Bob and I began our sixth day of travel through New England on the morning of Monday, July 9, 2012, at the Comfort Suites in Norwich, Connecticut. We had a nice breakfast and then headed toward our first destination of the day, the Trumbull Cemetery in Lebanon, Connecticut, about 2o minutes north of our hotel. This is the final resting place of Declaration of Independence signer William Williams, not to be confused with any of the other dozen or so famous William Williams throughout history. This one had been elected to the Continental Congress to replace Oliver Wolcott, and although he arrived too late to actually vote for it, he became a signatory of the Declaration on behalf of the state of Connecticut.
Stone marker in front of the cemetery honoring the patriots of Lebanon, Connecticut
Declaration of Independence signer William Williams
We left the cemetery around 9:30am and headed about an hour northwest to Hartford, where the State Capitol was located. This was the third Capitol building visit of the trip, my 24th overall. Bob dropped me off while he looked for parking, and I took the ridiculously long underground walk to a newer portion of the capitol where I joined the group already in progress. Our hostess Alice was in the process of explaining how state government worked to a young man and his mother, the only other people on the tour. Bob eventually caught up with us after making the underground hike himself, panting as he arrived, “Are we still in Connecticut?”
The Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford, my third State Capitol of the year, 24th total
The hike was all for naught though as we made our way back through the tunnel and into the historical capitol building itself. Prior to the Revolutionary War, the General Assembly had alternated between two capitol buildings, one in Hartford and the other in New Haven. After the Civil War, it was decided to locate it in one city once and for all, and Hartford was chosen. This building was then completed in 1878 and has remained the capitol ever since.
Over the next hour, our guide Alice took us around the building and we checked out the House of Representatives gallery, the Senate floor, the exterior of the Governor’s office, and the many ornate statues and displays around the building. When we came upon a listing of Medal of Honor recipients from Connecticut, the kid on our tour remarked that someone he knew had received one. Bob became curious to see if he really did know a recipient and asked him about the fella. As the kid looked for his name on the plaque and couldn’t find it, he then deduced that “his name might be different since he got married.” I weep for the future.
One of the many statues to be found in the Connecticut Capitol, this one honoring Revolutionary War patriot Nathan Hale
The Genius of Connecticut statue that was one mounted on top of the dome, and now sits directly under it
The Genius of Connecticut meets the Dullard of Ohio
Bob and the statue of schoolteacher Prudence Campbell, who taught in the first integrated schoolroom in the United States
Hideous bust of President Obama by Peter Rubino
Face in a cannon in a capitol. Hooray!
In the gallery of the House of Representatives
Demanding attention at the Speaker’s podium in the Senate chamber
Outside the office of Governor Dannel Malloy. This was as close as we got.
With our tour guide Alice and her high falutin’ equipment
After we were done at the State Capitol and took a cursory glance at the neighboring Bushnell Park, we headed over to the Old State Capitol that I mentioned above. Several notable events had occurred here, the first being General George Washington’s meeting with the commander-in-chief of the French army in 1780, during which strategies were formulated resulting in the American victory at Yorktown. The Hartford Convention and the Amistad trials also occurred here. Bob and I opted not to tour the location, and since he couldn’t find any parking, he dropped me off and circled the block while I got some photos outside of it.
The Old State House in Hartford
The Mark Twain House and Museum was next on the list of things to do in Hartford, so we headed over there around noon. The next available tour wasn’t until 1pm, so we checked out the Aetna Gallery museum, the film about Twain’s life, and the gift shop. Interestingly, this house was next door to the former home of Harriet Beecher Stowe and the two often exchanged visits. Somehow, I neglected to get a photo of her house.
Unfortunately, there were no photos permitted inside the Twain house, but nevertheless, our tour guide Simone did an outstanding job of introducing us to the interesting rooms, each of which had been decorated in the style of a different country. Among the highlights were a beautiful conservatory off the library, and the third floor billiard room where Twain did the bulk of his writing. Ulysses S. Grant would often visit him here, and our tour guide let us hold one of the original pool cues that Twain and Grant had used. After the tour ended, Bob and I told Simone the story of how Hal Roach had seen Mark Twain speak back in his hometown of Elmira, New York, where Twain had once lived. She was amply fascinated.
Mark Twain’s humble abode
The Mark Twain House and Museum or bust!
With our excellent guide Simone and a Lego-likeness of Mark Twain
The last bit of business in Hartford was to visit a couple more famous graves. It was around 2:30 when we got to the Cedar Hill Cemetery. Buried within these gates are four-time Oscar winner Katherine Hepburn, and inventor Samuel Colt, who was closely associated with the mass production of the revolver handgun.
At the grave of screen legend Katherine Hepburn
The grave of Samuel Colt
There were two places we were interested in visiting on the outskirts of Hartford: the Iwo Jima Survivors Memorial Park in Newington, and Corey’s Catsup & Mustard in Manchester. Guess which one we did.
Yes, we let our stomachs do the talking and visited our fifth restaurant of the trip that had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Corey’s Catsup & Mustard had been featured on the episode Favorites with a Twist. In short, this was a gourmet burger joint, and quite worth the visit. I enjoyed the Auntie Laurie’s burger, which was topped with the house-made Blue Moon mustard, horseradish cheddar, bacon, and a pretzel bun. The sea salt and vinegar french fries were delightful too.
DD&D #39: Corey’s Catsup & Mustard in Manchester, Connecticut
Some extremely fine burgers hit the spot after a hard day’s work
The rest of the evening was filled with going out of the way as part of the bucket list quests that Bob and I were on. We left Manchester a little after 4pm and headed due east to the town of Litchfield. In the East Cemetery lied the moral remains of Oliver Wolcott, best known as a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. It was a race against the clock to get there as the cemetery was scheduled to close at 5pm. We even called the number that we had of the caretaker, only to find that he hadn’t worked there for several years. Still he gave us some extremely confusing directions, and we somehow found the place. We were able to get in and track down the grave (which was located next to his son Oliver Wolcott Jr., the seventh Governor of Connecticut), but became increasingly concerned of being locked inside! In the end we got out before the gates were closed. Bob pulled over outside the cemetery and had me run out and snap a photo of the Litchfield sign before we left the area.
Declaration of Independence signer Oliver Wolcott
At this point, we took the biggest detour of the entire trip – but it was a necessary one. In the town of Northampton, Massachusetts, which is nearly an hour and 45 minutes away from where we were, is the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum. Bob had thought that he had finished up the Presidential Libraries back in 2007 when we hit the one dedicated to Woodrow Wilson. I had known for a long time that this existed but he did not. So as it important as it was for me, it was even more important to him to hit this ‘last’ one, and there was no question that we would get there; it was just a matter of when it could be fit in. Turned out, this was the day.
The Library and Museum is actually just a room that is located inside the Forbes Library. It is only open on certain hours, so we had to be darn sure that we were hitting it at the right time or the journey would have been for naught. It was about 7:30pm when we got there and fortunately we were in the correct window. (Sadly for Bob, it didn’t work out to hit the Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke on the way up). It took a little bit of time to actually locate the room on the second floor, and once we did, we browsed the exhibits and took photos for about 30 minutes. You can check out our visit to the museum at the Calvin Coolidge posting located here.
Arrival at the Forbes Library, which also served as the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum
Taking a puzzle interlude among the books whist looking for the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Room
While there we learned a little bit more about Coolidge’s time in Northampton, so consequently we were also able to visit two of his homes in town (one in which he lived from 1906-1930, the second one of which he lived in from 1930 until his death in 1933). Both of these homes can be seen here as well.
Bob and I departed Northampton around 8:30pm and drove back into Connecticut to Waterbury, arriving at the American Motor Lodge around 10apm. This would put us close to where we need to start the next day and continue our Presidential quests across New England.
The New England 2012 road trip will continue…
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