A Day in Hartford, Connecticut

On our way back from Rhode Island we were expecting to fly home from Hartford. Our airline had other plans for us and cancelled our flight. In the end, we decided to make lemonade out of the lemons we were dealt and decided to enjoy our day in Hartford.

Funny enough my husband had probably been to Hartford 20 times or more as he used this airport as a stop for his work in Connecticut. However, with early and late flights, all he ever managed to see was the airport and the hotels next to it. With a full day, we did a little research and found some lovely spots to visit.

Places to visit in Hartford

Elizabeth Park Rose Garden

We started our visit on a wonderful sunny day by going to  Elizabeth Park. This is where you’ll find the United States’ oldest rose garden. The Helen S Kamen Rose Garden opened in 1904 and is one of the largest in the country spanning over 2.5 acres. The original garden was an acre and contained about 190 varieties of roses. Today there are more than 800 varieties and 15,000 rose bushes.

Being late October, we didn’t have high expectations for the rose garden, but we were pleasantly surprised. So much was in bloom, it was just beautiful. Roses of every color, shape, and size.

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There was a wonderful gazebo in the middle of the garden along with pathways and arches all of which had trimmed rose bushes on them. We can only imagine how these would look in full bloom during the summer. I bet there are lots of wedding pictures taken here every day!

Other attractions in the park include a stone bridge, a sports area, and a playground for kids. Additional seasonal gardens are also present, and they were planting tulips as we were there. We also saw some Canadian geese enjoying the pond.

Mark Twain House and Museum

Spectacularly preserved and restored, the Mark Twain House is a pleasure to visit.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) and his family lived in this house from 1874 to 1891. This is where he wrote some of his most famous books such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Their home was designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter and cost over $40,000 at the time. The 3 storied house has 21 rooms and measures 11,500 sq. ft.

The house is now a National Historic Landmark and a must-see attraction in Hartford, Connecticut. Tickets are sold in a separate building next to the large parking area. This same building houses a small museum, a gift shop and a movie theater showing a historic film about the Mark Twain’s House.

You can only visit the house with a guided tour that lasts about an hour. We expected to have no problem getting tickets, but we’re surprised to hear the 12:20 tour (on a Monday) was sold out. Fortunately, we got a ‘Living History House Tour’ where an actress playing the part of Mark Twain’s wife, Livy, narrated our visit. This cost a little extra but also took us to areas of the building normally not accessible in the regular tour. Our young aspiring actress did a good job in her period costume.

The building is beautiful with wonderful décor. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed inside. Some highlights for us were the interior fountain and garden, the child-themed wallpaper and the impressive entrance hall.

I suppose being in character the tour guide was rather rigid and without humor. Just playing the part. We’d probably have enjoyed the more traditional tour giving history of the building more as a narrative.

Next door you can also visit the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, but the tours are not well lined up. We finished our tour at 2:10 just missing their 2 pm one and we did not want to wait until the next tour at 4. Check the schedules if you intend to buy tickets for both.

Connecticut State Capitol Building

The impressive State Capitol building next to Bushnell Park on the hilltop is an impressive sight. You see it from the road and it’s like a palace with its gold dome. The capitol was completed in 1878 and contains many interesting artifacts such as the cannonball tree trunk, a reminder of the horrors of war, and the Genius of Connecticut statue, the symbolic protector of Connecticut.

Visiting is free and you can street park or if you’re lucky you might find a free spot in the Capitol building parking lot. Screening is in place as you enter, and mask mandates are enforced. You can self-tour the first floor.

Be sure to see the historic flag collection and do look up in the rotunda.

When you are done, take time to wander around Bushnell Park, it’s lovely!

Ancient Burying Ground

Open until 5 pm, you can visit a historic cemetery with tomb stones from the 1700s. Some famous local characters are buried here including one fellow who was stuck down by lightening that came down the chimney while he was in his kitchen. The ancient tomb stone declares all to be careful with their sins or God can strike you down wherever you are…

The cemetery is next to Center Church in the Historic District where you can see many other ancestral buildings.

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

We didn’t have time to visit the museum, but it looks like a great place to spend a half day or more enjoying the collections. The museum opened in 1844 with 79 paintings and 3 sculptures and now has well over 50,000 works of art. We only saw the exterior from the Bushnell Plaza Sculpture Garden located across the street. The museum is within walking distance of the many downtown attractions.

The Connecticut Science Center also looked like an impressive venue and is located only a short walk from the art museum.

Conclusion

So, while we had to scramble with our cancelled flight to get rebooked the following day, we managed to have an enjoyable day in Hartford visiting these sites. If you are ever in the same predicament, do take the time to visit.

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