OLD STATE BUILDING

I went on another solo escape to Connecticut to play a bit of poker and visit the area.

Since we were to meet up with Shane on Saturday and with Bruce and Abigail to go to the Clark on Tuesday, I only could go up at first for Sunday night, leaving Saturday for Shane to visit.  However, when I wrote him to confirm, he told me they could not make the visit and that freed up Saturday

The booking was hard.  I was confused.  That Booking.com really offers flexibility in booking.  I was grateful for that.

However, Saturday in Groton was over a hundred dollars, so I decided to spent the first night in Wethersfield and see a bit of that area.  As it turned out I played so much poker that I did not roll home until about 4AM, so I did not see Wethersfield on Sunday.

However, on Saturday I went first to Hartford to walk through the Atheneum there again.  I parked in a 2 hour metered spot, but on the weekends the parking is free.  I was a bit twisted in finding the Atheneum and found first the Old State House where $3 let me do my own walking tour.

Here is a good article in Yankee magazine

https://newengland.com/today/travel/connecticut/hartford/summer-in-hartford-connecticut/

Here I got to see what the place looked like when it was used to conduct government as well as some other displays.  An interesting addition was a room reflecting the Joseph Stewart Museum of Curiosities and Oddities, all that is left of a place that was was a tourist draw years ago.

I was pleased with the 1912 fire engine and wondered if my grandfather ever drove one of these after horses were abandoned.

As I had seen in other places, here was a fireman's leather bucket from back in those days.  This is not a very good photo, I'm afraid because of the reflected light.

Here is what these sort of buckets looked like.  Very pleasing to the eye.

https://www.pinterest.com/tomcassisa/fire-buckets/

There were other odds and ends in the downstairs exhibit.  They were very well displayed.

https://www.pw.org/content/twain_s_bike_lessons
This was Mark Twain's bicycle.  He did not start riding until he was in his 50's.

At one poker table I was talking about the old fashioned toasters that had the sides that turned down.  It would toast one side of the bread at a time.  There were a few displayed in the museum, and this one was interesting because at the top was a grid which would keep toasted bread heated.

I remember my grandfather had one of these at the Lime Lake house and when my mother was in the hospital, only my dad and I went out for a visit.  He let me warm up potato chips in the toaster.  It was quite a thrill.  I don't remember being on an overnight trip with just my father at any other time in my life.  This was also the time we played 500 rummy.  He got up to 495 and then he let me catch up.  I was so excited to win that game, I've remembered all these years.

This is the lego version of the old state house.
Casey would like this.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g33804-d105001-i35586893-Old_State_House-Hartford_Connecticut.html

The Victorian-style House Chamber. A few of the notable legislators who served here include showman P.T. Barnum and American Dictionary author Noah Webster.

Here is a good view of the painting of Washington renouncing running for another term as President.
http://shops.mountvernon.org/george-washington-lansdowne-portrait-print-33353.html

Here are some shots of the Museum of Oddities.

Here is the famous two headed calf.

Here is the Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/CTOldStateHouse/

Here is a good shot of downtown Hartford.

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A Return Visit to the Wadsworth Atheneum

From the Old State House it is a short walk to the Atheneum if you know which direction to take.  The greeter at the Old State House gave me good directions.

As I find when I visit other museums, a new visit gives a new perspective.  I may find things I missed and I also find paintings I am happy to revisit  The statue of the woman with fish wrapped around her was one example.  It is the first thing the visitor sees and set in the center of a huge square where it is comfortable to sit and study her lines and beauty and the faces of the fish with their tales barely revealed in her flowing robes.

 This exhibit was similar to the one on drinking that I saw in Utica at the Munsen Museum called Coctail Culture goes to the movies.

http://nasher.duke.edu/2013/07/telephones/

Here again is the idea that art can be anything the viewer wants it to be.  I find that abandons the very essence of what I want from art, a communication from artist to viewer as well as a clear sense of real or surreal experience.  I am not much of a fan of intentional ambiguity.




Here is an era of style and design that does not appeal to me.  This table seems to be the worst of modern design and to reflect a really unappealing sense of both comfort and beauty.
The idea of designing a chair that might tip over is just appauling.