History
Connecticut River Museum Imagine what it would be like to submerge in America's first submarine, revisit the area's ivory trade and ship-building history, get your sea legs with seasonal exhibits and programs that tie into Connecticut nautical history. 67 Main St., Essex, CT; +1 860 767 8269. Fee.
Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center Get goosebumps as you travel into a simulated glacial crevasse; see an ancient caribou hunt come alive; learn phrases of eastern Algonquian languages; watch films depicting the conflicts that arose when Dutch and English settlers first arrived. 110 Pequot Trail, Mashantucket, CT; 800 411 9671. Fee.
Old State House View a bizarre collection of items, from a unicorn's horn to George Washington's button, at the Museum of Natural and Other Curiosities; explore an interactive exhibit spanning 300 years of Connecticut history; take a guided tour and marvel at the life-size portrait of Washington himself. 800 Main St., Hartford, CT; +1 860 522 6766. Fee.
Museum of Connecticut History See models of the Colt firearms that made Connecticut famous, admire the handiwork detailed in the Freedom Trail Quilts, embark on a scavenger hunt to explore the museum. 231 Capitol Ave., Hartford; +1 860 757 6535.
New England Air Museum Experience a full-motion flight simulator, explore over 100 aircrafts through the museum on a family scavenger hunt, and visit on Open Cockpit days to sit in the cockpit of a real plane. Bradley International Airport, 36 Perimeter Rd., Windsor Locks, CT; +1 860 623 3305. Fee.
Peabody Museum of Natural History Scope out skeletons of prehistoric creatures, search for poison dart frogs in the rainforest habitat, climb inside an Egyptian mummy's tomb for dazzling remnants of a pharaoh's life. Whitney Avenue and Sachem St., New Haven, CT; +1 203 432 5050. Fee.
U.S.S. Navy Submarine Force Museum Learn about Bushnell's Turtle, the submarine first used in the Revolutionary War; look through a periscope to survey the Thames River; watch submarine films and climb aboard the world's first nuclear submarine. 1 Crystal Lake Rd., Groton, CT; 800 343 0079.
