Category: Connecticut Travel

Calling all children on Saturday, March 26 from 10 a.m. to noon to go on a Heckscher Farm Egg Hunt, at the Stamford Nature Center and Museum. Children ages six and younger can bring their own baskets and search for hundreds of eggs that will be hidden all over Heckscher Farm. Eggs will be distributed throughout the two-hour event.

Once eggs have been collected, they can be turned in for a goody bag. Parents and older siblings are welcome to come along in support. The gates of the farm will open at 10 am. Please note only one goody bag will be provided for each child ages six and younger.

After you have hunted for your eggs on Heckscher Farm, stop in and visit Heckscher WILD! and the Overbrook Nature Center to celebrate animals that lay eggs from 10 am to 12:30 pm.

Kids will discover the special eggs of salamanders, why bird eggs come in different shapes and colors, and meet some of the Centers egg-laying snakes. There will be plenty of activities at the center as well including ongoing self-guided crafts in Overbrook, and live animal visits in Heckscher WILD!, A highlight of the day happens at noon when kids are invited to join staff for a live “Egg-laying Animals” class in Overbrook. Participants will meet a chicken, snake, and other live animals.

The cost for this event is $5 per family for members and $5 plus gate admission for non-members. For more area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

As part of the annual Julia Q. Keggi Lecture Series, which honors the legacy of women artists, the Mattatuck Museum located in Waterbury is pleased to host art historian and author Jay E. Cantor for a presentation about American Impressionist Mary Cassatt (1844–1926). Titled “A Thoroughly Modern Mary,” this presentation will explore the artistic journey of Mary Stevenson Cassatt, an American printmaker and painter who is widely known for her intimate depictions of mothers and children. The lecture will take place on Wednesday, March 23 at 11:00 a.m. and is $10 for Members and $12 for Non-Members.

Cantor is an independent fine art appraiser and a former vice-president with Christie’s Appraisals, Inc. in New York. He also directed the Mary Cassatt catalogue raisonné committee between 1989 and 2006. Cantor has authored numerous articles and essays about the history of American and French Impressionism, including “Renoir and Vollard: A Comfortable Intimacy,” Vollard is a Genius in His Line,” and “Mary Cassatt, Drawing on Drawing.” Cantor earned his B.A. in the History of Art from Cornell University and his M.A. from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture from the University of Delaware.

For more information on all of the museum’s programs, events, and exhibits visit the website at www.mattatuckmuseum.org or call (203) 753-0381. For more area information on the Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com

Celebrate April Fool’s night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Fairfield Museum for an evening of family fun, featuring wacky entertainment, crafts, kid-friendly cuisine and plenty of fun! Get an exclusive sneak preview of the newest exhibition, “Fabulous Animals: The Illustrated World of Robert Lawson.” His work includes illustrations for The Story of Ferdinand, Rabbit Hill and Mr. Popper’s Penguins.

The night will include a wandering magician who will delight families with amazing illusions, mesmerizing tricks, balloon animals and jokes, of course! Create your own wacky crafts and listen to foolish stories about animals! Pick a joke from our mixed bag, perform some stand-up comedy and make people laugh with our Joke Telling Open Mic. End the evening with a tasty treat from Shake Shack’s specialty custard booth!

Adults: $15; Children: $10; Family of Four: $40. Space is limited! Reserve your tickets online here by March 28
or call the Museum, 203-259-1598 For more area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Looking for some fun to relieve the winter doldrums? Head to the cute town of Kent in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut for “More in March”, a town wide event that is taking place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 18, 19 & 20. The Kent CT merchants are putting a twist on shopping by featuring fantastic sales, special events and fun promotions.

If you like to shop, you will love this quaint village. Kent has an eclectic array of stores featuring quality merchandise. Shop owners work hard to guarantee that their inventories are unique and interesting. You can shop for everything from bird houses and bird seed, to books, to clothing and jewelry to antiques and, even, vintage guitars. You’ll enjoy strolling through town, visiting favorite shops and discovering new ones! Pop into one of Kent’s fine eateries for lunch or coffee and dessert.

Wherever you start your walk through town, you will be delighted with the friendly atmosphere, the customer service and the appreciation for you, as a customer. Come to Kent and kiss the winter blues goodbye. For a complete list of participating businesses visit www.kentct.com. For more info on Litchfield Hills visit the website.

The Kent Historical Society is hosting a talk on the Covered Bridges of Litchfield Hills. Covered bridges that date back to colonial times are an iconic image of Northwest Connecticut, and the Kent/Cornwall area boasts some of the oldest of these structures still in existence in New England. On Sunday, March 20, 2016, at 2:00 PM at the Kent Town Hall, these beloved landmarks will be explored by an expert who knows their history and their engineering.

Author William S. Caswell Jr. will share many historic photographs and information gathered for his book, Connecticut and Rhode Island Covered Bridges, which boasts rare vintage images and postcard memories of days gone by.

During their heyday in the 1800s, more than 150 covered bridges dotted the landscape of Connecticut and Rhode Island, with many concentrated in the hills of northwestern Connecticut. Since then, fires, floods, and progress have claimed all but three of the historic structures.
Connecticut was the birthplace of two of the nation’s best­ known covered bridge designers: Ithiel Town and Theodore Burr. Half of the covered bridges currently standing in the United States are supported by trusses patented by Town or Burr.

Kent’s Bulls Bridge is an example of a modification of Town’s lattice truss design, for which he received his first patent in 1820. The covered bridge in West Cornwall is another example of the modified truss design. They are two of the remaining three covered bridges in the state.
Caswell, an engineer for the NH Department of Transportation, is president and historian for the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, and also maintains a website dedicated to gathering and sharing covered bridge photographs and information.

Free to members; $5 suggested donation for non­members. For more information please call 860.927.4587 or email info@kenthistoricalsociety.org.

For more area information and events www.litchfieldhills.com

Scouts are tasked with being thrifty, and, on Sat., March 12, The Maritime Aquarium is giving them the chance to be just that.

March 12 is Scout Day at the Aquarium. Any Girl Scout or Boy Scout wearing her or his uniform to the Aquarium that day receives discounted prices of $11 for Aquarium admission, or $15.75 for the Aquarium plus an IMAX® movie. (Regular prices are: $12.95 & 17.95 for ages 3-12; and $17.95 & $22.95 for ages 13-17.)

The in-uniform discount applies to Scouts of all levels. Even adult Scout leaders in uniform pay only $11 for Aquarium admission, or $15.75 for the combination ticket. (Regular adult prices are $19.95 and $24.95.) The discount is not available for advance online purchases.

Scout Day at The Maritime Aquarium offers Scouts and their families and leaders the chance to get close to sharks, seals, sea turtles and all of the Aquarium’s fascinating marine animals, most of which are native to Long Island Sound. In addition, Scouts can stop by bonus “Leave No Trace” activity stations, staffed by local Boy Scouts, to learn how to minimize their impact on the environment.

As a special Scout Day bonus, Scouts can thrill to the new IMAX movie “National Parks Adventure,” playing on the Aquarium’s six-story screen more than two months before it opens to the public. Narrated by Robert Redford, the film offers the ultimate off-trail adventure into the nation’s awe-inspiring great outdoors and untamed wilderness. Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Arches, Everglades, the Redwoods and other parks are illuminated as never before with the power of IMAX cinematography, revealing a tapestry of natural wonders that will inspire young adventurers. Release of the movie coincides with our National Parks’ 100th anniversary.

On Sat., March 12, “National Parks Adventure” will play on the hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Tickets for these screenings are open to non-Scout families as well.)

An Aquarium sleepover for Scouts on the night of March 12 is sold out. Scouts who purchased tickets by Feb. 1 received the admission discount online and will receive a unique Maritime Aquarium Scout Day event patch.

Scout Day at The Maritime Aquarium is hosted by the Powahay District of the Boy Scouts of America’s Connecticut Yankee Council.

For more information about Scout Day or about the popular Connecticut family attraction’s exhibits, IMAX movies and programs, call (203) 852-0700 or go to www.maritimeaquarium.org. For more area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com