This Saturday (July 16, 2011) we again took advantage of a free pass from the library and visited the Connecticut Historical Society. It is housed in an old mansion (see picture above).
We started with the exhibit on "Inn & Tavern Signs" (see sample above). There were about 40-50 signs on the wall in a big auditorium. They had a nice guide of several pages with a short description of each sign (see picture below-Richard is holding the guide). This helped keep us focused and interested as we matched the signs on the wall to our laminated guide. If one is interested, they have a detailed book for purchase.
Then we went upstairs and saw "Dining with a Society of American Collectors: Their View of the Past." The exhibit consisted of a fancy dining room with several place settings of various antiques. Following their guide to the settings, we discovered an error: 2 serving utensils were switched. We brought it to the attention of the docent who confirmed our observation.
The largest exhibit is called "Making Connecticut." We spent the most time with this one. It is sort of a history of Connecticut from the indian tribes (in the 1500s) through to the present day. There was so much to see that we will have to go back.
We only had time to quickly walk through another exhibit of contemporary paintings and artwork: "Echoes from Across the Ocean - From the Caribbean to Connecticut: Works by Stanwyck Cromwell." It had many colorful and surreal images.
After a quick browse through their gift shop, we went back to Lynn's apartment to visit with her aunt, Sr. Pat, who was on her way back to Bridgeport from her annual retreat in Maine. She is a member of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, a 300 year-old international Roman Catholic Religious Congregation of women, founded in a small town in Brittany, France in 1706.
Since there was still daylight, Richard and I bopped down the road to play some mini-golf at Farmington Miniature Golf (& Ice Cream Parlor). The sun was very hot and the place was crowded. There was a slow group in front of us that made the wait seem even longer, especially for Richard.
One interesting aspect of the mini-golf was that someone had parked two old milk delivery trucks in the parking lot (see picture above with Richard). A. C. Petersen Farms is a local "dairy" with a restaurant close by to Lynn's apartment.
Oh, did I mention who won the golf match? Richard beat me again, this time by four strokes (see below).On the way home, we stopped at our favorite Chinese Restaurant, Black Bamboo, and got some take out food which we ate while watching the Cleveland Indians game on TV at Lynn's apartment. The Tribe lost to the Baltimore Orioles 6-5. The Indians scored 3 in the top of the 9th inning but couldn't quite get the win.