Highlights

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Itinerary

Day 1 – Middletown, CT 

Arrive today in Middletown, CT where you check into your local hotel for a three-night stay.  Dinner is included this evening at a local restaurant. (D)

Day 2 – Hartford – Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum w/lunch – Mark Twain House – Harriet Beecher Stowe Center – Thomas Hooker Brewery Tour & Tasting – Dinner at Millwrights Restaurant

Today, enjoy a day of Hartford touring.  Start at the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum with a guided tour and lunch. Located in the center of Connecticut’s largest historic district, the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum provides the quintessential New England experience.

Tour three meticulously restored historic houses. The 1752 Joseph Webb House, where General George Washington and French General Rochambeau planned the joint military campaign that led to the victory at Yorktown, Virginia, and the end of the American Revolutionary War. The c. 1770 Silas Deane House and the 1788 Isaac Stevens House depict life in the 18th and 19th centuries and include a fascinating exhibit of antique toys.

Your visit can include a visit to the Colonial Revival Garden. Designed in 1921 by one of the first female landscape architects, this horticultural delight includes classical elements, quaint arbors, and an array of old-fashioned flowers. A boxed lunch is included here today with your visit, which you can enjoy in the 19^th-century Webb Barn.

Next, visit the Mark Twain House & Museum.  The Museum has restored the author’s home, where the author and his family lived from 1874 to 1891. Twain wrote his most important works during the years he lived there, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.

Then visit the nearby Harriett Beecher Stowe Center. See the beautifully preserved Victorian Gothic cottage, now a National Historic Landmark, where Harriet Beecher Stowe lived for 23 years.  Hear about Stowe’s life and the impact of the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Connect the past to the present as you discuss social issues of the 19th century and today.

The afternoon also features a tour and tasting at the Thomas Hooker Brewery.  Enjoy a tour of the facility and details on the brewing process by knowledgeable Hooker staff.  Following the tour, visit the tasting room for a sample.

Dinner this evening is included at the Millwrights Restaurant. Located in an old mill building on Hop Brook, Millwrights offers seating right beside a waterfall and menu that has drawn raves for its creativity and fresh ingredients. (B,L,D)

Day 3 – Mystic Seaport Museum – Essex Steam Train & Riverboat – Gillette Castle – Dinner – Goodspeed Theatre Performance

Today, visit Mystic Seaport – the Museum of America and The Sea.  This is the nation’s leading maritime museum.  You can explore American maritime history as you climb aboard historic tall ships, stroll through a re-created 19th-century coastal village and watch a working preservation shipyard in action.  You will have free time for lunch on your own.

Next, enjoy a ride on the Essex Steam Train.  Your journey begins at the historic 1892 Essex Station for a 12-mile, narrated round-trip into the heart of the unspoiled Connecticut River Valley.  The steam locomotive pulls vintage coaches through the quintessential New England towns of Deep River and Chester. The train travels near the tidal wetlands of Pratt Cove and Chester Creek — bountiful, natural habitats for birds including Cormorants, Ducks, Swans, Greenland Geese, Blue Heron, Egrets, and Red-winged Blackbirds.

Once at Deep River Landing, board the Becky Thatcher riverboat for a cruise along the Connecticut River. The visual serenity of the river valley is on full display from Becky‘s multiple decks. The deep water, coves, inlets, marshes, wildlife, and rocky shoreline are, all at once, simply breathtaking!  Just as impressive are the historic sites, including Gillette Castle, Goodspeed Opera House and the Haddam Swing Bridge.

The afternoon also includes a visit to Gillette Castle State Park.  It looks like a medieval fortress, but a step inside the stone castle reveals built-in couches, table trackway and woodcarvings that all point to the creative genius that was William Gillette. The unique fieldstone castle was home to legendary stage actor. The 184-acre park is situated on a hill overlooking the Connecticut River. Gillette best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on stage, designed his house with intricately carved locks and wood doors.

Dinner is included this evening at the Gelston House Restaurant.  Located next door to The Goodspeed, this fine American bistro features a unique combination of steak, fresh seafood and pasta and a special Prix Fixe selection for theatergoers.

Following dinner, enjoy a performance at the Goodspeed Theatre, home to the American musical. Birthplace of the original productions of Man of La Mancha, Shenandoah, and Annie, and the first regional theatre to receive two Special Tony Awards for its outstanding achievements, Goodspeed produces America’s musical treasures to delight, inspire, and entertain you.

2022 Season features Cabaret (May 13-July 3), Anne of Green Gables (July 15-Sept 4), 42^nd Street (Sept 16-Nov 4) and a Holiday Event (TBA) (Nov 18 – Dec 30).  (B,D)

Day 4 – Depart for Home

After breakfast, depart for home. (B)

Tour Map