Booked the Living History Tour which lasted ~70 minutes and was led by a costumed actor. Even…read morethough it was raining, we enjoyed this experience. Our actor/tour guide portrayed Katie, one of the servants in the house. She told interesting stories and facts about Mark Twain, his family and the house. Pictures were not allowed during the tour except at the last part/basement and outside the house. Parking was not a problem as there was a lot before entering the museum which can lead to Mark Twain's house. There's a 20+ minute introductory video (separate from the tour) that you can see in the museum. The gift shop has magnets, t-shirts, other clothes, books, toys, pins, snacks, etc. There's also a cafe in the museum. This house/museum is about 20 minutes away from Bradley International (Hartford) airport. Would recommend this tour!

Visited the adult home of this famous child of the Mississippi River, during the final days of our…read moretrip to Connecticut. It was a very enjoyable experience. My wife and I were flying out of the Hartford airport (Bradley International) to go back home, so decided to spend the day before in the area. A popular tourist attraction is the Mark Twain (two fathoms or 12 feet deep) House & Museum, so decided to center our day around that. Maps will take you right to it, passing by large and beautiful homes from the turn of the (19th) century. The end destination was a large parking with plenty of spaces on a Friday afternoon. Daily hours are 9:30 - 5:30, with seeing the house only available through guided tours, so it was recommended to pre-reserve slots online. There are two versions of the tour, both guided but with the less frequent Living History Tour being led by a cosplay actor. We arrived at 11:20 and was able to get tickets for the 11:30 normal tour (on this day, the normal tour had hours at 9:45, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 3:00, 3:30, 4:00, and 4:15). Because the tour lasts about an hour, there were multiple groups in the house at the same time, but it is big enough to absorb the three concurrent groups, all seeing different parts of the home. The entire home is maintained only by ticket admission ($28 adult, $26 senior, $15 children). This was the home where he spent the most productive 17 years of his life, raising his three daughters with his wife, and writing his classics, including Huckleberry Finn. The house tour included all four stories of his home, with complete restoration being just completed in 2016. Rules: no photos or videos inside the house; don't touch anything, stay in same room as guide at all times, and no food/drink. The house was built with forced air vents, and the AC was working well within the house this day. Upstairs on the second floor was the living area, and the 3rd story attic was where Twain had his offices. The basement were the servant quarters. The entire house was fully furnished with either originals or faithful reproductions. We later learned that much of it had been given away initially, but the restoration brought much of it back. There are no elevators in the Twain home. In the visitor center, anybody could enjoy a 20 minute version of Mark Twain documentary by Ken Burns. The most celebrated Mark Twain actor was Hal Holbrook (he played a mean Lincoln too), and his very familiar voice could be heard quite a bit throughout. The souvenir shop in the visitor center had a variety of things related to his life, but to the hobby of reading for pleasure in general. There were distinctive wallpaper patterns inside the house (our favorite was that of a honeybee colony), and the same patterns could be purchased as paper in the gift shop. Because the main house is on elevated ground, one story above the visitor center, there are two parking areas. The main one near the visitor center is what Maps will guide you to, whereas the much smaller one south of the house at the same elevation is meant for handicapped spots and being much smaller, will fill up. We did see if we could walk from this parking area via local roads, but found it was much easier to just go back from where we came. We spent about 2 hours here, and saw what we wanted to see. We both felt it's well worth visiting.

Came to the hole in the wall theater with friends to see Radium Girls. This is a small community…read moretheater that was very entertaining. All of us enjoyed ourselves greatly. The cast was wonderful. The intimate theater made us feel part of the show. The reason for the four stars was the cigarette smoking in the play itself. Multiple times people were smoking in the play, which did not give anything to the show. It was very bothersome and painful for me. I was concerned it would cause me to have an asthma attack. I think if I came to a show again, I would definitely ask if they're smoking in the show. As this was the only show I've been to at this location. I don't know if it's a common thing or not. I would definitely recommend checking out this small community theater.

I love this new britain gem! I'm also a big fan of Frankenstein so I had to visit HITWT for their…read moreshow. I had such a great time. I got a great seat (three rows up next to the stairs). I don't recommend sitting in the first row as it's almost on the stage. The show was just really well done, I even teared up. I love the community and intimate feel of HITWT. The treats available for purchase were also super cute. If you ever see they're putting on a show that even slightly interests you, please go in support of this place but also to have a good time!

"Well, we all say that we'll quit someday When our ship…read morecomes in, we'll just sail away But we're just blowin' smoke" (Kacey Musgraves) When you think of Connecticut, I bet Mystic Pizza, Yale University, and the Stepford Wives may cross your mind before tobacco does. But cigar tobacco has been a big player in Connecticut's economy since colonial times. Not the kind of tobacco you find inside the cigars, but the kind of tobacco you find as a wrapper on the outside of cigars. You can learn about Connecticut's history of cigar-tobacco agriculture by visiting this free museum. It's housed in two separate buildings smack in the center of Northwest Park in Windsor, CT. You'll see scores of exhibits in an old tobacco curing barn (mostly tobacco farming equipment). The second building is newer with photographs, and wall panels describing the history and harvesting of the crop. The crown jewel of this building is an enormous display case filled with hundreds of very cool cigar boxes. One of the volunteers from the Connecticut Valley Tobacco Historical Society walked us from one building to the next and pretty much acted as a personal and very personable tour guide. If you're in the area, and think you can find a better off-beat museum that's both interesting, and free, you're just blowin' smoke.

The worker I met was pretty cool. The museum is a nice place to visit for some local history. Just…read morebe sure to come when they are open, as the museum has different hours/days of operation than the park that it is in has.

Gutenberg ! the Musical The 2 actors- Jeremiah Michael Ginn…read moreand John Wascavage and the pianist/ musical director/"orchestra", Miles Messier are absolutely amazing! I do not know how they have managed to create this play. Their acting and character portrayals with their song and dance and their " hats" is hysterical , full of laughter and so much fun to watch and enjoy! Latanya Farrell was our guest Broadway producer !! There is not a bad seat in the house. All of the shows we have seen the actors all play to the audience and it is very true of this cast! It is a must see for everyone!!

We saw Million Dollar Quartet. Loved it. Loved the playhouse. Small intimate. Decent sound and…read morelighting. Easy free parking close by. Helpful, friendly volunteers. For the performers I have to say this was one of the most energetic and enjoyable finales I've seen. In dozens of shows. Perfection.

This place was mostly good. It is small and well-contained, so it is hard to lose anyone there. The…read morewebsite reccommends ages 2 to 10 but ideally, I would not say it is for anyone over 7. The animals were nice to look at. My granddaughter wanted to hold one of the rabbits, but they were not brought out that day. The staff brought out one animal for the morning session, and one for the afternoon, but what they bring out is random. They one handling the animals seemed into the children, but other than that, none were out on the floor to interact with the childen. My granddaughter had fun, but it got old after a couple of hours.

Place definitely needs some upgrading. Was cute but not somewhere we will frequent. Everything is…read morevery very aged and dingey. Almost haunted vibes LOL Chickens kept in a small glass enclosure still isn't sitting right with me. Worker brought out a guinea pig to which an older kid asked what is that? And the worker responded with ummmm a horse, what do you think it is? Maybe being funny but really was just rude. We also had an issue with a child running wild hitting yelling the entirety of our visit and mother did absolutely nothing until confronted (EVERY parent/caregiver glued to their phones and let their kids do whatever) Absolutely mother's fault but staff should also be somewhat supervising and stepping in when necessary. The loft area has a shorter ceiling not easily accessible for parents (there's a bed up there and I felt inappropriate for kids to be unsupervised) The girl who took our payment was super nice!

Oh heck yes, radio is a hobby of mine (amateur, collecting and listening), a profession (US Navy…read moreRadioman), and passion! I've been four times. First, was with my wife, and the rest with an amateur radio friend, AA1G, a fellow "Ham" as we say. The owner/collector/host guy is a retired teacher. Made a life of collecting antique sets. Kind of went from there and then grew out of control. Phonographs, audiophile, computers, and two way. Though no Scanners... darn shame. Walk in, sign the book, pay a modest fee, and walk through a timeline of telegraph, telephones, movie making, victrolas, radio, television, stereo equipment, and computers. You might hear them light up a jukebox box. You can watch cartoons they broadcast on their Transmitter to TV sets within the museum. A wonderful, operational, ham radio club too. W1VCM. You can operate the boat anchors to modern rigs. Lots of geek terms in that sentence- IYKYK. A really wonderful take. It is the owner's personal collection. The Atwater-Kent breadboards were my personal favorite. They host Examinations to be come a licensed amateur radio operator, Ham Flea Markets, educational services, elderly education, and local events on-site. It is a big building. Sensory overload. You will need to go a couple two three times. No negatives. Make a cash donation. Leave a radio - if they don't display it, they can sell it to keep operations going. Lots of wonderful volunteers too - many from the American Radio Relay League right down the road. 73s

Very cool place if you're into the history of radio and music players. Tour guides know a lot too…read more I have been twice. I recommend it.

"Now when he was a young man, He never thought he'd see…read morePeople stand in line to see the boy king. King Tut" (Steve Martin) You all know his name, and maybe that goofy Steve Martin song, but if you want to know more about King Tutankhamun, you have until October 15 to check out this impressive exhibit at the Hartford Convention Center. He became a King at age 9, and served until his death at age 19. He died in 1323 B.C., and in 1922 a team of British archaelogists discovered his tomb with over 5,000 artifacts and displays of over-the-top opulent wealth. What is the National Geographic Beyond King Tut exhibit? Think of it as a cross between a fantastic museum and an IMax theater. Similar to last year's Van Gogh event, this is an "Immersive Experience" with high quality projectors showing imagery on the walls, floor and ceilings. There are nine galleries to stroll through, and some of them are huge, so the super-sized imagery is jaw droppingly cool. The show started off with a short introductory video, but I didn't care at all for the tour guide's shlocky banter. Pricing is on a two-tiered basis with "Peak" and "Off Peak Pricing". The Peak Pricing levels are Adult (Ages 16+) is $39.99, Child (Ages 5-15) is $28.99, Student/Senior/Military is $34.99, Premium Flex (enter whenever you want to) is $53.99, VIP (enter whenever you want to PLUS an VR Experience at the exit) is $79.99. A Family 4 Pack is a flat $34.99 price per ticket. Off Peak pricing is $10 less for adults and $5 less for kids. Of course, parking is extra, and if you haven't spent enough money, no worries because there's a bar and gift shop at the exhibit.

What an incredible experience this is! I've been obsessed with Egypt since I was 5, and being able…read moreto go into an interactive exhibit like this was like a childhood dream come true. Each room is unique, with historical facts, and always something interesting to see or do. The room with the boat and the projections was just absolutely incredible. I could probably just sit there all day if I could just taking everything in that I possibly could. What an amazing adventure, I want to go back already!

With things you would never expected to find in CT like the Emerac machine from Desk Set and the…read moreonly remaining ET from the movie this gem has movie history to share. The special effects room has movie props and makeup appliances from movies like Beneath Planet of the Apes and The Exorcist. The wax museum has life size movie monsters of the classics, Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, werewolves. Come and be entertained !

My mother is a lover of all things old Hollywood, so when I learned of this museum online, I knew I…read morehad to take our family as a Christmas present. We weren't sure what to expect from our experience, but we spent about an hour here and thought it was really cool! The owner is so nice and really takes the time to go through each and every piece of his exhibit with you. Learning about the connections he had with the actors and how he obtained the different props was so interesting. If you're looking for something different to do, I recommend stopping by for a tour!