A short drive from … Hartford: seen the city? Then head on out for the following attractions

Travel America, May-June, 2004 by Christina Victor

Hartford, Connecticut, is one of the United States' oldest cities and has many things for visitors to see and do. Wadsworth Atheneum is the nation's oldest public art museum. Authors Mark Twain and Harriett Beecher Stowe both lived here, and their houses are open to the public. The Mark Twain House & Museum recently unveiled its $16.5-million Museum Center, a stunning, high-tech complement to the flamboyant Victorian mansion. Other must-sees include Butler McCook Homestead, which was occupied by the same family from 1782 to 1971; the State Capitol building; Old State House; and Ancient Burying Ground.

10 Just south of Hartford, check out historic homes in Wethersfield, where the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum encompasses three houses from the 1700s. Nearby Dinosaur State Park showcases dinosaur tracks from the Jurassic Period (200 million years ago). Farmington is home to the Hill-Stead Museum, a historic house with an impressive art collection, and Stanley-Whitman House, a colonial homestead. America's first copper mine and Connecticut's first colonial prison are remembered at Old New-Gate Prison and Copper Mine in East Granby. The Connecticut Fire Museum and Connecticut Trolley Museum are in East Windsor, and the New England Air Museum is at Bradley International Airport.

25 Cross the Massachusetts border to visit historic Springfield and Old Sturbridge Village, one of the nation's best living history museums. A Connecticut hero is remembered at Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry. Tour the Historic Ship Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, in Groton. On the same pier, the Submarine Force Museum traces the history of U.S. subs.

35 The Prudence Crandall Museum, which became New England's first school black women in 1833, is in Canterbury, east of Hartford. In nearby Lebanon walk around the charming green, then visit the Governor Jonathan Trumbull House, home of the only colonial governor to support the war for independence. Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center near Ledyard is the world's most interactive Native American museum. The Pequots' Foxwoods Casino, the nation's largest, offers big-name entertainment. Hammonasset Beach State Park is the largest of Connecticut's shoreline parks.

Contact: Connecticut Tourism, (800) CT-BOUND, www.ctbound.org; and Greater Hartford Tourism, (800) 793-4480, www.enjoyhartford.com.