Exploring Connecticut

Bridgeport Connecticut is the fifth-largest city in New England.

The Discovery Museum and Planetarium is an interactive, educational facility. The exhibits are hands-on and activity-based so that visitors can learn through personal experience and interaction. This museum has three permanent galleries and features lessons and activities about electricity, sound, and space. Throughout the year there are three additional traveling exhibits.

Within the museum territory, you’ll also find Adventure Park which is a zip line and climbing park. There are 11 treetop trails with nearly 200 platforms. Each of the platforms is installed at various heights all over the forest and connected by cables to trees. Visitors are safely harnessed and can slide along from platform to platform. Everyone receives orientation and safety training.

Beardsley Zoo is the only zoo in Connecticut. It is divided into five sections. The Predator section gets you up close to leopards, lynx, and tigers. In the South American Rainforest section, you can see different species of monkeys, boa constrictors, vampire bats, poison dart frogs, and a lot more.

Alligator Alley has water birds, bald eagles, American alligators, and gray foxes.

The Housatonic Museum of Art is housed in the Housatonic Community College. Here you can see artwork by a number of artists. Permanent collections include 18th, 19th, and 20th century artwork. The museum also exhibits visiting and rotating displays and a series of student work exhibitions.

Captain’s Cove Seaport is close-by a boardwalk that surrounds Captain’s Cove Marina. It is a small, waterfront event and tourism center. Here you can find fish fry restaurants, shops, and lively bars. Throughout the year there are live music and other special events. Boat charters are available for sports fishing, and sunset cruises.

New Haven Connecticut

New Haven is home to Yale University.

The Yale University Art Gallery is an art museum that has found its home in several buildings on the Yale University campus. The art collection spans all periods and cultures particularly African sculptures, American decorative art and fine arts, Italian paintings, and modern art. It is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere founded in 1832.

The New Haven Green is a historic park in downtown. This is a privately owned park. It was designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark District. Many events take place in the park like the New Haven Jazz Festival.

The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library is housed in the Hewitt Quadrangle at Yale University. It is a literary archive and rare book library built in 1963. It is one of the world’s largest buildings dedicated exclusively to rare books and manuscripts. On display, you can find the library’s most prized possessions among them a copy of the Gutenberg Bible.

The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History is a science museum founded in 1866 by philanthropist George Peabody. It is one of the world’s oldest and largest natural history museums. The popular Great Hall of Dinosaurs includes The Age of Reptiles, a 110-foot-long mural, and a mounted Brontosaurus. The permanent exhibits include birds, minerals, and artifacts of the Native Americans of Connecticut. Egyptian artifacts, and wildlife dioramas. Its collection of fossils is one of the largest and most important in the U.S.

The Carousel at Lighthouse Point Park dates back to the 1920s. The carousel building was constructed in 1916. It features two chariots and 70 figures which are all directed by a figure of George Washington holding a baton. Both the building and the carousel are on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Amazing Mystic

Mystic is a lovely coastal town.

Mystic Seaport is a living museum of the maritime past of America. It lies along the banks of the Mystic River. Here you’ll find a recreation of a 19th-century Connecticut coastal village, a shipyard, several exhibit halls, and more than 500 historic ships and other watercraft.

A stroll through the village will transport you back to the mid-1800s and you’ll hear stories about these times from historians, musicians, storytellers, and craftspeople. At the Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipyard you can watch traditional shipbuilding techniques as the craftsmen go about restoring and maintaining the museum’s collection of watercraft.

The highlight here is the Charles W. Morgan. This is a magnificent tall ship that was once part of the 2,700-vessel whaling fleet, launching from New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1841. The ship has sailed from Arctic waters to Cape Horn.

At the Mystic Aquarium, it is exciting to see beluga whales from behind a 20 ft. long underwater window. You can also enjoy seeing African penguins, seals, sea lions, shark and ray touch pools, exhibits with jellyfish, Return to the Titanic, and the Deep Sea 3D movie presentations.

Bascule Bridge was built in 1922 with a mechanism that lets the bridge rise to let large ships pass by and lower to let traffic continue on its way. The machinery is exposed and it is quite impressive. The bridge stays open for about five minutes and opens and closes about 2,200 times a year.

Charming Olde Mystic Village is a reconstruction of a charming, quaint village where you stroll along cobblestone streets. There are lots of shops to explore and the streets are lined with trees filled with flowering pots. Some of the best cafes and restaurants are here too.

Stop to take a look at Historic Downtown Mystic which has over 80 shops including places to eat and souvenir shops. There is always some event happening here.

Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center is a lovely, lush green space where people can go hiking or watch wildlife. The center includes 350 acres of mixed woods, wetlands, and meadows all intersected by ten miles of hiking trails. You can spot bluebirds in the meadows or bullfrogs and painted turtles in the pond. In the summer lovely wildflower gardens bloom and the woods provide cool shade. Some birds like owls and hawks live in spacious outdoor enclosures.

Denison Homestead and Pequotsepos Manor are big parts of Mystic history. The impressive manor was built on 160 acres of land that were granted to Captain George Denison in 1654. The house became a museum in 1946 and the rooms are full of period furniture. The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center is located on the Homestead property.

The idea for the Mystic Arts Center began with Impressionist painter Charles Harold Davis who settled in Mystic in 1891. With his presence an art colony formed. The center's Schuster Gallery has a permanent collection of over 250 works of art. There are three other galleries that exhibit the artwork of local and regional artists. Selected artist’s artworks are on sale and there are organized art classes, seminars, and art camps for all ages.

A great way to explore the area in and around the coastal village of Mystic is by water route. Taking the Argia Mystic Cruises you can see the scenic coastline, beaches, nearby islands, and other boats sailing by. The Argia 18 ft, schooner will take you on a water cruise and you can learn about the maritime history of the area. It accommodates 49 passengers and you are offered lemonade and snacks or you can bring your own food and drinks.

Peace Nature Sanctuary is one of the most beautiful and unspoiled parks in Mystic. It stretches along River Road. At one time it belonged to explorer and writer Mary Jobe Akeley and was a summer nature camp for girls. After the death of the writer, it became a public park. A lovely time to visit is in May when the native pink slippers bloom. There are well-maintained trails for walks or hikes offering fantastic views of the river.