Connecticut Travel

The kick-off at WHS’ Holly Days season of events with a celebration of Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights to watch dances before returning to the historical society for a wide range of family activities, and Indian snacks to celebrate the beginning of a joyful season. Diwali, or Dipawali, is India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year which over the centuries, has become a national festival that is enjoyed by most Indians throughout the diaspora regardless of faith: Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs.

Westport Historical Society, 25 Avery Place, Westport, Saturday, November 3rd, 3-5 pm. Online pre-registration $8 for members, $12 for non-members. At the door $10 suggested admission for members, $15 for non-members. No charge for children 12 and under. $5 for student (with ID). Reservations are recommended, register online at westporthistory.org or call (203) 222-1424 x5.

Dance and costume performances will be held at Christ and Holy Trinity Church in Branson Hall, 75 Church Lane, Westport followed by a celebration and activities at Westport Historical Society.

Calling all little ghosts and goblins, super heroes and princesses, and all those who want an extra chance to wear their costume! Get into the Halloween spirit a couple days early and join us for a Halloween celebration at the The New England Carousel Museum located on 95 Riverside Ave.in Bristol. The Museum is hosting a FREE Halloween costume party for children on Wednesday, October 31st from 4:30-6:00PM. Children of all ages and their families are invited to come and participate in this festive annual event. The party will include refreshments and treats for attendees, as well as themed games and crafts.

There will also be a costume contest starting at 5:00 PM. Prizes will be awarded for the scariest, most original, and best Halloween character costumes, as well as most creative. Each child will receive a Halloween goodie bag. Admission to this event is FREE for children and $1.00 for adults.

Space is limited to the first 200 children and all children must be accompanied by an adult. Call (860) 585-4811 for reservations OR register online.

The Carousel Museum also runs the Bushnell Park Carousel and anyone who comes in costume will receive a free ride on the carousel on Sunday, October 28 from 11 am – 5 pm.

Kids in costume can get free admission to The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk on the weekend before Halloween when the popular family attraction transforms into the AquaScarium.

Children age 3 to 12 who come to the AquaScarium in costume on Sat., Oct. 27 and Sun., Oct. 28 will get free admission (a $17.95 value) with each paying adult. Adult admission is $24.95. (The offer requires one paying adult for each free costumed child.)

“There’s no trick about this treat,” said Dave Sigworth, the Aquarium’s spooksperson. “The AquaScarium weekend offers a fun chance to try out your kids’ costumes, show off your kids’ costumes, and even earn some savings through your kids’ costumes – all in one of the best family attractions in Connecticut.”

The AquaScarium itself will be ghoulishly decorated for Halloween, with jack-o’-lanterns, seasonal accessories, and staff dressed in costume. Sigworth stressed that the celebration is an AquaScarium in name only, with no frightening aspects for young children.

Also, during the Aqua-Scarium weekend (and every weekend in October), members of the volunteer dive team will carve pumpkins while submerged among the large sharks in the 110,000-gallon “Ocean Beyond the Sound” exhibit. The carvings will occur during the divers’ regular plunges – at 12:15 and 2:15 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday. Purpose of the interpreted dives is to dispel myths about sharks; notably that they are all blood-thirsty man-eaters. The shark dives – and bonus underwater pumpkin carvings – are free with Aquarium admission.

Maritime Aquarium admission includes a daytime IMAX movie. Film choices during AquaScarium include “Oceans: Our Blue Planet,” “Pandas,” and “Backyard Wilderness,” which recently swept the Giant Screen Cinema Association’s 2018 Awards (the equivalent of the Oscars for IMAX movies).

For more details about AquaScarium, and The Maritime Aquarium’s exhibits, programs and IMAX movies this fall, go to www.maritimeaquarium.org or call (203) 852-0700.

Sources differ as to the introduction of Macaroni and Cheese to the United States. Some credit colonial settlers who may have brought over the dish from England, while others ascribe the introduction to Thomas Jefferson, who had sampled the dish in Europe and so enjoyed it that he attempted to design a macaroni-making machine. This didn’t go to plan, and he settled for importing the Parmesan cheese and macaroni noodles and then serving the dish at a state dinner” says Leah Bhabha at Food52. Museum Educator Lola Chen will be showing the children how to make Dressed Macaroni and Cheese, 19th-century style at this month’s Colonial Cookery and Customs for Kids workshop. They will use an adaptation of a recipe from The Housekeeper’s Book, published in 1838, which features onion, clove, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, cream, butter, pepper, and salt.

The Colonial Cookery and Customs for Kids workshop at the Wilton Historical Society teaches kids a “reciept” (recipe) used in the Connecticut region. While the food is prepared, they hear about Colonial manners, morals, and way of life. The monthly workshops feature relatively simple dishes made with local, seasonal ingredients, adapted for modern kitchens. All participants will sample their own cooking and take home recipe cards – as well as any leftovers! The children will learn how a Colonial kitchen would have operated, in order to appreciate the modern conveniences we take for granted. Previous sessions have made bannock cakes, pease porridge, pickles, an amulet of green peas, apple tansey, fairy butter, pumpkin bread, cranberry shortbread, New Year’s “cakes”, New England chowder, hand pies, cheese and ramp soufflé, pea and watercress Rappahannock, blackberry maslin, thirded bread, pound cake with “Oranges” juice, maple cup custard, pepper pot soup and scalloped tomatoes.

Suggested for ages 6 – 12.
Members: $10; Non-members $15. Space is limited — please register by contacting info@wiltonhistorical.org or call 203-762-7257.

Did You Know?
President Thomas Jefferson’s Macaroni Recipe from the Monticello website:
“Jefferson was most likely not the first to introduce macaroni (with or without cheese) to America, nor did he invent the recipe. The most that can be said is that he probably helped to popularize it by serving it to dinner guests during his presidency. There survives, however, a recipe for macaroni in Jefferson’s own hand:
6 eggs. yolks & whites.
2 wine glasses of milk
2 lb of flour
a little salt
work them together without water, and very well.
roll it then with a roller to a paper thickness
cut it into small peices which roll again with the hand into long slips, & then cut them to a proper length.
put them into warm water a quarter of an hour.
drain them.
dress them as maccaroni.
but if they are intended for soups they are to be put in the soup & not into warm water”

The New Canaan Nature Center is hosting two Halloween events this October to celebrate the season. The first event is the 3rd annual ack-o-Lantern Carving Contest! Carve a pumpkin at home with your family and bring it into the NCNC Visitor Center on Wednesday, October 24, or Thursday, October 25, any time from 9am-3pm. Each pumpkin must be accompanied by a registration form. Judging will take place during a spooky stroll on Friday, October 26th, as part of NCNC’s Halloween Spooktacular event! Each Spooktacular participant will vote for their favorite pumpkin.

The second event takes place on Friday, Oct. 26 from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm at the New Canaan Nature Center. Guests of this spooktacular celebration will learn about and meet some creepy critters who remind us of All Hallows Eve (spiders, bats, snakes, & more), before getting the chance to make our very own slime. The evening will end by enjoying a spooky & interactive Halloween story and a one-of-a-kind jack-o-lantern experience.

Costumes encouraged & welcome! This is not a drop off program – all children must be accompanied by an adult. Spaces for this popular event are limited & advanced registration is highly recommended! Members: $10/person Non-Members: $15/person. The New Canaan Nature Center is located on 144 Oenoke Ridge in New Canaan.

Take a candlelit tour along a path of 1,000 luminaries through the cemetery and meet some of Washington Connecticut’s unforgettable residents from the past! This spooktacular event takes place on Friday, October 26 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

The Tour starts at Gunn Historical Museum, 5 Wykeham Road, Washington, CT 06793. Tours depart every ten minutes between 6:30 and 8:30 pm and last approximately one hour. Tickets will be distributed, on a first-come-first-serve basis, starting at 6:15 pm on Friday, October 26, and continuing through the evening until the tickets run out. While there is no fee for this event, donations are greatly appreciated.

Tour guests are encouraged to bring a flashlight, dress warmly and wear comfortable walking shoes as they will be walking on uneven terrain.

Refreshments, face painting for kids, and a Halloween themed movie will be shown in the Wykeham Room of the Gunn Memorial Library where attendees can wait inside for their tour group to depart.

Rain Date for the Cemetery Tour: Sunday, October 28 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.