival)

Farmington
Hill-Stead Museum (sunken garden, Impressionist masterpieces, concerts)
Stanley Whitman House (colonial homestead)

Gaylordsville
Historical Society (one room schoolhouse)

Glastonbury
Audubon Center (Ct River ecosystem)
Glastonbury-Rocky Hill ferry (5 minute ride, oldest continuously operating ferry in US--since 1650+/-)

Guilford
Henry Whitfield State Museum (state’s oldest hse)

Goshen
Goshenette (chowder, pies)
Action Wildlife Foundation (200 exotic animals)

Groton
Submarine Force Museum (nuclear sub)

Guilford
Hyland House (17th C, 3 walk-in fireplaces)

Haddam
Thankful Arnold House (garden)
Gillette Castle (entirely of stone, overlooking river )

Hamden
Sleeping Giant Park

Hampton
Goodwin Conservation Center (pond, wildlife garden)
Edwin Way Teale Memorial Sanctuary (trails, stream, pond)

Hartford
Mark Twain House
Wadsworth Atheneum (Hudson River school, Impressionist)
Bushnell Park (carousel w/ 4 dozen hand-carved horses)
Ancient Burying Ground
Traveler’s Tower (free admission observatory)
Trash Museum (hands-on exhibits, tours)
Ancient Burying Ground
Elizabeth Park Rose Gardens (greenhouses, nature walks)
CT Historical Society
Governor’s Residence Tours
Menczer Museum of Medicine and Dentistry (18th Century on)
Old State House (Gilbert Stuart’s Washington portrait, Amistad re-enactment, curiosities)
Cedar Hill Cemetery (Colt, Morgan)

Higganum
Sundial Gardens (knot garden, topiaries)

Ivoryton
Museum of Fife and Drum (one of a kind)

Kent
Belgique Patisserie... (tearoom and bakery)
Kent State Falls (seen from Rt 7)
Bulls Bridge (covered across Housatonic River)
Ct Antique Machinery Association Museum and Ct Museum Mining and Mineral Science
Sloane-Stanley Museum (writer and painter; ruins of Kent Furnace nearby)

Lakeville
Holley-Williams House Museum (role of women, icehouse, maze, outhouse, gardens)
Lime Rock Park (car racing)
Salisbury Cannon Museum (hands-on for children, Am Rev)

Ledyard
Water-Powered Up-Down Sawmill (mill pond, saw)

Litchfield
Mt Tom State Park (stone tower on summit, lake swimming, canoeing)
Tapping Reeve House and Litchfield Law School (America’s 1st)
Topsmead State Forest (English Tudor cottage)
White Memorial Foundation (state’s largest nature center and wildlife sanctuary)

Madison
Lenny and Joe’s Fish Tale Drive-in (lobster roll w/ butter)
Deacon John Grave House (17th C, variety of uses since)

Manchester
Fire Museum (firehouse, equipment)
Lutz Children’s Museum
Old Manchester Museum (industry and sports from area)
Wickham Park (ornamental gardens, aviary, trails)


Meriden
Law Enforcement Memorial
National Shaving and Barbershop Museum

Mansfield
Drive-in Theater (current double features, 3 screens)
Gurleyville Gristmill

Marlborough
Marlborough Barn (shopping village)

Mashantcket
Pequot Museum (natural history and Native Americans of southern New England, cool descent into glacial crevasse, museum store, children’s research library)

Meriden
World Famous Ted's Restaurant (steamed hamburgers)

Middlefield
Lyman Orchard’s (pick-your-own, market, cider mill)

Middlebury
Golden Age of Trucking Museum (toys, fishing, baseball)
Quassy Amusement Park (30 rides)

Morris
Sandy Beach (secluded cove w/ lifeguards, raft/slide, canoe launch, volleyball)

Montville
Nature’s Art (interactive science and nature facility--geodes, fossils, gems)

Mystic
S & P Oyster Company (restaurant)
BF Clyde (apple cider factory)
Aquarium
Denison National Center (trails)
Mystic River Historical Society (hands-on schoolhouse)
Carousel and Fun Center
Seaport (boats, maritime photography)
Submarine Force Museum (1st nuclear-powered sub, working periscopes, minisubs)
Submarine WWII Veteran’s Memorial (actual conning tower w/ plaques)
Mystic Pizza (of movie fame)

Naugatuck
Nardelli's Grinder Shoppe (oldest grinder shop in US--since 1922; 2 other shops in state; sub sandwiches in CT are grinders; huge, 35 types: Italian meat combo w/ 3 cheeses--no hot sauce, marinades; tip and be thanked in Italian)3

New Haven
Forbes Diner
Knights of Columbus Museum
British Art Museum (classics)
Peabody Museum (natural history)
Pepe’s (pizza)
Sally’s (pizza)
Libby’s (Italian pastries)
Louis’ Lunch (birthplace of the modern hamburger)
Archie Moore’s (berry cobbler)
Rusty Scupper (seafood)
500 Blake Street (fancy)
Atticus Bookstore (eat and read)
Center Church (tours of crypt underneath)
Grove Street Cemetery (Eli Whitney, Noah Webster, Roger Sherman, Walter Camp)
East Rock Park (only in the daytime)
Edgerton Park
Schubert Theater (tour, shows)
Yale Collection of Musical Instruments
Yale British Art Gallery

Niantic
Children’s Museum of Southeastern CT (interactive)
Millstone Discovery Center (nuclear energy exhibits)

New Britain
Nozewski Market (20 keilbasa varieties)
Staropolska Restaurant (fried kielbasa)
Industrial Museum (products from Central Ct)
Youth Museum

New Canaan
The Glass House (literally; designed by architect Philip Johnson/now a park)

New Hartford
Farmington River Tubing
Main Stream Canoe Kayaks (day, moonlight)

Newington
Museum of Amateur Ham Radio (history)

New London
Coast Guard Academy (Bertholf Plaza, Roland Hall--indoor track, Academy Plaza)
Lyman Allyn Art Museum (Am impressionism)
Hempstead House (17th C)
Monte Cristo Cottage (O’Neill’s childhood home)
Science Ctr of Eastern CT (interactive)
Shaw-Perkins Mansion (Rev naval war office)
Maritime Museum
Ft Trumbull State Park
Ct College Arboretum (variety of natural ecosystems)
Science Center of Eastern CT
Custom House Maritime Museum

New Preston
The Boulders Inn (cottages, restaurant, hiking on Pinnacle Mountain, Lake Waramaug)

Narragansett

Norwich
Olde Tymes (hambone performances, Southern cooking, fried hamburger)
Mohegan Park (swimming, trails)
Slater Memorial Museum (Greek, Roman, Renaissance, American art)
Christopher Leffingwell House (Rev War meeting place)

Noank
Abbotts (lobster roll w/ butter)

Norwalk
Maritime Aquarium
Kayak Tours (6-hr around Norwalk Islands)
Silvermine Tavern
Valencia Luncheria (Venezuelan: )3

Norfolk
Blackberry River Inn
Campbell Farms State Park (trails, waterfalls)
Chamber Music Festival (summer)
Dennis Hill State Park
Loon Meadow Farm (horse-drawn carriage and sleigh rides)

Old Lyme
Florence Griswold Museum (America’s best-known center of Impressionist painting)
Peck Tavern House (1680)
Nut Museum (nut-based art and music)
Old Saybrook
Ft Saybrook Monument Park

Oneco
River Bend Mining and Gemstone Panning (wear helmets into authentically designed mine, wildlife exhibit)

Pawcatuck
Maple Breeze Park (minigolf, bumper boats, waterslide)

Pomfret
Martha’s Herbary (display gardens, 1889 pet cemetery)

Pomfret Center
Connecticut Audubon Center (great birding, trails)

Putnam
Felshaw Tavern (pre-revolutionary)

Rocky Hill
Dinosaur State Park (200 million year old dinosaur tracks--can make plaster casts; CT Valley diorama)
Academy Hill Museum (navigation history)

Ridgefield
Keeler Tavern Museum (1733)
Elms Inn (1760)
Weir Farm National Historical Site (Am Impressionism)

Riverton
Hitchcock Museum (history of the chair)

Stafford Springs
Northeast States Civilian Conservation Corps Museum
Motor Speedway

Sharon
Audubon Center (trails)

Simsbury
International Skating Center (Olympic-level shows, view workout sessions)
Talcott Mountain State Park (tower as former summer home)

Salem
Allegra Farm (horse-drawn carriages and sleighs, marshamllow roasts, hay rides)

Stonington
Randall’s Ordinary (tavern)
Captain Nathaniel Palmer House (Antarctica explorer)
Old Lighthouse Museum

Stony Creek
Puppet House Theatre

Saybrook
Johnny Ad’s (hot lobster roll w/ butter)

Stamford
United House Wrecking (huge antiques emporium)
Long Ridge Tavern
Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens (swamp walk)
Stamford Museum and Natural Center (working farm, trails)

South Glastonbury
Welles Shipman Ward House (1755)

South Norwalk
Sheffield Island Lighthouse (4 levels, 10 rooms; clam bakes on Summer Thursdays)

Stratford
Marnick’s (lobster roll w/ butter)
Boothe Memorial Park and Museum
Garbage Museum (hands-on)

Simsbury
1771 Phelps House (tavern)

Terryville
Lock Museum of Am (ancient Egypt on)

Tolland
Daniel Benton Homestead (colonial cape w/ unusual architectural details)
Hick-Stearns Museum (colonial tavern)

Torrington
Burr Pond State Park (wooded, lake swimming)

Washington
Institute for American Indian Studies (reconstructed Algonquin village)

West Hartford
Museum of American Political Life (presidential campaigns, suffrage history)
Noah Webster Museum

West Haven
Jimmie’s
Chick’s (hot lobster roll w/ butter)

Westport
Black Duck Cafe (on a barge under Interstate 95 bridge; lobster roll (butter), bacon cheeseburger, onion rings, steak, fish, clams: steamers, stuffed, deep-fried, baked, casino--with bacon, mozzarella, wings, supreme nachos, cheese-stuffed burger, steak au poivre, buffalo shrimp)3

Woodstock
antiques (to Putnam)
Roseland cottage (lavish summer home)

Washington
Gunn Memorial Library and Museum (local Ct history)
HORSE of Connecticut (feed rescued horses, trail rides)

Waterford
Harkness Memorial State Park (mansion tours)
Crystal Mall (125 shops)

Windsor Locks
New England Air Museum (Bradley Airport)

Windsor
First Church Cemetery (1600s on)

Westbrook
Military Historians Museum (large collection)

Winchester Center
Kerosene Lamp Museum (call 1st)

West Cornwall
Clarke Outdoors (ten-mile trips by canoe, kayak, raft)
Covered bridge

Weston
Nature Conservancy (20 miles of trails)

Westport
Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens (theme gardens)
Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts (free entertainment some nights)
Rolnick Observatory (open to public Wed and Thurs)
Sherwood Island State Park

Wilton
Weir Farm National Historical Site (former home of Am Impressionist) ?
Woodcock National Center (swamp boardwalk)

Winchester
Kerosene Lamp Center (historical examples)
Museum of American Political Life

Woodbury
Flanders Nature Center (bog, nut tree grove)

?
Smith and Wesson
Smyth’s Tavern
New England Carousel Museum
Matthews 1812 House (brandied apricot cake)