Adventures for Anyone

Friday, June 14, 2024

Just Another Thing to Love About Hartford! Elizabeth Park!

This is a bonus post about other things I'm doing in Hartford, CT and the immediate vicinity, including West Hartford. This one has a story.

A couple of years ago, I took an afternoon cruise out of New London, CT to look at several lighthouses in and around Long Island Sound. That day, I decided to do something in the morning on my way to the cruise. My decision was to stop by Elizabeth Park on the border of Hartford and West Hartford to look at what was reportedly beautiful rose gardens.

This is where it gets funky. I used Google to find the park. I specifically said the rose gardens at the park and Google took me to Prospect Street via Route 44. There were a few parking spaces in a pull off looking area along the street, which was very busy. I decided that it wasn't worth having an accident with my car and went on my way. Simple. It was an issue. I didn't know much about the park. I went and saw lighthouses and had a great day. I never thought about it again.

I took the 927 bus to Hartford recently, as I posted about. On the way, the bus took Asylum Avenue through West Hartford as its route into the city center, and wouldn't you know; it went right by the main entrance to what turned out to be an amazing, enormous park with many things to see and do. It wasn't just rose gardens.

The drive by astonished me. I couldn't believe I never investigated the park further back when I had my first encounter with it. So, a few days later, I asked my husband to investigate the park with me. What a fabulous place. It's just a city park. There are no entrance fees. There are no parking fees. Just open spaces, beautiful gardens, a great pond. It has an event venue, a restaurant, a snack bar outside and a visitor center with gift shop. It has ball fields, tennis courts, and so much more.

I finally visited the rose garden I'd heard so much about. I wasn't disappointed. It's large enough that there were two weddings taking photographs in the garden and it still didn't seem crowded even with other patrons as well.

The park welcomes horticulturists to donate hybrids they breed, making a large pool of different types of roses. Each hybrid gets its own name plate and the creator gets their credit. It is a great system and the gardens never seem to end. Neither do the surprises. Almost every inch of the garden; even the gazebo in its center, is covered with plant life. It is absolutely stunning, and a must see this time of year.

The rose gardens aren't the only attraction in Elizabeth Park. There's a lot to see. We saw a plethora of water fowl, bunnies, and tons of squirrels of all colors and kinds. The pond with stone bridges and a fountain was gorgeous as well as another, larger gazebo without the plant life and many greenhouses where plants begins life. We didn't eat inside at the restaurant, but we did stop outside at the snack bar by the pond to grab a snack. Such a relaxing and fun day.

There were more than just roses. There was a rock garden. There were exotic trees. Most of them were marked so you could learn where they came from and what they were. It was incredible.

After exploring quite a bit of the park, we stopped by the information center/ gift shop before we left. They had books about they area and all the roses in the park. It wasn't just t-shirts in there.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Elizabeth Park. I was quite surprised it was just a city park. Hartford and the immediate area continues to enthrall me with its surprises. Don't mark this one off your list of possibilities. The city has a lot to offer.

So, when you wonder where you could go that you haven't already been in the Northeast, don't forget Hartford, Connecticut, and certainly don't forget about Elizabeth Park on the border of Hartford and West Hartford and the rose gardens. Enjoy!

https://elizabethparkct.org/

https://www.hartfordct.gov/Government/Departments/Public-Works/Parks-Directory/Elizabeth

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33970-d106103-Reviews-Elizabeth_Park-West_Hartford_Connecticut.html

https://hartford.com/elizabeth-park/

https://www.instagram.com/elizabethpark_hartfordct/?hl=en

https://pondhousecafe.com/

Friday, June 7, 2024

Hiking in Hartford! Chapter 3 of my Summer Adventures Around my Area on Public Transportation

This is the summer I've been waiting for. I finally am getting the chance to check out all that my regional public transportation has to offer. I wanted to do this back in 2020, but that obviously didn't work out at the time.

In today's chapter, I visit Hartford, Connecticut by bus. There are no trains in today's chapter, but there will be soon in upcoming adventures.

I live in the Northwest corner of Connecticut. In my town of Torrington, there is a three time a day, five day a week bus known as the 927 Express. I chose to walk from my home and catch this bus the other day. The bus really only has five regular stops between its last outpost of Torrington and Traveler's at Center Row in Hartford. It's a nice ride. It's clean. They have ports for charging. The ride into Hartford by way of West Hartford and Asylum Avenue is nice, which I already knew from driving it over the years. I don't like going into the Capital on I-84, because of traffic.

The bus pulled up across the street from the Old State House, right in front of a Dunkin Donuts. Perfect. I had 8 hours to investigate downtown Hartford in a way I'd never tried before. I decided when I got off the bus that I'd make time for an afternoon tour of the State House which is open from noon to 5 Tuesday through Saturday. Guided or self guided tours are only $8.

However, it was morning, and I was actually in town to go hiking. So, I got some breakfast and headed across the elevated walkways in the downtown area to the riverfront where my main goal lay.

Once I made it to the riverfront, I walked four miles. It was incredible. There was the Riverfront Plaza, complete with seating and elevator. I saw a sculpture park, amazing views of the Connecticut River, some fascinating structures in the connectors or bridges across the river. There was a boathouse used in the community for crewing, a challenging course that seemed to include an adventure park, and hiking trails in the woods. All of this is underneath I-91, I-84 and Connecticut Route 2. It's quiet, beautiful and it was a lot of fun to spend some time.

After a lovely walk along the river, I took the opportunity to use the elevator which is a lot of fun to go back to the top and take a walk along the Founders Bridge. I love a good bridge walk. I had a lot of little things on my agenda to check out in downtown Hartford, so I didn't walk on the East Hartford side of the river. It looked lovely and it's part of the East Coast Greenway, so I want to try it out another time.

Next, I went to the Connecticut Convention Center which is also along the waterfront next to the Connecticut Science Center which is a great place to visit with kids. My son and I used to drive over and go there once in a while. Fun stuff. Inside the parking garage at the Convention Center is where you can catch a shuttle called the Dash. This is a free shuttle that makes several stops around downtown, primarily seems to be geared for tourists even though it rarely runs on weekends. It runs around downtown from 7 am to 7 pm Monday through Friday and it's bright orange so you can't miss it. I took the Dash to Union Station to do some research on trains and buses available for future trips I'm planning.

The Dash comes around roughly every 15 minutes, so my next stop on it was a place called the Agave Grill. This lively place had great Mexican food and a friendly and efficient staff. I had my appetizer that I ordered for lunch in no time and had a really good time.

By the time I caught the Dash again, it was time for me to check out the Old State House, so I circled around to that stop and went inside. My ticket for entry was $8. First, I went into what was called the Mortensen Gallery which had a lot more exhibits that it appeared it would. I learned a lot of interesting tidbits that I never knew about Connecticut history. There's an antique fire truck down there!

Then, I met Heidi, my guide for the rest of the tour. She was amazing. She knew so much about the state's history. She told me stories that I'd never heard or read in my life. Did you know that there's a preserved two headed cow in there? Did you know that Connecticut used to have two capitals? It's a wonderful tour and a fascinating topic. If you already like history, you'll be on the edge of your seat. We spent nearly an hour and a half on the tour, because neither one of us was in a hurry, and it was probably the best guided tour I've ever had. I highly recommend it, even if you're not a history buff.

History is something that never changes but often is hidden from us for one reason or another. Having a great tour guide is priceless.

Once I left the Old State House I was a bit hungry and had a little time before catching the 927 bus at 4:40 pm to go home. I checked out the State House Square across the street, finding a nice little food court, but not stopping, because I wanted to see what else was around. The food at their food court looks good, however. There were some other places to eat right at that intersection, but not far away I found Historic Pratt Street. This is a historic pedestrian street that's really cute with little shops and restaurants, including the place I stopped at; Sun Berry.

I was drawn to Sun Berry immediately, because it has some of my favorite features, specifically; the entire front wall opens onto the street in good weather. I love that feature. Sun Berry is Korean restaurant with Ramen dishes and dumplings. Soups, salads and sandwiches. There's a whole menu that looked delicious. They also have a creative cocktail menu which I presumed was more for the evening crowd. Once again, the staff was friendly, efficient, and told me all about the area. It was a pleasure and I will return.

Following my visit to Pratt Street, it was time to catch the bus home. It was another lovely ride and didn't take any longer than driving would.

What is the take away from this adventure? Hartford isn't known for basic tourism. Most of us who have lived here for decades go there for some specific reason. We go to the theater, a concert, a sporting event, some other kind of special event, work, medical reasons. We don't just go and check out the city. I think we should. I had a great time and I didn't have much of a plan. I do wish that there was more of a weekend setup, but the museums are mostly open at least on Saturdays. What I found was a lot of wonderful people who made my experience fun. I promise you, the restaurant staffs, tour guides and even the bus drivers are thrilled to have an actual traveler or tourist in town. There aren't many.

I hope that someday Connecticut's tourism office figures out a way to accurately promote this state. I've lived here for 30+ years and I've always had something to do. There's fascinating things here, besides casinos, Yale, UConn and Mystic. There's a lot to do, a lot to see, and some great public transportation to get around on. So, come to Connecticut, take a hike in our capital and enjoy!

You can check out my videos on my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninakindred1/

https://www.cttransit.com/

https://portal.ct.gov/dot/publictrans/bureau-of-public-transportation/local-bus-service

https://www.facebook.com/p/CTtransit-100064415544909/

https://peterpanbus.com/locations/connecticut/

https://ctvisit.com/getting-around-connecticut?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw34qzBhBmEiwAOUQcFwXqbFc0x1p2U2vZLz935Zk8v7OlJsrfqkNZqeX-edjEF2pAif_EkRoCmxgQAvD_BwE

https://hartfordparking.com/city-of-hartford/dash-shuttle/

https://hartford.com/

https://ctvisit.com/listings/city-hartford

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g33804-Hartford_Connecticut-Vacations.html

https://wp.cga.ct.gov/osh/

https://sunberrycafe.com/