Out and about in New England

One Saturday in January, I drove to Hartford, Connecticut to see my friends Joann (from the New York area) and David (from Washington, DC).  Joann and I had long talked about meeting at a point halfway between our homes, and David decided to join us.  We all gathered at the Mark Twain House, which none of us had visited before.  It’s a grand place, and surprising:  If Mark Twain is associated with a river, most people would say it’s the Mississippi, not the Connecticut.  In fact, Twain spent quite a bit of time in Hartford, and a visit to the house gave context to at least one of his well known works.

This past weekend, my husband, Paul, and I took a short drive to Duxbury, Massachusetts.  It’s a quintessential Massachusetts seaside town, but one we had never visited.  The day was beautiful and sunny, and we sat on the beach for a while after visiting yet another surprising museum.  In this case, it was the location that made the family-endowed Art Complex Museum a surprise.  Before we visited, I hadn’t even known of the museum’s existence.  Now I hope to get back there in the fall for an exhibit of Shaker furniture.

I’ve lived around here for a long time, but there’s still a long list of New England sights and sites that await my visit.  The region is marked by its rich history, one that’s well worth exploring.