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Hartford by (mostly) foot in 10 hours - part 2

When I left you last I was sitting filling my face with some awesome BBQ.  Fully sated with meat, coleslaw and cornbread I staggered out of the restaurant and waddled over to the Ancient Burial Ground in downtown Hartford which is the oldest historic site in the city.  Off the "official" route I was following but what the hell...I wanted to see it.  A young boy greeted me at the entrance asking if I wanted a "free " tour.  "Ha" I thought..."I wasn't born yesterday" and said no.  As it turned out it was legit but oh well....I wandered around taking photographs and admiring the markers, some of which have been there since the 1600's.  Once I got over the initial creepiness of walking over dead bodies a few years back I now enjoy visiting graveyards.  This cemetery was HUGE but now concrete and buildings cover a great deal of these former settlers and residents of Hartford. 


Apparently you had to have a bit of money to have one of these - people had picnics on these when they came to visit you so I was told....okay...





I found this very poignant



Then it was time to head over to the Connecticut river downtown. 


Loved this sculpture of Awesome Abe and Harriet Beecher Stowe - author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin".



There were quite a few of these Lincoln sculptures along the river path apparently and being a fan of Lincoln I was disappointed I just didn't have the time to explore. 

Old State house - gorgeous.  I can only imagine how beautiful inside - but sadly it is left to my imagination as it was closed on Mondays.   




I carried on walking until I came to the Mark Twain House and Harriet Beecher Stowe home which are side by side.

I enjoyed touring Mark Twain's home -his most famous works were written. here.  What a fascinating man! 
 I toured the Harriet Beecher Stowe house before then which was interesting - I did the two houses as a package but if I had to do it over again I would have just toured Mark Twain's house and museum as there was so much more to enjoy.  Sadly I had to leave when it closed at 5 and there was still so much more to see!!! So frustrating!!! 


I then took the bus back downtown and transferred onto a bus that took me back to my abode in West Hartford. I just could not face doing any more walking - I figured by then I was well over 10 km. 

I was a bit hungry so I went to a nearby restaurant called A C Peterson farms known for their ice cream so guess what I had for supper?  An ice cream sundae of course.!   Well you know when you are a kid and say when I grow up I am going to do this.  Well I do that quite a bit now - this isn't the first time I've had an ice cream sundae as a main course!  Accompanied by singing staff...well the less said about that the better....

The next morning I knew there was really not enough time to go downtown and do more exploring so I walked over to a  huge shopping area of West Hartford where I did a bit of retail therapy - when there is a Whole Foods Store and a REI in the same vicinity I am a happy traveler!

Back to my abode where I picked up my luggage and said farewell to Natacha and Bastion.  I then caught a local bus out to the airport - quickly buying a sandwich at the nearby grocery store before I left.  It was a little gem and one of those "oh damn why didn't I see you before now" type places.

I liked Hartford and I feel I have unfinished business there - if planned right it's a short and cheap megabus trip from New York City so who knows...I have to do more exploring of that Mark Twain museum, take a walk along the river to see more Awesome Abe sculptures and get to know Bastion a bit better!!!  I really enjoyed my time there. 

I had to transfer downtown so checked out the small farmers market in the courtyard of the Old State Capital Bldg and had a homemade sorbet.  Very nice on a hot day.  Then off to the airport on my two dollar fare - can't beat that.

So off I went home....or did I?  Stay tuned! 


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