November 7, 2010

When we arrived in Hartford, we thought it was wonderful that vendors had showed up with cotton candy.  Turns out we found ourselves on the outskirts of quite possibly the longest Veterans Day parade ever.  We were able to go through a 1 hour house tour (the oldest house in Hartford) and it was *still* going strong.

Our next stop was two birds in one stone. Author Harriet Beecher Stowe (of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" fame, although we learned she also wrote children's books and books on how best to organize your kitchen) lived next to Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens). Our Stowe tour guide seemed intent on grilling us on why Uncle Tom was more popular than other books of that genre while our Twain house guide seemed focused on fitting an advertised 30 minute tour into 20 minutes. The coolest part of the Twain house was the billiard table upstairs where he kept his notes (his actual writing desk is in the far corner, facing a wall), the Stowe house had a lot of plants (Twain did too -- Harriet apparently gave him advice on what to include).

Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Hartford, CT



Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Hartford, CT



We wrapped up the night with a trip to the former Hartford Civic Center, now the XL Center (still don't know what that stands for) to see the Hartford Wolfpack. We soon figured out via a sign to "follow the whale," a long montage before the game started about 65 years of CT hockey history and a fire sale on Wolfpack merchandise, that the team is changing its name to the Connecticut Whale, although, as a friend later pointed out, Hartford is not a port city, and doesn't have a whaling industry.  We've decided they must be trying to capitalize on some sort of Hartford Whaler glory years (look, we found a uniform during our tour of the Old State House Monday!)  Given the daylight saving time change and her overnight hours, Colleen couldn't make it beyond the second period intermission.  She had to ask three people for the certificate for a free taco from Moe's Southwest Grill (earned because Hartford had scored 5 goals by the third period).  Sadly, the Moe's next to the Old State House was not open when we went on Monday.  -- POSTED BY COLLEEN