2 Best Sights in Hartford and the Connecticut River Valley, Connecticut

Chapman Falls, a 60-foot cascade, is the centerpiece of this 860-acre park, an idyllic spot for bird-watching, picnicking, trout fishing (you'll need a license), camping, hiking, or simply dipping your toes in a clear, cold stream. The campground is open from mid-April through Labor Day.

Founded in 1831, Wesleyan University is one of the oldest Methodist institutions of higher education in the country. The roughly 2,800 undergraduates give Middletown a contemporary, college-town feel. Note the massive, fluted Corinthian columns of the 1828 Greek Revival Russell House at the corner of Washington Street, across from the pink Mediterranean-style Davison Art Center built 15 years later. Farther along, you'll find gingerbreads, towering brownstones, Tudors, and Queen Annes. A few hundred yards up on Church Street, which intersects High Street, is the Olin Library. This 1928 structure was designed by Henry Bacon, architect of the Lincoln Memorial.