Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for connecticut
Classic New England Scenery
By Linda Tancs
Spanning 35 towns in northeastern Connecticut and south-central Massachusetts, The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor is a federally-designated National Heritage Corridor boasting a pastoral landscape interspersed with historical points of interest. You’ll find a plethora of museums, mill villages, rivers and quaint town centers, together with the last stretch of dark night sky in the coastal sprawl between Boston and Washington, D.C.
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An Old Brick School in Southbury
By Linda Tancs
Built in 1762 of locally-made bricks, Bullet Hill School in Southbury, Connecticut, is one of New England’s oldest schoolhouses and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The two-story structure remained in operation as a school for 179 years until December 1941. After the school closed, the building served as a meeting place for the Episcopal Church Sunday School, the War Rationing Board, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the first Regional School Board Superintendent’s office. It now serves as a living history museum for visiting school groups.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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An Infamous Battle in Groton
By Linda Tancs
Fort Griswold is a former American defensive fortification in Groton, Connecticut. Named after Deputy Governor Matthew Griswold, the Revolutionary War site marks an infamous 1781 massacre by British troops aided by turncoat Benedict Arnold. Now a state park, the battlefield features the Ebenezer Avery House, which sheltered the wounded following the massacre. Also at the site is the Groton Monument, a granite obelisk honoring the fallen heroes. The 135-foot-high memorial is open for climbing in season.
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New England’s Railroad Heritage
By Linda Tancs
The Railroad Museum of New England in Thomaston, Connecticut, preserves and restores New England’s railroad heritage. The museum boasts a diverse collection representative of New England railroading including locomotives, passenger and freight cars, and cabooses. Through its operating subsidiary known as the Naugatuck Railroad (originally chartered in 1845), they tell the story of the region’s rich railroad heritage, conducting scenic and historical excursions between Torrington and Waterbury.
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Connecticut’s Kate
By Linda Tancs
The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, known as The Kate, is a performing arts center in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It’s named for the late movie star Katharine Hepburn, the town’s most celebrated resident. Adjacent to the lobby is a museum dedicated to the famed actress featuring letters, photos, home movies, costumes, personal wardrobe items and other memorabilia. In addition to the permanent collection, the museum offers rotating special exhibits and hosts lectures, workshops and film screenings.
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Nathan Hale’s Schoolhouse
By Linda Tancs
The Nathan Hale Schoolhouse in New London, Connecticut, is where American patriot Nathan Hale taught from 1774 to 1775 before enlisting in the Revolutionary War. He was the only soldier to volunteer to spy on the British, providing valuable information to George Washington. Before he was hanged by the British in New York on September 22, 1776, he famously uttered “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” The building is located on Atlantic Street in the city’s Historic Waterfront District.
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Swinging in Connecticut
By Linda Tancs
One of the longest spans surviving in the country, East Haddam Bridge is a steel swing bridge over the Connecticut River in East Haddam. Boasting a 460 foot swing span, the movable bridge connects Haddam and East Haddam. In addition to the swing span, the other two spans are the Warren deck truss and a Pennsylvania through truss. A local landmark, the structure serves as an alternative to ferry transportation to nearby Gillette Castle.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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The Story of the Trolley
By Linda Tancs
The Shore Line Trolley Museum in East Haven, Connecticut, tells the story of the trolley. The museum owns nearly 100 vintage transit vehicles and maintains diverse collections of photographs, books, documents and artifacts (like tokens, hat badges and ticket punches). The museum also operates the Branford Electric Railway, recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior as the oldest, continuously-operated suburban trolley line in the United States. Opened in 1900, the line and equipment are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Branford Electric Railway Historic District. Visitors get to experience this history by riding on a restored trolley through scenic surroundings.
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Seafaring History in Connecticut
By Linda Tancs
Sprawling across 19 acres of Mystic River shoreline, Connecticut’s Mystic Seaport is the largest maritime museum in the United States. Of particular note is its collection of historic sailing vessels, four of which have National Historic Landmark status: the Morgan (the world’s last surviving wooden whaleship in the world), Dunton (the last example of an early 20th-century New England fishing vessel), Sabino and Emma C. Berry. The site is also distinctive for its recreated 19th-century seafaring village, comprising actual trade shops and businesses from the 1800s that were transported to Mystic Seaport from locations around New England. Among other things, you’ll discover demonstrations of maritime trades, from shipsmiths and coopers to woodcarvers and riggers. About 10 miles east of New London, the venue is widely accessible via bus, boat, train, car or ferry.
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A Museum With a Message
By Linda Tancs
The American Museum of Tort Law touts itself as a museum with a message. Its mission is to educate visitors about the value of trials by jury and tort law, a discipline that covers many types of wrongful injuries. The main gallery features information on precedent-setting cases that have impacted the general public, such as asbestos and tobacco litigation. Another gallery explains seven cases in detail through a series of interactive panels. Developed by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, the facility is located in Winsted, Connecticut.
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