I went to the Mansfield Drive-In a couple of weeks ago and it turns out that going to the drive-in is still as much fun as it was when I was a little kid. And, also like when I was a little kid, I still can't stay awake for the second feature.

According to driveintheater.com, CT had 42 drive-in theaters 40 years ago. The numbers have dwindled consistently since and now there are only two running in the state. If you like drive-ins, try to get to one this summer before they are all gone for good.

Traveling south from Route 8 on Bridgeport's Main Street to the Barnum Museum, you'll pass a lot of empty buildings. But inside the museum, there's a very different city. The second floor houses a large collection of goods - sewing machines, ladies' bathing costumes - all produced in 19th century Bridgeport when it was a growing and significant industrial hub.

But the museum's main focus is the life of P.T. Barnum, beginning with his days as a shopkeeper in Bethel, CT. Artifacts of Barnum's ventures include a replica of his Feejee Mermaid, several photographs of and items belonging to Tom Thumb, and an exhibit covering Jenny Lind's lucrative 1850 tour. While Bridgeport was becoming an industrial powerhouse, Barnum built the modern publicity machine. He was a master of capturing the public's attention.

As for all the empty buildings near the museum, most of them are slated for renovation. Hopes are high for downtown development projects such as Bijou Square. To sell the rebirth of Bridgeport to the public, maybe the city could look to Barnum for inspiration.



The Barnum Museum

It takes 3 villages covers where to play and stay in Essex. A response to a reader visiting East Haddam last year offers links to attractions up and down the Essex end of Route 9.

It's a capital place provides a glimpse of Hartford's historic character. Main Street's historic facades include the Wadsworth Atheneum and City Steam.

Go with the flow is an account of tubing on the chilly Farmington River from Satan's Kingdom. Teenagers bobbing behind me affected a slack-faced nonchalance, as if to say, "What's the big deal?"
I've only gotten close enough to get my picture taken.

The first two months of the year have flown by for me. I'm still catching up on 2007's CT stories.

Picture perfect is a tour of the Litchfield Hills. I loved driving through this area when I visited White Flower Farm.

Litchfield County is also featured in It's a guy thing. Some other beloved spas in CT: Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa at the Mystic Marriott and the Spa at Norwich Inn.

It'll grow on you offers several days worth of what to see and do in New Haven, one of my favorite places to visit for karaoke or falafel or just walking around.

I think I learn something new about CT every day. My state has two trucking museums.

Last week, I made it to karaoke at Sidebar in New Haven and I loved it. Desiree is the DJ in residence on Wednesday nights and she has an extensive catalog. She has some golden pipes, too. It's a good crowd on Wednesdays. I call it the perfect karaoke mix - the ringers who blow you away in between those folks who might not have the tune down but are having so much fun that it's infectious.

A recent Globe article is full of great links for ways to spend time in Hartford.

The story is paired with a profile of the Wadsworth Atheneum that provides a great overview of the museum's collections and gives me an excuse to post this photo I took of the Atheneum this summer.

The recent story, At the sign of the cross, a city in transition, has an accompanying photo album with some photos of the Palace Theater.

I was fortunate to get a tour of the theater just before its renovation was finished. The interior's ornate Greek and Roman motifs were carefully restored. Every gold, silver, and copper detail was created by applying small sheets of metal foil by hand.

The restored theater is literally a shining example of fine craftsmanship. I hope the project's momentum continues through Waterbury. The city has the remnants of a great American downtown that could be even better the second time around.

Boston Globe travel writer Tom Haines is on a five-day road trip around New England and is blogging and podcasting about it as he goes. All of his stops are based on reader suggestions.

He's spent a day in New Britain, visiting the New Britain Museum of American Art, talking to an employee of an Islamic clothing store, and learning about how an old building turned into a new church.

Read about the entire trip here.

Real Art Ways is holding its Creative Cocktail Hour tonight. Every third Thursday, this unique space offers this evening of art and music. The cover charge is $8 (no cover for members) but you get a lot of minutes in your cocktail hour: the event runs from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

Eli Whitney is big in Hamden. On Whitney Avenue, you'll find his name on storefronts ranging from Eli's Brick Oven Pizza to Whitney Donuts. You can see what all the fuss is about at his rifle factory on the Mill River. Today, the factory houses the Eli Whitney Museum.

It is a small museum with three main components: the Eli Whitney exhibit, the A.C.Gilbert toy collection, and the Wilbur & Orville Society, a workshop for young aeromodellers. My stops in Hamden a couple of months ago bookended my museum visit.

The covered bridge over the Mill River at the Eli Whitney Museum

The Eli Whitney presented at this museum was not so much an inventor, but more of a mechanical whiz kid who just didn't know what he wanted to do after college. He may have created the cotton gin because he didn't really have anything else to do. After graduating from Yale, he was visiting a friend's plantation in Georgia and would listen to local farmers complain about the worthless cotton they were growing. It took too much manpower to separate it from the seeds. Whitney's resulting invention started an economic revolution but it was also immediately pirated and he never really made any money from it.

It's what he did when he came back to New Haven, however, that secured his legacy in Connecticut. He got the government to order 10,000 muskets from him. Whitney had never even manufactured muskets before and he said he would do it in two years. Traditionally, rifles were made one at a time, each with unique parts. In his factory, Whitney built a system of manufacturing based on interchangeable parts.

The exhibit uses models to show the factory's system of divided labor, which was still a new-fangled idea at the time. Each worker had one task to do over and over again. The new theory worked, but it still took him eight years to finish the contract.

The other exhibit at the museum is a collection of toys from another local manufacturer, A.C. Gilbert. The collection includes his famous Erector Set.

A.C. Gilbert was also known for educational toys, like chemistry sets. Young atomic energy enthusiasts were encouraged to prospect for uranium ore (!!) and were eligible for a $10,000 reward from the government.

The museum's current offerings of hands-on programming for young inventors can be found on its website.

I was on my way to the Hartford Civic Center a few weeks ago and I had to stop and take this photo. These folks are in line to audition for the The Apprentice at the Hilton on Trumbull Street.

Speaking of the Civic Center, has anyone been in there recently? I hadn't been there for a while so this was my first look at the renovation. It's a bit...stark.

The Civic Center's mall is out and will be replaced with new retail space. The most significant change, though, is the Hartford 21 building, a 262-unit, residential high-rise that has sprouted out from the Civic Center's city block.

You can see the tower under construction (on the left) through the new atrium.

There used to be this monument to the Whalers in the lobby by the box office. When we were meeting someone before a UConn basketball game or a Wolfpack game, we could tell them to meet us by Gordie Howe's face. I'm hoping the monument, or something similar, returns. For now, there's this:

I tried to take a photo of the slick facade, but it was a lousy day for photography. Trust me, the sun does shine in Hartford.

Which casino do you prefer? I'm really curious about this. Vote for Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods in the Explore New England poll.

I was watching the NFL network yesterday and I noticed that every commercial was for some gimmicky last-minute Valentine's Day gift. Instead of a gift that will be cute for a minute, how about the gift of going somewhere together? Even if you can't get somewhere on Tuesday, consider making plans for a romantic adventure.

Do either of you like pampering? Make an appointment at the Spa at Norwich Inn. It is considered the best day spa in Connecticut and offers treatments that probably taste as good as they feel, like the Coco Mango Body Buff.

If he or she would rather keep moving, there's Dadd's Extreme Indoor Sports in West Haven. Dadd's has indoor go-karts, mini-golf, laser tag, and an arcade. Sound like something for your sweetheart?

For more ideas, check out Explore New England's Romantic Getaways Guide.

I love the outdoors, but I'm not really crazy about cold weather. So while many of my nature-loving contemporaries search for snow and slopes this time of year, I'd rather pound the pavement. Winter is a great time for seeing a city's sights.

Here are a couple of places to stay in Connecticut that are near some of our cities' biggest cultural attractions.

The Omni New Haven Hotel is within walking distance of the Shubert Theater, Yale University, and New Haven Green. The Omni offers a view of the Long Island Sounds from its 19th Floor.

I've heard nothing but good things about the Hartford Downtown Marriott. It's one of the major elements of Hartford's Adriaen's Landing developments and it's a hop, skip and a jump away from the Wadsworth Atheneum, Old State House and The Bushnell.

The current exhibit at the Science Center of Connecticut is Fangs! - Venomous Snakes of North America. Since I just started a new job at the Science Center, I checked out the snakes this week and took some photos.

One of the snakes is actually a large simulated rattler that kids can crawl through.

The exhibit also covered how snakes and humans interact, such as in the Hopi Snake Dance.

My favorite exhibits at the Science Center are the live animals who live there year-round, especially the turtles and the little owl.

I just found out about First Thursday. Where the heck have I been?

On the first Thusday of the month, there are arts events all over the Hartford area, from live music to film to dance to gallery receptions and more. The Greater Hartford Arts Council compiles all of these great events into one big list. (Regular readers will have noticed how much I love lists.)

Some of November's First Thursday events...

"Floyd & Clea Under The Western Sky" at Hartford Stage

"On the Move: Decoding the Language of Dance" at the Charter Oak Cultural Center

"A Camera at War" at the Connecticut Historical Society