Soooo there is evidence that dinosaurs once roamed Connecticut and it's located in the town of…read moreWindsor, CT. It's not a protected archaeological site so it's very accessible to the public, although there is no formal parking lot so pay attention to how you park and respect the property. I love these roadside oddities, I find them irresistible on many fronts and seek them out in my travels. These scrapyard works of art exhibits a very creative mind. These colorful creatures are pretty amazing so if you get the chance to enjoy them if only for a few moments I highly recommend doing it...

These are literally just some metal dinosaur sculptures that are on the corner of a residential…read moreroad, and they're fantastic. They're well-made and fun to look at. There's no real parking since it's just a residential street, so you have to park off the side of the road and walk to the corner. I went in the fall and it was really nice, but a bit muddy. There's also a geocache hidden here that was fun to look for and find!

3900th Review I'm…read moresure everyone old enough to remember the events of September 11, 2001 knows exactly where they were on that tragic day in American History. This was my very first visit to any memorial dedicated to those that lost their lives on this day and I must stay it's pretty sobering. I know there are quite a number of sites around the country similar to this one, as there should be so no one is so far away from one that they could ever forget. This monument is really well done, no description of these massive beams and granite monoliths that represents the twin towers on display can do them justice, it's definitely something you need to experience...

The two pieces of mangled steel arrived on a flatbed truck, under a Fire Department escort, on…read moreThursday afternoon, Feb 10, 2011. They are 18 feet long and weigh 1,400 pounds each. They were from the North Tower. They came to Enfield through a New York Port Authority program that gave Ground Zero artifacts to any public safety or municipal agency that planned to include them in a Sept. 11 display. Over 1,400 pieces of the Twin Towers now live on as a public reminder of that terrible day. The memorial at the Weymouth Road Fire Station has the beams set in a Memorial Garden. The garden is framed by an arced low stone wall that is evenly and solidly built around the sides, but is in a planned state of distress and collapse at the front. I saw similar symbolism at a Veterans Memorial in West Hartford, where the uniformity of a wall, representing America's time-line, was violently broken during times of war. You'll also see two granite pillars representing the twin towers, a grouping of stones for United 93, a large Fire Department crest and a plaque dedicated to the firemen lost on September 11, 2001.

A great time. This came up on my Facebook feed as a fun and interesting thing to do this summer…read more So I made the 2-hour trek before it got too hot and busy. And had a great time. It's an interesting place and fun to explore the mine. If you're 6 feet or taller, doing the mine is going to be difficult, one of the few times us shorties have an advantage. While it probably wasn't worth the 2-hour drive, it still was a fun time, and not something I regret doing.

"The warden threw a party in the county jail The prison band…read morewas there and they began to wail The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing" (Elvis Presley) What an awesome slice of Connecticut and U.S. history! At various times, the grounds housed the oldest copper mine in the U.S. and one of its oldest state prisons. The prisoners sentenced to the jail were mostly thieves, robbers and British sympathizers. One was a murderess (yes, this was a coed prison), and a few were imprisoned for "laziness"! The walk down into the mine put us on several staircases that were very wet (water is dripping everywhere), slippery and uneven. So if you're a little unsteady on your feet, you might want to think twice about the 75 foot descent into the lowest section of the mine. There will be plenty of handrails to guide you, and beware of a few stone "low bridges" you'll have to duck down to avoid. Otherwise you'll take a solid stone slab to the forehead. Another thing to mention is the temperature down there is pretty chilly. So even if you visit on a 95 degree day and you're wearing a tank top and shorts outside, you might want to pack a sweater or sweatshirt for your visit to the mine. It was very cool learning how the mine was built, and we saw remnants of some of the drilled holes where dynamite was lowered into the rock to blast away solid stone. We also saw traces of golden copper and green patina on the rocky walls. We learned that over the years there had been over 70 escape attempts, including one massive jailbreak where over 20 prisoners made it out. Just about all of them were eventually captured, but a few ran into the woods and were never found. After we came up from the mine floor, we explored the grounds and wandered among the remnants of the old jailhouse, guardhouse and prison yard. They were very creepy, and we saw some of the prisoner shackles and chains on display. Our tour guide was great, as was the friendly young lady at the ticket booth and gift shop. The surrounding grounds and view are quite beautiful, and we learned they are used for wedding and prom photos. So who knows, maybe this will be a wedding venue some day!

This December 2024 will commemorate the 49th Anniversary of the "Beer Train Wreck" in Windsor, CT.,…read morelike Dan R. mentioned in his wonderful review there isn't much information on this major derailment. I had the opportunity to stop and look at the memorial sculptures that mark this historic event that was created by Lon Pelton. Along side the photos that I took and posted are a few photos I'd like to give credit that hopefully meet copyright and reprint requirements to the Windsor Historical Society and then Windsor Police Officer John Gasparino for the photo which gives a little more insight to the immense size of this event. This site is pretty cool and definitely worth a few minutes of your time if you too enjoy historic sites and roadside oddities. I can imagine the impact of this event on the citizens of Windsor and the surrounding communities at the time. I imagine how the town rushed to get as close as possible to witness this derailment and the clean-up process, I'm sure it's something that anyone that witnessed will never forget. I was a little taken back how Mother Nature has been allowed to reclaim portions of these sculptures and the lack of ground maintenance surrounding it - this is a site that should be preserved in my opinion and would definitely make for a cool field trip for school age children (if field trips are still allowed these days). I for one would make a one time donation in the name of preserving this site...

If you've ever been to the Whistle Stop Café, you might have noticed the "Train Wreck Burger" on…read morethe menu. Ever wonder why? The answer can be found in two sculptures located in the Whistle Stop's parking lot that commemorate a nasty 1975 accident when a flatbed railroad car hauling a load of lumber shifted and the train crashed into an overpass on Palisado Avenue. There are two sculptures here, each with a descriptive plaque. The first statue is near the side entrance to the restaurant. It's an abstract work with railroad track rails and wood ties with various train parts laid out inside the tracks. The second statue includes huge hunks of twisted metal, presumably debris from the smashed overpass. I did a lot of research trying to find an account of this 1975 accident without any success. Nevertheless, it's a very interesting and highly creative pair of attention grabbers at the Whistle Stop.

The monument is located on the grounds of Memorial Hall at the intersection of Main and Elm…read moreStreets. The monument is actually three in one. The original 1953 monument honors those from Windsor Locks that were lost in both World Wars.; seven in WW I and 16 in WWII. What's pretty neat is that the memorial also lists everyone from Windsor Locks that served in both wars. In 1976, the monument was expanded when two monuments were added, one on the left for Korean War Vets and one on the right for Viet Nam era vets. It's a very impressive memorial- lots of granite and copper with a huge flagpole. Memorial Hall hosts a military museum, I'll have to go inside some time.

For more than a year, the Drummer Boy statue has been AWOL from its old location on the Bloomfield…read moreVillage Green. But I'm happy to say that the statue has been spiffed up, revitalized, and relocated. It's still on the Village Green but moved to a prominent location at the major intersection of Park Avenue and Bloomfield Avenue. The statue was removed as part of "Phase Two" of a Village Green renovation project. The green was revitalized with new benches and walkways, a gorgeous green lawn, and major repairs to the statue which was in a state of disrepair. Some of the work included removing corrosion by blasting, a new metal coating, and replacement of the drum skin. The Drummer Boy's Drum is a significant piece of Bloomfield's history. Known as "the Brown Drum" they were manufactured on Bloomfield's Brown Street by the Brown family -first Benjamin Brown and then his nephew Eli Brown. The Drummer Boy symbolizes a "march toward liberty, justice and equality" by America's early Patriots.

The Wizard of Oz - A wonderful tale for children, it has everything a parent could wish for or does…read moreit, as a kid we never missed an opportunity to watch the original 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz, starring young Judy Garland - I was surprised to see this sculptor included so many elements including Jack Pumpkinhead, the tornado with the flying farmhouse, etc. In my opinion this is a five minute fly by, and by no means a bucket list item but it does exist. It's simply a display of art embedded in a stone clad wall at the back entrance to the public library and its well done...

At the rear entrance of the Enfield public library is a very cool 43" by 27" by 3" panel sculpture…read moreof a child sitting outside on the ground, holding a book in both hands while reading. In the field where the child sits, I saw a dozen characters from the Wizard of Oz walking on a curved brick road. I guess we are reading his/her mind and watching how reading brings imagination to life. The work was a gift from sculptor Janice Loomis to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Enfield Library. You can identify Dorothy, her dog Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion in the front. In the top left corner is the Wicked Witch of the West riding a broom, the Emerald City, a hot air balloon, and a tornado. One character I didn't recognize at all (at least from the movie, since I didn't read the book) - it was someone with a pumpkin on his head wearing a scarf. I researched the gent and found out his name is "Jack Pumpkinhead" - and he was a character in some of Frank Baum's fourteen full-length Oz books.

It may not be in great condition, but it has a super cool inscription, so I give it 4 stars…read more Any plaque that talks about tomahawk damage to a door cannot possible rate less than 4 stars!! The inscription reads "On the brow of the hill overlooking the meadow stood the Old Stone Fort or Stoughton House. It was in two portions, one stone, probably the older, and one wood. At the north end was a door of heavy oak timbers studded with iron spikes, which bore the hacks and cuts of Indian tomahawks. The house was torn down in 1809" . It's located on Rt 159 North, Palisado Avenue, heading away from WIndsor.

Had one of the best tours I've ever been given. The people running the house are so knowledgeable…read moreand such hard workers at keeping the place running. I would definitely recommend it if you are visiting! Some of the friendliest people I've met on this trip.

Excellent collection of Victorian clothing and earlier furniture. A pleasantly delivered tour was…read moregiven to me because I only had 15 minutes. I could easily spent five times that amount hearing about the history from the highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic docents.