Yale and Mystic

 On the third day of our Connecticut vacation we continued our cultural exploration of the CT coast with a stop at the Peabody Museum of Natural History on the storied campus of Yale University.  It was a beautiful sunny day as the coeds biked and walked along the walkways that have been used by students for more than 300 years, which is pretty incredible when you think about it.

The description of the museum was pretty impressive and the real thing did not disappoint.   We got there just as the doors opened, paid our $9.00 for adults and $5.00 for our son.  We immediately headed for the third floor since most of the people coming in went directly to the exhibits on the first floor.

The Hall of Minerals and its rainbow of colors.

Our first stop was the Hall of Minerals with a colorful array of minerals rivaling the colors of the rainbow.  I believe the museum claims to have one of the largest private mineral collection in the world, and I don't doubt it given the sampling we viewed.  It included a reproduction of the largest gold nugget ever discovered, weighing in at 150 pounds.  At today's prices, that would net you close to $4,000,000 if you found that today.  Other exhibits on the third floor included geology, solar system, atmospheres, oceans and climates, ancient Egypt and a labyrinth of dioramas of North America.

Apparently this is an Apatosaurus, not a Brontosaurus.  Who knew?

On the second floor was the Discovery Room with various snakes, lizards, and insects in glass encased homes. From the windows of this room, you could see the full scale models of an Apatosaurus, which to me looked like a Brontosaurus, so we didn't linger long before heading downstairs for an up close a personal look at the big dinosaurs.  Apparently what distinguishes one from the other is the number of vertebrae on the hips.  Apato has three vertebrae and Bronto has five.

The last exhibit on the first floor was a temporary exhibit about "Big Food".  If you ever wanted to see a visual representation of what the average American eats in a year, you could see that here.  It included a little test that showed you some ingredients and you had to guess what the food was and whether or not it was good for you.  The more ingredients, particularly the ones you couldn't pronounce, the worse it was for you.  Another display showed how much sugar is in some everyday beverages.

Sugar content of everyday beverages.

We departed the hallowed halls of Yale en route to Mystic and the Mystic Aquarium.  Since it is the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, there was a Titanic Exhibit that drew equally titanic crowds.  We paid the general admission of $29 each for my wife and I and $21 for our 9-year-old son.  It had been a few years since we last visited and the place had expanded, but given the crowds during April vacation it was a bit of a challenge to get close to many of the exhibits.  We watched the Beluga whales for a bit, then moseyed over to the penguin tank.

Penguin exhibit at Mystic Aquarium.

Inside, the Titanic exhibit was a sea of bodies.  It would have been far more enjoyable if we weren't dodging people, but we wandered through anyway.  There were many exhibits and photos including a big replica of an iceberg.

That's a healthy chunk of ice!

 There were tanks all around with colorful fish, ugly fish, pretty fish, eels, sharks, stingrays and many other underwater species.  Again, we would have lingered longer had it not been for all the people, so we took a few photos and headed for the door.  I imagine it would be a completely different experience if we went any time other than spring break.

 
Our last stop before heading out was the gift shop.  The place was absolutely packed.  We stood in line for probably 15-20 minutes to buy rock candy, which is one of Ashton's favorite treats.  In retrospect we should have just hit the road, but it was vacation and all we were going to do at this point was head to our hotel, so we stuck it out.

Our hotel was the Comfort Suites in Norwich, CT.  The building was a bit "tired" and it sat right next to an industrial park, so "scenic" and "convenient" were not two words I'd use to describe it.  Many of the rooms were booked by shipbuilders who worked in the shipyards, so I think we were the only family there.  The indoor pool was quite nice, heated to a comfortable temperature and we had it to ourselves.  The hot tub, on the other hand, was more like a warm tub, making it difficult to distinguish between the pool temperature and the hot tub temperature.

For dinner we went to a take out place called Buddy's Dugout where we enjoyed burgers, fries and shakes while sitting outside at their picnic tables.

Certainly Coastal Connecticut had some interesting places to visit, but the parts we saw were too congested four our taste and lacked the scenic qualities we're fortunate enough to experience everyday in Maine, so we were happy to get home.

The Connecticut Coast

When you have children, you must inevitably travel during the school vacation weeks thereby sharing the hotels and attractions with large numbers of people.  During April vacation we were fortunate that the places we visited weren't overly busy, with the exception of the Mystic Aquarium, which I will get to in another post.

After leaving Jaffrey, NH, the former home of Amos Fortune (See Previous Post:  On the Trail of Amos Fortune) we headed south to Ludlow, MA for and overnight at the Comfort Inn.  The room was okay, but the indoor pool was quite small.  There was a mother, father and three kids splashing and screaming and jumping into the pool, creating a mini tsunami and leaving little room for Ashton and I to enjoy the water at a more leisurely pace.   Bethany would not even go in the water because it was so wild.  On top of that, another couple with two small children were also in the pool area.  One child was swimming while the other younger one had his parents chasing him around the entire time they were there.  He was flipping over furniture and running around the pool.  He was being so bad, we were sure he was going to jump right in the pool, clothes and all, but he didn't.

The next morning we hit the road to our first destination, the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT.  While researching places to visit for this trip, Bethany learned that they were having a Walter Wick exhibit.  Now in our household, Walter Wick is a pretty common name.  He's the guy that writes and photographs the I Spy books, you know, the ones that you have to find stuff in all the models he's built.  The exhibits displayed some of his models and many of his I Spy photographic illustrations.

Directly across the street from the museum is a fancy public playground with many kids decked out in designer clothing.  We arrived at the museum right around lunchtime, had a picnic on the grounds and played on the playground for a bit before the museum opened.  As we were eating, there was a Good Humor truck parked there waiting to serve kids sweet ice cream treats; but what I found rather humorous, was the mobile cafe that pulled in behind it.  Yes, this truck served lattes, espressos and other specialty coffees, along with Paninis and other cafe food.  It appeared to do a brisk business from the parents watching their kids, and I thought to myself - only in Greenwich...

The big Pez sign outside the visitor center.

Wall of Pez dispensers.

After the Bruce Museum, we checked into our hotel and stumbled across information about the Pez factory in Orange, CT, so we went to check it out since Ashton had started collecting Pez dispensers.  When we first walked in there was a full wall, about 20 x 20 feet, filled with Pez dispensers.  Inside were many other candies and collectibles, as well as the largest Pez dispenser in the world.

The history of Pez was outlined on the wall.

It was a pretty neat place.  They had an illustrated wall that explained the history of Pez and all kinds of Pez dispensers, including an Asterix collection, which I'm sure my brother would have found intriguing.  In the back of the visitor center was a place where kids could make a video with their new Pez paraphernalia and email it home.  You can see Ashton's Pez video here.  Please ignore the screaming kids in the background.

The admission was $5 per adult and $4 for kids, but they give you a $2 store credit with each admission.  So, as you would expect, we ended up buying more than two dollars worth of merchandise.  The production lines weren't running when we were there, but they have windows looking out over the factory that would enable you to watch Pez being made if you so desired.

Largest Pez dispenser ever.

Historic Pez items.

Stay tuned for other postings from our CT trip.

On the trail of Amos Fortune

Most Americans have heard of the Underground Railroad, the secretive coalition of individuals who helped escaped slaves make their way to freedom in the north.  After reading a book in his third grade class called, Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates, my 9-year-old son became curious about the slavery and the lives of these people who were treated differently simply because of the color of their skin.

Thanks to the Internet, we learned that Amos Fortune was a slave who bought his own freedom at age 60, then moved to Jaffrey, NH where he started a tanning business.  Since my wife was an alumnus of Franklin Pierce College (Now Franklin Pierce University) in nearby Rindge, NH, we decided to bring the book to life and visit some of the sights we'd read about - and combine it with a side tour of the campus to see how things have changed since she graduated.

Our first stop was the Old Meeting House, behind which Amos was buried.  The meeting house structure was originally built in 1775 by Captain Samuel Adams, who is also buried here.  This building with its white clapboards, bell tower and spire, and lush green lawn is quintessential New England.

Meeting House, Jaffrey, NH

An old stonewall encompasses well-preserved grave stones dating back to the late 1700s.  Next the the meeting house is a horse barn with several stalls.  On the side of the horse barn is a sign that shows the location of some the the cemetery's more notable citizens, including Amos Fortune, his wife Violate, the Reverend Laban Ainsworth, who helped Amos get settled in town, and Willa Cather, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1923 and wrote a number of books about frontier life on the Great Plains.

Gravestones of Amos Fortune and his wife Violate behind the Meeting House in Jaffrey, N H

On this beautiful, sunny spring day we took our time meandering around the cemetery, looking at the old headstones and the views of Mt. Monadnock that Amos Fortune frequently mentioned in the book.

After visiting the meeting house, we ventured across town to find Amos' house.  It was no surprise to us that his house was located on what is now called Amos Fortune Road. 

About a half mile up the road we came to the house which unfortunately was not what we pictured.  It was a dilapidated old Cape with some boarded up windows and an unkempt lawn.  Behind the house, the barn was also in need of attention.

On the bright side, however, it looked like someone was trying to renovate the building.  Since it is a private residence, we did not stop except to take a couple photos.

Jaffrey is a charming town with beautiful historic homes.  It was a pleasure to see for real, what we had read about in the book, and we were happy that we could bring the book to life for our son and ourselves.