Category: Connecticut Travel

Step Back to the Summer of 1863 at the Civil War Reenactment in Woodbury

Woodbury, well known as Connecticut’s antiques Capitol will host well over 350 Civil War reenactors from all over New England as well as from points south. The reenactors will be camping out in Strong Preserve Park off of Rte. 6 on Scratchville Road on August 24 and 25.

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Visitors are invited to step back in time to the summer of 1863 and immerse themselves in this tumultuous period of American history. Begin your walk through history by strolling through replicas of period military camps as well as the civilian town of Unity. Camp layouts are garrison in style with formal company streets and include all of the amenities that one would expect to find in a military camp such as wood, water and hay for horses.

There will examples of both Union and Confederate camps. Along the way, reenactors will engage you with the trials and tribulations of their day — you may even meet some well known personalities. Listen to period music and enjoy the tales of well versed speakers and authors that make this event come alive. For family fun, kids are invited to take part in a scavenger hunt that will teach them about the American Civil War. Don’t miss the 19th century goods for sale on Sutlers Row while enjoying a treat from one of the food vendors.

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The camp comes alive with many special demonstrations that include battlefield medicine and surgery as well as period toys and games. The highlight of the event includes the colorful drills that take place and the roar of cannons during the orchestrated battles that are scheduled. This reenactment features unique and elaborate battle scenarios that are not found at other events.

Special battles times have been scheduled for Saturday, August 24 at 2:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 25 at 1:30 p.m.

The gates to the event open at 8:30 a.m. giving guests ample time to see the many chores and activities of the reenactors as they begin their day. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, $4 for children 5 to 10 and kids under 5 are free. There is free parking and shuttles to the event. For up to the minute information www.woodburybattle.com. For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

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Coming to America: Washington’s Swedish Immigrants

Swedish Culture at the Gunn Museum in Washington CT
Swedish Culture at the Gunn Museum in Washington CT

The Gunn Memorial Museum on 5 Wykeham Road in Washington Connecticut is exploring its’ European roots with a new exhibit that runs through January 12, 2014 called Coming to America: Washington’s Swedish Immigrants. This exhibition shares the little-known story of Swedish immigration to this small New England town.

Known for their superior agricultural skills, 1.3 million Swedes immigrated to America during the 19th and 20th centuries, escaping conscription, famine, and poverty. Washington, Connecticut became one of their new homes, where many found employment as laborers and servants on local farms and estates owned by wealthy New Yorkers.

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Beginning in 1870, over one hundred Swedish families settled in Washington and built two churches across the street from each other. One, the Salem Covenant Church, is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. Swedes made up 22% of Washington’s population in 1910, and many of their descendants still reside in town today. This exhibit tells their story.

Ellis Island Room
Ellis Island Room

The Gunn Museum is located at 5 Wykeham Road, at the intersection of Wykeham Road and Rt. 47, on Washington Green. The Museum is open to the public Thursday through Saturday 10am-4pm and Sunday from 12pm-4pm. Call the Museum at 860-868-7756 or view http://www.gunnlibrary.org for more information.

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Kissable Camels at Beardsley Zoo

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Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is known for offering special family programming during the summer months. In years past, the zoo has featured a free flight bird show, Rainforest Reptiles, and last year’s Galapagos tortoises were a huge hit with the public. This summer, two camels have called Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo home through Labor Day.

The camels, named Toby and Goliath, may be found on the greenhouse lawn and rides will be available from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for $5 per person, which includes photos. Visitors will be able to purchase ride tickets at the front gate, gift shop, carousel, and at the camel ride. While there are no age restrictions for riders, anyone five years old and younger requires an adult rider with them. The zoo also is offering a combo ticket for both a carousel and camel ride for $6.00.

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Fun camel facts, courtesy of Environmental Graffiti:

Bactrian camels have two humps while Dromedary camels have one hump. (Toby and Goliath are Dromedary camels.)
The name camel comes from Arabic, meaning “beauty.”
A camel’s hump stores fat – not water – as many believe.
Camels can drink up to 40 gallons at one time.
Camels can go for long periods of time without drinking because of the shape of their red blood cells, which are oval, and allows them to flow easily without clumping. They are the only mammals to have this kind of blood cell.
Camels can kick in all four directions with each leg.
Camels can eat anything without injuring their mouths – including thorny twigs.
Camels can close their nostrils against wind and sand when necessary.
Their coats reflect sunlight and insulate them from the desert heat.
“Spitting” is actually a way that camels defend themselves. They don’t actually spit but rather throw up a nasty smelling fluid when provoked.

For more information about Connecticut’s only zoo visit www.beardsleyzoo.org. For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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FAMILY FUN IS GUARANTEED, RAIN OR SHINE IN LITCHFIELD HILLS AND FAIRFIELD COUNTY

When the beach outing or the picnic is rained out, what to do with restless kids on a wet summer weekend? Plenty of possibilities await in Western Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills and Fairfield County, where special indoor exhibits from bats to dinosaurs to a working carousel are guaranteed to bring smiles. Families can join a workshop learning how to make their own clocks or even have a “stay-cation” at a resort with an indoor water park.

FAIRFIELD COUNTY FUN
Fairfield County’s perennial family favorite museums are offering special don’t-miss exhibitions this summer.

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In Norwalk, the Maritime Aquarium is featuring Africa: From the Desert to the Sea, starring amazing creatures from exotic fish to adorable meerkats, geckos and awesome giant boas. Playful meerkats are a favorite, and special windows allow following them into their underground burrows. A viewing bubble even lets young visitors stand up right among the meerkats. www.maritimeaquarium.org.

Not far away in Norwalk at the Stepping Stones Museum for Children, Dinosaur Revolution, a special exhibit through September 8, lets youngsters uncover fossils and facts about dinosaurs as they navigate a giant maze. www.steppingstonesmuseum.org

Big Chicken by Clementine Hunter Minnesota Children’s Museum
Big Chicken by Clementine Hunter Minnesota Children’s Museum

The Stamford Museum and Nature Center has a new exhibit through September 2 called Masters of the Night, starring bats, those mysterious and often misunderstood mammals. Visitors can try out a variety of fun and informative interactive stations featuring life-like models, such as “Bat Ears,” “Feast in Flight,” and the “Echo – Echo Unit.” www.stamfordmuseum.org.

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In Greenwich, Eggs-hibition: Unscrambling Their History at the Bruce Museum through October 20 promises to enthrall all with its array of bird eggs, edible eggs, and eggs both ugly and beautiful. www.brucemuseum.org.

LITCHFIELD HILLS TREATS

A ride on an old-fashioned merry-go-round is a treat for all ages, and it is included in the price of admission at the Carousel Museum in Bristol. This unique museum offers one of largest collections of antique carousel pieces in the country in its “Golden Age of the Carousel” exhibit. Visitors also see the workshop where antique carousel creations are restored. Upstairs, a Museum of Fire history awaits and the museum includes a changing art gallery and a children’s craft center, as well. www.thecarouselmuseum.org.

New England Carousel Museum
New England Carousel Museum

Waterbury’s Timexpo: The Timex Museum is a fascinating place for older kids with its Time Tunnel and a colorful history of watch making. Fun for all is the museum’s Make A Clock workshops offered every Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Workshop participants choose among many designs, decorate and assemble their own working clock. http://timexpo.com.

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Waterbury also offers a unique splurge solution for a rainy weekend. It is always 84 degrees and sunny at the Coco Key Water Resort and Conference Center, where a 50,000 square foot indoor water playground offers an Adventure River, water slides, raft rides, activity pools with water basketball and the Parrot’s Perch Interactive Play Island with a special shallow Kiddie Entry Area. If you don’t want to stay the night, day passes are available. www.cocokeywaterbury.com.

For more information about family activities and a free copy of UNWIND, a full-color,
152-page booklet detailing what to do and see, and where to stay, shop and dine in
Western Connecticut, contact the Western Connecticut Visitors Bureau, PO Box 968,
Litchfield, CT 06759, (860) 567-4506, or visit their web site at www.litchfieldhills.com and www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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Kent Historical Society presents art of George Laurence Nelson

Portrait of the Hirschberg/Nelson family by George Laurence Nelson
Portrait of the Hirschberg/Nelson family by George Laurence Nelson

The Seven Hearths, the Kent Historical Society Museum, will re-open this summer after being closed for two years with a series of new art exhibits focusing on the life and work of George Laurence Nelson. The Seven Hearths Museum is located on Rte. 7 north of Kent center on the corner of Studio Hill Road in Kent in the historic Flanders area that was once the original center of Kent.

George Laurence Nelson, trained at the Art Students League and the National Academy, and began teaching at the Art Students League in his early 20s. Nelson was among the founders of the Litchfield Hills Art Colony, and later one of the nine founders of the Kent Art Association.

The Litchfield Hills Art Colony played a meaningful role on a national scale in twentieth century American art. George Laurence Nelson’s studio in Seven Hearths is the only remnant of the colony that is open to the public today.

Set within Nelson’s beloved pre-Revolutionary Seven Hearths, which he donated to the Historical Society located on Rte. 7 in Kent Connecticut in the heart of the Litchfield Hills, the Historical Society is presenting three changing exhibits of Nelson’s work in August, September and October.

Nelson portrait of Arturo Toscanini Credit: Kent Historical Society
Nelson portrait of Arturo Toscanini Credit: Kent Historical Society

The August exhibit beginning on the 3rd and running through the 25th will feature large and interesting selection of Nelson portraits. He made his money by doing portraits, and the subjects range from well-known celebrities such as Arturo Toscanini, to NYC society dames, to familiar local faces such as Frank Goodsell as a child.

In September from the 1st to the 29th Nelson’s floral paintings will be on display. While he made money-painting portraits, his heart was devoted to stunning renditions of the lovely flowers that he and his wife Helen grew in their gardens at Seven Hearths. Some are exquisitely colored oil paintings and some are perfectly detailed pencil drawings. Some even are featured on the cover of matchboxes!

Floral painting by Nelson, Kent Historical Society
Floral painting by Nelson, Kent Historical Society

A show that will fill the Seven Hearths Museum with works by Nelson that are borrowed from private collections will be the final exhibit of the season and will take place from October 5 – 27.

The museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from10 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the month.

Call the Historical Society office, 860-927-4587 or visit the web site for more information www.kenthistoricalsociety.org.

For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

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Summer Photography Exhibit at Greenwich Historical Society

Town Hall from Greenwich Avenue by Mary Waldron
Town Hall from Greenwich Avenue by Mary Waldron

“The Perspective of Time” is a collaboration between the Greenwich Historical Society and the Stamford Photography Club. The show of juried images is the result of an invitation by the Greenwich Historical Society to members of the Photography Club to submit photographs that portray aspects of Greenwich history through the eye of the lens. The images will be on display at the Historical Society’s Storehouse Gallery through September 1, 2013.

Table Shuffleboard at Bruce Park Grill by Mike Harris
Table Shuffleboard at Bruce Park Grill by Mike Harris

The varied and fascinating images represent a visual commentary on the ever-changing face of the community–its structures, landscape and institutions–and how aspects of the town as they are today may not survive the next generation. Since its invention, photography has been an invaluable medium for chronicling historical events. But photography can also raise the understanding of history to another level by evoking a sense of time and place on a more visceral level. This exhibition
exemplifies this.

Glenville Bridge by Jean-Marc Bara
Glenville Bridge by Jean-Marc Bara

The Greenwich Historical Society is open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4:00 pm. Admission is free to members and children under six. $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and students. Admission is free to all the first Wednesday of every month. For more information call 203-869-6899 or www.greenwichhistory.org. FOr area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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