A Connecticut Collage: A Hartford Area Escape in Early Autumn
Hartford, Connecticut – and nearby towns
Dates: Thursday, October 1, 2026 – Saturday, October 3, 2026
Written 10/11/26
A Little Background
Originally, I had tagged this week to be a drive down the New Jersey coast with possible stops at Atlantic City and Cape May. The destination would be Washington DC to watch the Nationals play in their home stadium. part of a road trip that included Washington DC, Philadelphia, Virginia and a ride along the Jersey Shore possibly visiting Atlantic City and Cape May. However, after my reality check, this short trip to Connecticut started to materialize. After much debate on whether to stay in Mystic, I opted for Hartford, a city that is rich in American history in almost every glance. I began to put together a very low-key weekend getaway that included list of fall activities and places to eat, as suggestions but no true plans. The hotel for our two-night stay was Candlewood Suites Hartford Downtown.
The Starting Point
A drive to Connecticut from the New York City area could be 2-3 hours depending on your starting point and your destination within Connecticut. For us, the drive was a little over two hours. We left after morning rush hour (approx. 10:00 AM) on Thursday and intended to be in Hartford before 4:00PM just in case there was an evening rush hour in the area. The day was a nice sunny, breezy day of mid 70s. We were in no hurry to arrive, so we were open to stopping along the way. As we were discussing this, my partner saw a sign for the PEZ Visitor Center in Orange, CT. That sounded like a great way to stretch our legs and see something we might not ordinarily stop for.
The Visitor’s Center is a two-story collection of all things PEZ. The first floor combines the history of PEZ coming to the United States, cabinets of collectible PEZ dispensers, and good-sized gift shop. Upstairs, there is a seating area with additional collectibles and a television running videos about the collector who owns the store, how he obtained some of his collections, how the visitors center came to life, and history of PEZ itself. While it’s clearly aimed at engaging children, this stop could bring out the child in anyone. It even has a walkway with clear window where you can see them prepare the PEZ candies.
Photo 1: One of the many displays of PEZ dispensers.
Photo 2: Entrance to the PEZ VIsitor's Center
Photo 3: Lifesized PEZ dispenser
As a quick stop during the week, it was well worth it. Tickets are $5 each with $2 credit to use towards a purchase in the store. The hardest part is limiting your purchases!
It’s also just an hour from Hartford!
Checking In and Dinner
The ride to Candlewood Suites provided a great opportunity to take photos of the Hartford skyline as we drove into the city. The hotel was very easy to find; it’s only a few blocks from People’s Bank Arena arena (and Veterans Memorial Coliseum). We had our choice of parking spots, and checking in at the desk was quick. We spent a little time getting familiar with the hotel room, but we were back in the car less than an hour later to go to Black Eyed Sally’s for dinner.
Black Eyed Sally’s Southern Kitchen and Bar is less than a mile away from the Candlewood. I don’t know that I’d walk it because there are some fairly big streets to cross, but we were there in a flash. Metered parking on the street is free after 6:00PM and weekends, although there was a parking lot across the street from the restaurant that had a lot of spots open too. We parked in a metered spot down the street.
We arrived just about 6:00PM and there were still many tables available. We had both looked over the menu before our arrival, so we knew what we were ordering. One order of jambalaya and one order of ribs and brisket. We also got two bowls of gumbo and corn bread. I fully expected to take leftovers back to the hotel, and that’s ok because it was early evening and I know we’ll both be peckish since dinner was early. Additionally, our hotel room had a fridge!
Photo 1: Dining area near the bar and kitchen
Photo 2: Walkway between the bar area and the stage area, both have seating
Photo 3: Window area, same dining area as the bar, but not as close
All the food was fantastic! Down the street from the restaurant was an Insomnia Cookie. Now, I know these are all over, but I’ve never had them. After dinner, I walked to Insomnia Cookies and ordered a few to bring back to the hotel to munch on.
Busy Friday
While it wasn’t an overwhelming schedule, we did have places we wanted to be. But first, breakfast.
Breakfast was at Quaker Diner (319 Park Rd West Hartford, CT 06119). A somewhat historic place, as it opened in 1931, you’ll see the nostalgia appeal as soon as you drive up. Inside the diner maintains the old-timey vibe with music from the 30’s/40’s and clothing hooks on the booths with quaint coats and hats hanging on them. Our orders were similar and again, we already knew our orders. We both had two eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and coffee. One came with French toast, the other pancakes. Everything was so good, we considered returning for breakfast the next day.
Well nourished, our next stop was Lyman Orchard’s Corn Maze in Middlefield, CT. The drive was approximately a 30-minute drive out of the city, and into an area with lots of colorful leaves, windy one lane roads, and of course a corn maze. Lyman Orchards also has a store with all thing’s apple, and I picked up a bag of apples on our way out.
The corn maze was fun, I would have enjoyed it more if it was a cool, Autumn afternoon, but it was one of those tricky days in October when the weather crept to 85 degrees. If walking through the maze wasn’t fun enough, they also have trivia questions which if you guess correctly will give you a hint on which direction to turn in the maze. There were also interesting facts about American history posted throughout the maze. Upon entry, we were provided with a map so if you didn’t do well on the trivia, you could try your hand at following the map. If all else fails, there are also helpers within the maze that can help you on your way if you feel overwhelmed or lost.
Photo 1: Quaker Diner in West Hartford, CT
Photo 2: inside the Quaker Diner
Photo 3: Lyman Orchard's corn maze - Middlefield, CT
I only did one half of the maze. I was too warm and went back to the car while my partner set out to make his way through the second half, which he said afterwards was a lot harder than the first.
After the maze, we needed to zip back to Hartford, to make the last tour at the Mark Twain House. We arrived about 10 minutes late, but the tour guides were gracious and caught us up to our guide. Sadly, no photos could be taken in the house, but we saw and heard a lot of information about his family life while he lived there. This is where he wrote most of his well known books like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. We even stood in the study where he wrote them. He didn’t spend most of his adult life in this home, it sounded like mostly when his 3 daughters were growing up. As with all old homes, it is said to be haunted and some of the tour guides have said that they’ve seen glimpses of people from time to time. We didn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary.
As it was the last tour of the day, the gift shop was closed. We did stop in the museum part briefly but discussed that it might be better to leave it for a future return visit.
Photo 1: Entrance to Mark Twain House & Museum
Photo 2: Outside Mark Twain House (house is in background)
Photo 3: Inside First and Last Tavern (yep photo is a little blurry)
In the car, we tossed around the idea of eating dinner at Black Eyed Sally’s again. Although both eager, we opted to venture to a different part of Hartford and ate dinner at First and Last Tavern. Known for their Italian food, we ordered a meatball appetizer and chicken parmesan and eggplant rollatini entrees. All were enormous portions. We took leftovers back to the hotel and added them to the fridge.
On The Way Home
The day we left Hartford, we took inventory of all our leftovers in the hotel fridge and decided that we’d eat up all our leftovers for breakfast instead of going out for breakfast. Then we squeezed a quick stop at Black Eyed Sally’s to purchase a po’boy sandwich to take in the car with us, to be eaten later in the afternoon.
Before heading back to New York, we drove over to Harwinton, CT to attend the Harwinton Fair. It was a cool, crisp, sunny day. Perfect for an afternoon outside. I was happy that it wasn’t warm like when we were in the corn maze. The fair advertised, ox competitions, pig races, ax throwing, and of course rides, games and food. There were even buildings that held chickens, llamas, cows, and other assorted animals that were in competitions and some for sale.
We entered the fairgrounds just as they were announcing that the 1:00PM pig race would be starting in 15 minutes. I didn’t really see the race, because the paddock was mobbed, but I did get a glimpse of a pig or two. We also stopped and watched the tail end of the ox competition. Even with the sandwich waiting for us in the car, the temptation of fair food was too great, and we indulged with two hamburgers and an order of fries. After visiting all the animal exhibit buildings, we stopped for some fried dough. By the exit to the fair, my partner purchased Connecticut maple syrup. We stayed approximately 3 hours but didn’t cover the whole site.
Photo 1: Entrance with map to Harwinton Fair
Photo 2: Two of the pigs before the Pig Race
Photo 3: A cow who was so close I could touch her, but I didn't
Things I learned from experiencing this trip: Every restaurant we went to had coat hooks attached to the seating area. Hartford has a baseball team! The Hartford Yard Goats are a Minor League Double A team. The Candlewood hotel is walking distance from two different arenas. We took a car break in Mount Vernon NY and we were near a stadium. I’d like to check that out one day in the future.
Things I keep in mind when organizing a trip for myself: Go back for more! Gotta go back to the county fair. It was so much fun, but it would have been nice to stay into the evening. We didn’t even get over the rides and games area. I’d like to see other parts of Hartford. I’d like to see a baseball game there. Eat at Black Eyed Sally’s again.
Some information, such as baseball game information and directions were sought by using ChatGPT and Perplexity. Brainstorming for blog titles too!
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