The first state that is actually near me.
1. Devil's Hopyard State Park, 7 miles east of East Haddam, on State Highway 85. "Rugged Ravine, five waterfalls, unusual rock formations; hiking trails and picnic grounds."
I visited this place back in 2010. Here are some pictures and some account of that expedition,
Part I, and
Part II. Looking back I have very fond memories of this trip now. We went down for I believe a two night stay around the middle of August, right before school started, and I enjoyed that time so much that for many years afterwards I tried to do something similar every year. While some of those trips, especially the first few years afterwards, also hold some good memories--we went to Boothbay Harbor in Maine one year, and the White Mountains in another one--they never quite matched for me that Connecticut trip. I think it was partly the children's ages--we only had the four boys then, and their ages were 8, 7, 4 and 1, so they pretty much went along with anything. Also at that time we could also still fit in one hotel room, which as they got bigger and we had one and then two more children, became impossible. We took a few camping trips, which the younger children at least actually liked, but I never really warmed to camping. Also one year--the last we tried this August mini vacation--we tried to camp on Cape Cod, which is a mistake because, as I realize now, it rains there much more frequently than anywhere else in New England, and by the third day our tents were so soaked through that we just gave it up and came home. But I will always look back at the Devil's Hopyard trip as a high point of the older boys' childhoods.
2.
Fort Shantok State Park, 4 miles south of Norwich, on State Highway 12. "Once the site of an old Mohegan Indian village. Contains the remains of the old Shantok Indian fort, and the Shantok burial ground, now surrounded by a log stockade."
In 1995 the state of Connecticut returned the site to the Mohegan tribe. It is very near the famous (in New England) Mohegan Sun Casino, which is on the same tribal lands, and which was not yet in operation in the 1960s. I have never been to a casino, which is the kind of place I suspect I would enjoy going to, or would have when I was younger. Twenty years into having children and with no end in sight I am out of practice of doing, or even imagining myself doing, anything that could be considered "adult" "fun" of this sort. Indeed, after spending much time over these decades dreaming about traveling again someday or living the international expat life instead of being tied down to my job and family I worry am losing interest in it and growing cranky about it now as either an impossibility or a frivolity. I'll see a video now of attractive 29 year old westerners living in some tropical place especially, and even if they aren't partying that much, whereas up until very recently I would have been envious, my reaction now all of a sudden is that somehow they shouldn't be doing that, it's not quite right. But why wouldn't it be right? When I was that age I would have loved the idea of doing that sort of thing, though I would have preferred to be in one of the European capitals.
There is a banner on one of the Google search items for Fort Shantok stating that it is permanently closed but I cannot find any corroboration for this. There is a review from someone claiming to have there as recently as 4 months ago, though 3 months ago a commenter wrote that there are no signs for this park in the neighborhood and that he was unable to find it.
3. Colonial Museum, in Israel Putnam Memorial Campground, 5 miles southeast of Danbury, on State Highway 58. "Contains many interesting relics from the Revolutionary War."
I think this is what they are talking about, and it is still open, though I don't know whether it is open right now. It is part of the Putnam Memorial State Park in Redding, which is Connecticut's oldest state park, dating to 1887. The current museum was built in the 1920s. Due to declining visitation throughout the 1970s and 80s the park was decommissioned for most of the 90s but re-opened as a state facility in 1997. Other features include a visitor's center and a statue of Israel Putnam (donated 1969), the grounds being where Putnam passed the winter of 1778-9. As you probably know, this general is most celebrated for his successful leadership at the battle of Bunker Hill, where he gave the legendary order, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." This sounds like my kind of place. I hope they are doing better. Maybe I could stop in sometime on my way to Philadelphia--it's right off I-84--if I ever take a trip down there again.
4. Barnum Institute of Science and History, in Bridgeport, on U.S. Route 1. "Contains personal belongings of P. T. Barnum, born in this city, and of Tom Thumb, the 26-inch midget who was the star attraction of Barnum's circus."
Now called the Barnum Museum, this place is closed currently due to the pandemic, but is expecting to be open again once all of that is over. This institution seems to be too historically important to have been allowed to be turned into a spectacle. In 2016 it received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and admission is free, with donations accepted. Bridgeport is a pretty run down city on I-95 that I suspect most people, including me, have not given much thought to visiting, but I'd go see this. Maybe I could combine it with a ride up to New Haven for pizza afterwards, as I have reading about the pizza in New Haven (Frank Pepe's and the other place that I don't remember the name of but that knowing people claim is better) for at least 25 years now but have never gone down to have it.
5. Traveler's Tower, in Hartford, on U.S. Route 6. "The highest building in New England, 527 feet high."
The seventh tallest building in the world when it was constructed in 1919, it was dethroned as the tallest in New England in 1964 by the Prudential Building in Boston (itself since surpassed by the John Hancock Tower, the reigning champion since 1976). It still houses the headquarters of the Traveler's Insurance Company. There is an observation deck on the 27th floor, although since 2017 even this doesn't appear to be open to the public (they stopped giving tours of the rest of the building in the 1990s).
6. Children's Museum, in Hartford, on U.S. Route 6. "Contains fossils, shells, insects, birds, animals, and things of interest about the Indians of North America."
Somewhat to my surprise, given the usual associations that come with calling something a "children's museum" nowadays, this institution still exists and still specializes in animal and science exhibits (I don't what happened to the Indian exhibits; there is no reference to them on the website at least). The museum has relocated to West Hartford from its original location, though that happened in 1958. An article appeared on March 5, 2020 reporting that plans were afoot to relocate again to a new state of the art building in Hartford, but I am guessing this has been put on hold for the time being. Looking over the reviews, there are some complaints about the building being run down and the exhibits dated, but of course that is exactly the sort of attraction I am looking for. A lot of people still like it.
In the California post I stated that it was the only state in the set whose article included a gallery of famous residents, but I was wrong! Connecticut has a list too. Here is who was considered to be historically notable in state history in the environment of 1960.
"More famous inventors have come from Connecticut than from almost any other state. In addition to the men mentioned in other sections of this article* are John Fitch, who made the first steamboat, Samuel Colt, who perfected the revolver, Charles Goodyear, who discovered a practical way of hardening rubber, called vulcanizing, and David Bushnell and Simon Lake, who made improvements on the submarine. Eli Whitney, who invented the cotton gin, made his home in Connecticut.
The famous circus man, Phineas T. Barnum, was born there, as was Noah Webster, who wrote the first American dictionary.
Many important people also made Connecticut their home, including the writers Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain." While this wording implies that the inventors and other notables mentioned previously were not important people, I don't think that is what was intended.
*Among these I see Eli Terry and Seth Thomas ("improved the modern clock"); Linus Yale ("the locks people have on their houses were invented by" him); John Ireland Howe, inventor of "a machine to make pins and needles"; Ethan Allen; and Benedict Arnold.
