What to do in Connecticut?

[stsomewhere]

My DD-8 has been asking to go for a few years. When I aske her why, she told me that she likes the way it rolls off her tongue
We have never been to the east coast. She said that we could visit other things in the area just as long as we drive into CT.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Nancyg56]

Mystic Seaport. Mystic Aquarium. The dinosaur museum. The Submarine Museum in Groton. The air and space Museum at Bradley International. Six Flags in Agawan Ma. There are beaches in Ct and open ocean beaches in RI, just down the way. LOts of things, Let me think some more.

 

[KandD]

What time of year are you going to go?

Mystic, CT has a great aquarium and a seaport (I personally find the seaport boring but everyone else raves about it!)
There are also two casinos (for the adults of course) but they both have theaters so you can see what performer is going to have a show while you are here.
If you come in the summer there are a lot of beaches.

What type of stuff is your daughter into? Museums? Outdoors?

 

[cntrygal]

Newport RI or combine with NYC, Go up into the white mt in NH, BAseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY,

 

[stsomewhere]

We will be going over the summer. Probably August.
She wold rather go there than on a cruise.

Are there any tidal pools along the coast you can get up close too?

 

[klacey1]

I live in NY, so I take a lot of New England for granted, but there's a lot of fun things to do. Like PP have said, Mystic is terrific. Awesome aquarium, cute seaport. An hour away are the beaches of Newport and Narragansett-- as well as the mansions of Newport. Lots of fun to tour. A little bit further is Providence, RI-- a beautiful zoo/park, Thayer Street with fun stores near Brown University, great theater.
Or, like a PP said, you could combine a NYC trip-- Broadway shows, Macy's, Empire State Building, Elis Island. The area of CT that's near NYC has a PT Barnum museum, amazing malls/outlet malls, farms...
The great thing about the NE is how close everything is to each other. You can cover a lot of ground, depending on what your interests are.
The summer is definitely the best time. RI probably has the most ocean-beaches close to CT, so that's probably your best bet for tidal pools.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

You can come see me!!! LOL

The new science museum is open in Hartford at the Convention Center.
Gilette's castle is really cool. Mark Twain house, Harriett Beecher Stowe house, Logee's greenhouse (this place is sooo cool!), Mashantucket pequot museum, Clyde's Cider Mill. Tons of stuff in CT to do!

 

[Kimberle]

This is what I'd do:

Come in the summer. Start with the Mystic area. There is the Aquarium, Seaport, etc. I believe you can even catch a whale watching boat. Drive to Newport RI (about 90 minutes) to visit the mansions. Drive to Boston (couple hours maybe ??), then drive home.

 

[BelleWDW]

Visit the Yale Campus-you'd swear you were in Jolly Ole England

 

[Nancyg56]

Sturbridge Village is not too far and it is a fun day trip as well.

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

I grew up in CT but live in NY now. I still work in Greenwich.

If you want an amusement park, Lake Compounce in Bristol is very nice. As you drive from I-84 to the park entrance, look to your right and you will see the world HQ for ESPN. You cannot miss the 10 or so HUGE satellite dishes in front of the building. My grandma lives in Bristol and when we visit her and pass by ESPN DH bows in respect to the dishes, lol. There is a clock and watch museum in Bristol but I've never been there. My great grandma used to work at a watch factory... I wonder if the museum is in the factory?!

When I was a kid we went to the Terryville Fair... I wonder if they still do that?!

In Fairfield County (close to NY) there is the Globe Theatre in Stratford (both named after places Shakespeare used to frequent ) where they have a Shakespeare festival, not sure when though. The Barnum museum is in Bridgeport, I believe. But, be careful as that town has some bad 'hoods.

In New Haven there is the Peabody museum, and Yale, as someone else mentioned.

At the shore, try Hammonasset public beach in Madison. While you are in Madison be sure to visit Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale restaurant... My grandparents live nearby and say it's a tourist trap but there are always lines out the door !

I went on the Essex Steam train when I was a kid and liked it. Goodspeed Opera House is nearby. They do Broadway style productions.

Of course there is Mystic and the casinos, as already mentioned.

In Hartford there is the Mark Twain museum, but I've never been there.

There is a race track at Lime Rock in the north western part of the state.. I've never been there either!

There is a CT tourism website - http://www.ctvisit.com/ - this will give you LOTS of ideas! I usually try to get their brochures in the mail but we never seem to actually go to any of the places for some reason.

As for the baseball hall of fame, be aware that Cooperstown has to be a 4 hour drive from much of CT.

Of course, Westchester County, NY is nearby - there are many sites in the Historic Hudson Valley area - http://www.hudsonvalley.org/ - some are within a few miles of each other in Tarrytown, right on the Hudson River! Sunnyside and Lyndhurst are my favorites.

And NYC is about a half hour from Greenwich with no traffic, . I guess I don't need to advertise for NYC

Good luck, and give us a trip report!

 

[kathmzh]

So cute about your daughter! It depends on whether you want to work in a CT/RI/Boston trip or CT/NY trip -- if you have time do both -- Start in Boston, hit Newport, then got to the Mystic area for a couple of days. Hammonasset Beach in Madison is lovely, and the town of Clinton has a small town beach with a playground. At low tide, lthat beach has lots of tidal pools with snails and hermit crabs walking around. Eat at Lenny and Joes! Gillette Castle is a daytrip, as would be anything in the Hartford area or either one of the casinos.
Head down 95 -- more beaches in Fairfield and Westport-- Does Norwalk still have a museum? -- and then end up in NYC.

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

Oh yeah, I forgot the Maritime Museum in Norwalk.

 

[Kimberle]

Oh yeah, I forgot the Maritime Museum in Norwalk.

It's an Aquarium, not a museum. It has an Imax and is very nice. Don't eat there, the food is awful. Lots of good restaurants & shops in the area (walking distane). If you like Thai, the Thai restaurant accross the street is excellent. For more "general" fare, I like the Brewhouse which is a block away.

 

[Lionqueen2]

Your daughter also might like Plimoth Plantations a little south of Boston. It is a recreation of the original village and all the 'actors' who interact with the visitors live back in 1620 and know nothing about modern day life. I think your daughter would enjoy it.

 

[monorailsilver]

Lets see-

There are many quaint 'old' towns, well the center of towns. I have a house a stones throw from me that was built in 1750 but there are older ones (I live about 5 miles out of 'town'). I love to walk around my town because I love to look at the old houses there. Plus the surrounding towns by me (I live in a touristy area, somewhat).

There is the Essex Steam Train & Riverboat. I finally know what it is like to be bored on it since we go on it yearly when we get the 'free' local ride as well as the North Pole Express. But it is still nice if you are not a local to see the surrounding towns. It was also in a few movies, most recently the newest by a few years Indiana Jones Movie.

Gilettes Castle is pretty neat as well especially when you listen to them talk about the house. You can get to that via the train since they make a stop there.

Beaches in CT are not free & if you don't live in that town you pay more & if you are out of state expect more. We go to Rocky Neck (about 20 min from me) vs Hammonasette state park because it is a bit smaller & it is in a bit more open water, aka cleaner.

There are 2 covered bridges that I know of in CT. One is in East Hampton (I think, it is just north of me by about 20 ish minutes). The other one is in Litchfield County.

There are a few river cruises (CT river) that take you on to LI Sound (haven't done them yet) or on the CT river.

You might just want to get some scenic maps & take some drives. It is really pretty. Some days I get off my exit in my town & look to the right (that is the direction of the center of my town) & I have to stop & think that I am not in VT but in CT.

One of my friends moved here from Minnesota & she said it was hard to get used to the curvy roads that we have here in New England. So that goes with above & take a map & go for a drive.

There is Mystic (already discussed that above), the Maritime Center in Norwalk, the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport (we just went there last summer), Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport which is a small zoo & let me tell you it has grown since I was a kid (I used to live in the town next to it before moving east to the boonies).

Dinosaur State Park which we finally took our kids to last year after telling them for the past 3 or 4 years we would go. It actually has dinosaur prints. My dh remembers when he was a kid actually walking on them but you can't do that anymore.

This place looks neat but we haven't gone (son is dairy allergic so I am not sure how he would tolerate bison milk) http://www.creamerybrookbison.net/index.html

FYI in August the Jellyfish start to come out so the water might not be the best swimming water at that time.

Another site to look at since we get the magazines since we live in this part

http://www.mysticcountry.com/

http://www.lighthousemaps.com/index.html

Someone mentioned Lenny & Joe's Fishtale. We go there. We are about 10 min from the Westbrook location & order take out. Yes it gets crowded in the summer but the one is Madison more so.

There is the Chester/East Haddam ferry which I think is the oldest running ferry in either CT or the US (I forget what they say). It is just basically a ferry ride in your car to the other side of the CT river.

If you were to go to Mystic Aquarium, go early. We were members there for about 2-3 years & we'd get there for about 9-9:30 & head right over to the bird cage which opened at 10 to feed the hungry birds. The few times we got there for about 11, the birds were full & had no interest in going on our little sticks.

Oh & it is very easy to take a drive to RI & Mass for a short day trip. I am hoping to get my dh to take a day off during Feb vacation so we can go to Yankee Candle & the butterfly museum up in South Deerfield, Ma.

One other thing, fairs start in CT in August. Orange has the Firemans Fair as does North Haven. Chester (cough & you'll miss it) has their fair in late August. I think Moodus has one around then too. And maybe Goshen too.

 

[castleview]

Right now? Freeze your *** off.

Everyone has some good ideas. I may have missed it, but there's also a boat tour of the Thimble Islands which is cool.