Connecticut’s capital city boasts an impressive lineup of attractions, including some fine museums, performance venues, and green spaces. As a guest soaking up the boutique goodness of The Goodwin in downtown Hartford, you’ve got easy access to these high-profile attractions, three prime examples of which we’ll be spotlighting today in this blog post!
The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is one of Hartford’s superlative institutions: the biggest art museum in Connecticut, for one thing, and also the longest-running public art museum in the country. Established in the 1840s by Daniel Wadsworth and occupying five buildings (including an 1844-built Gothic Revival landmark), the Wadsworth boasts close to 50,000 works of art, including an exceptional collection of Hudson River School paintings, extensive colonial-era architecture, and an internationally significant share of Baroque and surrealist pieces. Its current exhibitions include the noted Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s Grapes (2015), a sculpture featuring 26 Qing Dynasty stools.
Hartford Stage
Hartford Stage has been bringing world-class theatrical productions to the Connecticut capital since its very first show, Othello, which opened in April of 1964. Since that time, the company has presented better than 70 national and world premieres and featured a who’s-who of well-known actors, including Angela Lansbury, Rip Torn, Phylicia Rashad, David Patrick Kelley, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Sigourney Weaver.
This year’s 55th season of Hartford Stage is currently putting on Bess Wohl’s Make Believe (through September 30th), directed by Jackson Gay and focused on a quartet of siblings growing up in the 1980s. Beginning October 1th and running through November 11th, theatergoers can enjoy Shakespeare’s Henry V as directed by Elizabeth Williamson.
Elizabeth Park
A little more than 100 acres in size and open each and every day of the year from dawn to dusk, Elizabeth Park is an extraordinary botanical paradise dating from 1897. Encompassing the former Charles Pond estate (and named after Charles’ wife Elizabeth), the park owes its core design to the influential Swiss-American architect Theodore Wirth. Among its signature features is the country’s oldest public rose garden, which lays claim to 15,000-plus rosebushes representing some 800 varieties, as well as the Shade Garden, Laurel Pond, and Sunrise Overlook, which delivers a stirring view of the Hartford cityscape. (You can learn more about Elizabeth Park by reading this previous Goodwin blog post.)
And More…
From the capacious XFINITY Theatre to the Connecticut Historical Society & Museum, there are many other awesome destinations beyond the three we’ve spotlighted above. Check out a more thorough overview of nearby attractions right here so you’re all set for some day-tripping fun during your next getaway to The Goodwin!
