CONNECTICUT
Everyone has their own way to experience Connecticut, be it zip lining through treetops, taking a trip back into history, or enjoying New England’s seafood at a roadside clam shack. There's so much to do in this seemingly small state -- it's a complete experience in a small package. Get some ideas for your road trip here:
Gillette Castle State Park
Gillette Castle State Park straddles the towns of East Haddam and Lyme, Connecticut in the United States, sitting high above the Connecticut River. The castle was originally a private residence commissioned and designed by William Gillette, an American actor who is most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on stage. Gillette lived at this estate from 1919–1937. The estate was purchased by the state of Connecticut in 1943 for a price of $5,000.
Mystic Seaport Museum
Mystic Seaport Museum or Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea in Mystic, Connecticut is the largest maritime museum in the United States. It is notable for its collection of sailing ships and boats and for the re-creation of the crafts and fabric of an entire 19th-century seafaring village. It consists of more than 60 historic buildings, most of them rare commercial structures moved to the 19-acre site and meticulously restored.
The Mark Twain House & Museum
The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, was the home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens and his family from 1874 to 1891. It was designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter and built in the American High Gothic style. Clemens biographer Justin Kaplan has called it "part steamboat, part medieval fortress and part cuckoo clock." Clemens wrote many of his best-known works while living there, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Tramp Abroad, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School landscapes, modernist masterpieces and contemporary works, as well as collections of early American furniture and decorative arts. Opening in 1844, it's the oldest continually operating public art museum in the U.S.. The museum is located in a distinctive castle-like building in downtown Hartford, the state's capital. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Hammonasset Beach State Park
Hammonasset Beach State Park is a public recreation area occupying two miles of beach front on Long Island Sound in the town of Madison, Connecticut. It is the state's largest shoreline park and one of the most popular attractions in the state, drawing an estimated one million visitors annually. The state park offers beach activities, large campground, and nature center.
