yk

My son (age 12) and I spent 48 hours in (mostly) CT this past weekend. I don't think many Connecticut TRs get posted here so I thought I'll type one up. We had just spent a 4-day weekend in NYC the previous week.

The impetus of this weekend trip was me wanting to see the phenomenal Danish String Quartet, who is currently doing a US tour. They are my favorite music group and I had last seen them this summer at Tanglewood in the Berkshires. On this tour they were stopping in the town of Pawling, NY (pop 2000). Under normal circumstances, I would have just gone by myself, stay nearby overnight, and drive home the next day. But my DH is away for work and my son opted to come along instead of staying with grandma.

I picked up my son right at school dismissal and drove straight to Danbury, CT where we would stay for 1 night. Pawling itself has 2 Inns whereas Danbury, a 30-min drive away, has plenty more options and regular hotel chains. Because of Friday afternoon traffic, the 150-mile drive took 3 hours.

By the time we checked into the Hampton Inn in Danbury, showered and changed, it was 6:30pm and the concert was due to start at 8pm. That didn't leave us much time for dinner so we walked next door to Chipotle and then drove over to Pawling. The concert was held at the Chapel at the Trinity-Pawling School.

Saturday
After free breakfast, we checked out and drove over to Charles Ives Birthplace for a docent-led tour at 10:30am. While I'm not a huge fan of Charles Ives's music, it seems a shame not to visit while we are in Danbury, esp given this is the 150th anniversary of his birth. The museum had a weeklong celebration in October on his birthday. The house is now managed by Danbury Museum, which undertook a beautiful restoration of the home during the pandemic (supported by Ives Bank). We were the only 2 people on the tour. The tour is more about the history (grandparents, parents, siblings and Charles) rather than his music. Although he was born in this house, he didn't really spend much time here. The house where he actually lived in later in life, was sold a little over a decade ago and you can read about it here.

Danbury Museum also has several other historic buildings that one can visit (we didn't). Although my son didn't care much about classical music, he enjoyed the house tour (he likes history in general).

Afterwards we grabbed lunch at a central american restaurant where my son had a horchata and guatemalan tamale, whereas I had sopa de pata. The food was good except for being a bit too salty for our tastes.

The restaurant is very near our next stop, the Danbury Railroad Museum. My son loves everything transportation-related and this is our "compromise" — he comes to music things with me and I go to transport things with him. I actually really enjoyed our visit there; we lucked out by running into a docent guide out in the train yard who was just starting a tour. We could have looked at the trains ourselves but having someone knowledgable and passionate about trains made the visit much more enjoyable. Prior to our visit, I had no idea Danbury wassuch a major railway hub back in the1800s. The museum staff/volunteers have paintsakingly restored/refurbished some cars back to their former glory. After the train yard tour, we checked out the indoor exhibits as well. We were there for about 2.5 hours. The staff has begun putting holiday decorations on the trains, and they offer Santa train rides during the holiday season.

We were ready to set off to Hartford, where we would spend the night, but we made a stop over at nearby Newtown to visit the Sandy Hook Memorial, which was completed in 2022. I'm not sure what else to say on this topic except for the fact that it was a very serene and peaceful spot. Although located right off a main road, it is set back and down in a clearing that all we could hear were birds chirping and the flow of water in the memorial fountain. My heart continues to break for all those who died and those who were affected by this senseless tragedy.

In Hartford, I opted to stay again at Hampton Inn, which is located in East Hartford by the Connecticut River. There is nothing nearby as it's all business parks, so if you want to get food you have to drive. We were still full from lunch so we ended up just having some snacks in our hotel room for dinner.

Sunday
After breakfast and checking out, we drove over to Hartford to visit Mark Twain House, where I had been once before
[Self promotion — here is my Hartford TR from 15 years ago in which I visited 4 sights in a span of 9 hours ]
My son hadn't read any of his books but he did read his biography (the kids' WHO HQ series is fabulous) and he was certainly interested in visiting the house. I booked the 10:30am guided house tour (1-hr), though they have other tours as well. There was only 5 people on this early tour. I don't recall too much from my previous visit, except for the top floor billiards room / Samuel Clemens study. But yeah the most impressive sights for me this time is still the entry hall wall stencils done by Tiffany company, and the beautiful wood (walnut in the entry hallway; mahogany in guest room; the ridiculously huge wooden bed that Clemens bought in Venice). The visitors center has 2 separate exhibits, and a 23-min Ken Burns movie. Altogether we were at the house for 2 hours.

Initially we were going to grab lunch at the museum cafe, but I was still full, and my son is a bit picky... so we opted to go to a nearby diner instead. but the wait was too long, so we just skipped lunch and headed to our final stop on this trip, the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks by the Bradley Airport. We actually visited NEAM only 3 years ago, so I wasn't excited about going again, but my son wanted a revisit. At least this time he didn't feel the need to read every panel again, so we only spent 90 minutes there this time. The museum has 3 hangers full of airplanes, plus several outdoors, so one can potentially spend quite some time here.

Since we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, it was time to go grab "linner." I did a google search and found a German restaurant in Chicopee, MA, which is 25 minutes away but on the way home anyway. My son loves German food (we were in Germany in April this year) so he was thrilled with this suggestion. The place certainly has the right ambience and decor! My son got a curry wurst (comes with fries), whereas I got Nurenburger bratwurst plate (comes with sauerkraut, red cabbage and spaetzle). The food certainly hit the spot (albeit once again, a tad salty). We were both so full that we skipped dinner when we got home.

That's all for the trip report! I hope some of you find it interesting and perhaps put some of these places on your list next time you are in CT!

yk

Charles Ives birthplace in Danbury

Danbury railroad museum

Inside one of the first class ladies lounge car

Decked out for the holidays

Sandy Hook memorial in Newtown

Exterior of Mark Twain House in Hartford

Inside one of the 3 airplane hangers at New England Air Museum at Windsor Locks

esm

Enjoyed reading about your trip, thanks for sharing. Your pictures are always super nice. Are they taken by cell phone?

dfrostnh

I'm always amazed by how mich you pack into each day. Great trip report.

Vttraveler

I was wondering whether you'd visited the Mark Twain House. It's a really interesting place with well-done tours.

We've never been to the Danbury RR museum. and I am sure that my train fan husband would enjoy it. I think we may try to go there next summer and also visit the Weir Farm National Historical Park in Wilton.

Madam397

Hartford also offers a wonderful art museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum as well as Hartford Stage, a well regarded regional theater. There are restaurants around the theater and the convention center. Once had a nice meal at the Trumbull Kitchen. Have also stayed at the Hampton Inn in East Hartford, convenient to the convention center and downtown.

oldemalloy

Gillette’s Castlefrom the ferry across the Connecticut river

oldemalloy

Hi YK, I posted a photo of Gilletts Castle for you to include in one of your mini vacations. It is in East Haddam CT and you could go to a show at the Godspeed Opera House in East Haddam and/or a boat ride or a train ridefrom Essex, a short distance down the river. The Castle is in a state park now and they open it for tours in the summer and sometimes Between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think DS would have fun hiking the trails through the property The ferry crosses the river right below the castle until the weather closes it down for the winter, but it was still running last week.

i enjoyed hearing about your trip and your son has had some wonderful adventures thanks to you. Do keep taking him whenever you can, the time passes quickly and we get old too.

Thanks for the report

yk

Thank you again for all your comments. oldemalloy I think you had mentioned Gillette castle on my last CT trip report (when me and my son went to Mystic for a couple of days). We definitely haven't gotten around to explore most of CT despite living in MA. Maybe we can hit more of the sights next summer for a short road trip.

TDudette

As always, so many bravas for your details and photos, yk. What do you think Twain spent getting that bed frm Venice?!

yk

Our docent said the bed cost $300. Not sure what that is in today's money. And not sure if shipping costs is separate. In the house, they have the pillows at the foot of the bed, and the docent said Mark Twain slept with his head at the foot of the bed so he can stare at the fancy headboard to "enjoy" that $300 he spent.

gomiki

yk, I had to see the bed so I googled and saw that it cost $200 and that would be $4,600 today. It is a gorgeous piece! So, either $200 or three hundred and it did not say if that included the shipping. Thank you for another great report!