Connecticut Travel

It is that sweet time of year again when chocolate lovers come together at the 24th annual Chocolate Expo on January 29 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Wyndham Southbury, formally the Crowne Plaza Hotel. With chocolate lovers in mind, this event showcases many of the area’s finest chocolate delights and specialty food items from a wide variety of exhibitors and culinary schools.

Expo goers are invited to sample a plentiful assortment of scrumptious chocolate, specialty and gourmet foods provided by well-respected local businesses. Vendors will also be offering unique gifts, products, and services. Attendees can shop for Valentine’s Day or pick-up treats for Super Bowl parties, while enjoying music, a silent auction, special drawings, door prizes, and demonstrations.

Adult tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Children’s tickets (ages 5-12) are $5. For tickets or exhibitor information please contact Faith Hull, 203-754-5141 ext. 251. Proceeds benefit the programs and services of Easter Seals, serving the special needs of infants, children, and adults with disabilities in greater Waterbury, central, and northwestern Connecticut. Tickets available online. Visit the website www.easterseals.com/waterbury. Tickets available online.

The Maritime Aquarium is offering a recipe you just can’t beat… especially if you are a foodie, chocoholic and animal lover! Once again, on January 29 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, one of Connecticut’s top attractions, is hosting one of the one of the largest and most unique consumer chocolate events in the United States. Chocoholics will have the opportunity to sample chocolates from 40 local and regional vendors – including top area chocolatiers that will fill the Aquarium galleries, offering samples and sales of their gourmet chocolates, baked goods and specialty foods. In addition, guests can meet “Willy Wonka’s” original Mike TeeVee and sit in on free presentations by celebrity chefs Barret Beyer, Tony Albanese and Larry Rosenberg, as well as famed mentalist The Amazing Kreskin.

To pack it all in, the Aquarium will stay open two hours longer than normal – until 7 p.m.
The sweetest part of the day, however, is that admission on Jan. 29 costs less than a regular Aquarium ticket. For one day only, guests can enjoy jellyfish and gelato, tree frogs and truffles, crabs and caramels – all at discounted prices, especially with advance online purchase.

Festival attendees will find traditional and gourmet chocolates, as well as specialty offerings like chocolate-covered bacon, chocolate tarts, candy apples, fudge, chocolate-covered pretzels, chocolate vinaigrettes, and even chocolate-infused Brussels sprouts and chocolate-scented candles.

For ready-to-eat treats, Aurora Gourmet will have their chocolate fountains flowing, while Crazy Crepe Café will be making delicious crepes and Pika’s Farm Table will serve authentic Belgian-style waffles dipped in a choice of white, dark or milk chocolate. Screme Gelato will scoop a variety of unique flavors.
Non-chocolate goodies to be sampled and sold include gourmet tomato sauces, hot sauces, empanadas, nut butters, jams, syrups, sodas, pickles, coffees, horseradish, honey, popcorn, cannolis, cakes, pies, tarts and more. You can even bring home specialty treats for your dog!

Buy your tickets online – even on the day of The Chocolate Expo – for the deliciously discounted prices of $15 for adults and $10 for children 3-12. (Under 3, free.). Tickets purchased at the door will be $20 for adults and $15 for children. Paid admission on Jan. 29 is required of Maritime Aquarium members: $13 for adults and $8 for children.
(Regular admission to The Maritime Aquarium is $22.95 for adults and $15.95 for children.)

This year, for the first time, an off-peak ticket for admission between 5 & 7 p.m. is available for $10 per person; an even greater discount.

There will be no IMAX® movie presentations on Jan. 29, so the theater can be used for special presentations, including free 30-minute demonstrations by three celebrity chefs:
– Tony Albanese, pastry designer and former assistant to Buddy Valastro of TV’s “Cake Boss,” at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
– Barret Beyer of Fox TV’s “Hell’s Kitchen” at 2 and 4 p.m.
– and Larry Rosenberg, recipe-book author, owner of Bacon Bites and soon-to-be-seen on Food Network, at 1 & 5 p.m.
Plus, at noon, be astounded by The Amazing Kreskin. With a showman’s flair, a comedian’s wit and the capacities of a bona fide mentalist or thought-reader, The Amazing Kreskin dramatizes the unique facets of the human mind. For six decades, he has been wow-ing audiences and talk-show hosts – including Carson, Letterman, Stern and Fallon – with his unknowable insights and answers.

Seating of 310 for the chef demonstrations and The Amazing Kreskin will be on a first-come, first-seated basis. The chefs will be available throughout the day for pictures and autographs.

This year’s Chocolate Expo also celebrates cinematic chocolate history by welcoming Paris Themmen, who played Mike TeeVee – the boy in the cowboy outfit – opposite Gene Wilder in “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” Themmen will sign autographs and pose for photographs throughout the day.

Throughout his nearly seventy-year career, photographer Brett Weston (1911-1993) was obsessed with abstracted micro-images of reality as well as of cities and landscapes captured by a long telephoto lens that diminished the depth of field, thus flattening the image.

Now through February 12, 2017, the Bruce Museum in Greenwich presents an exhibition of twenty-three vintage 11 x 14 and 8 x 10-inch, black-and-white photographs by Brett Weston that were part of a 2015 gift to the Museum from the Christian Keesee Collection. Keesee, who is a collector and philanthropist, acquired the vintage prints from the Brett Weston Estate in 1996, then created an archive to organize and catalog the works as well as increase public awareness of the artist.

The exhibition titled Towards Abstraction, 1940-1985: Brett Weston Photographs from the Bruce Museum Collection features images of architectural designs from major cities and natural elements from the desert to lush tropical landscapes.

Brett Weston gained international recognition at the age of seventeen, when he was included, with his father, Edward Weston, in an avant-garde exhibition at Film und Foto in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1929. Three years later, he had his first one-person museum retrospective in San Francisco and frequently exhibited in the 1930s with the California group of photographers known as Group f.64, named for the aperture setting.

The exhibition Towards Abstraction, 1940-1985: Brett Weston Photographs from the Bruce Museum Collection is supported by the Deborah G. and Charles M. Royce Exhibition Fund and the Connecticut Office of the Arts. The Bruce Museum is located at 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, CT. For information, call 203-869-0376 or visit brucemuseum.org.

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of WWII, the Weston Historical Society located on 104 Weston Rd. in Weston has put together a new exhibition called Memories of World War II. This exhibition celebrates our Weston’s contributions to the war.

In 1940, the Town of Weston was a small rural community of about 1,053 people. When war was declared Weston’s citizens responded. During the war 155 men and women left our town to join the services, becoming fighter pilots, rifle marksmen, bomber and transfer pilots, administrators, and radio operators in every branch of the military.

The exhibit opens to the public on Saturday November 11, 2016, from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Society’s museum, 104 Weston Road, Weston. On that day only, World War II Collector Ken Boughton will display one of the state’s largest collections of World War II military equipment, vehicles and armaments on the Coley Homestead grounds.

This exhibition runs through March 26, 2017 and displays powerful prints by Weston artist Doug Leigh, depicting his experiences in the Battle of the Bulge as young staff sergeant, plus photos of war materiel representing land, air, and sea forces, and actual uniforms worn by our GI’s. The exhibition also includes a wide range of personal memorabilia that ties Weston residents, past and present, directly to the conflict. There are even large military artifacts on display including a 50 Caliber Machine Gun, a Army Jeep
and a Military Motor-cycle with sidecar.

Memories of World War II will be open to the public on Sundays from 1:00p.m. to 4:00p.m. through Sunday March 26th, 2017.

The Housatonic Museum of Art located on 900 Lafayette Blvd. in Bridgeport is hosting a photography show by Steve McCurry on India. The show features forty-four incredible photographs that capture the vibrant color and chaos of this ancient country, providing a stunning backdrop for the ordinary people who live and work in an extraordinary place. The show continues through February 10, 2017. All are welcome and encouraged to visit.

Best known for his iconic ‘Afghan Girl’ image that graced the cover of National Geographic over 30 years ago, McCurry stands as one of the most important voices in contemporary photography. With scores of magazine and book covers, over a dozen books, and countless exhibitions around the world to his name, McCurry recently turned to India for inspiration. He says, “I was looking for street scenes, images that show the economy, recreation, and religion—pictures that address the key elements of a place and, at the same time, are interesting in their own right.”

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Thursday evening until 7 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. (call for holiday times). The Gallery is closed Sundays.

Maple sugaring time, a New England tradition, will be starting soon! Each year Flanders taps and collects sap from dozens of trees both at their nature center and around Woodbury. Tree tapping day, weather permitting, is scheduled for Saturday, January 28. No experience is needed and all ages and families are welcome to come to help out. For the purposes of coordination they are requesting that those planning on coming that day to also preregister. Tree tappper volunteers will meet at the Flanders Sugar House at 9:30 AM. It is located at 5 Church Hill Road in Woodbury. These events are free and open to the public.

Tapping the trees is just the start of the busy maple season for Flanders! Volunteers are needed also to collect sap, and help out at maple sugaring activities like syrup making demonstrations, and a pancake breakfast where Flanders syrup will be served!

To register for the information session and/or tapping day please call 203-263-3711 Ext. 10. If you are unable to attend either session but are interested in volunteering during the season then call and they will be happy to match your interests to the volunteer opportunities.

About Flanders
Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust is a nonprofit organization that focuses on environmental education, and on the acquisition, conservation, and stewardship of open space. Through its land trust initiatives, Flanders actively works to protect important natural sites and the area’s landscape character and quality of life. Flanders manages over 2,100 acres of preserved land in Woodbury and neighboring towns. Educational programs for children and adults are offered at the Van Vleck Farm Sanctuary, Flanders’ main campus in Woodbury. Trails at its major nature preserves are open to the public at no charge from dawn to dusk. For more information, call 203-263-3711 or go to www.flandersnaturecenter.org.