2 Best Sights in The Quiet Corner, Connecticut

Hand puppets, rod puppets, body puppets, shadow puppets, marionettes—this museum has more than 2,500 puppets in its extraordinary collection. Many are the work of Frank Ballard, a master of puppetry who established the country's first complete undergraduate and graduate degree programs in puppetry at the University of Connecticut. If you're lucky you might even catch Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street on display.

UConn's large, sprawling main campus offers lots for visitors to see and do. The William Benton Museum of Art's permanent collection includes centuries-old European and American paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and sculptures, and the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts presents a series of 25--30 music, dance, and theater programs during the academic year. The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry has more than 2,500 puppets on display (UConn is one of two colleges in the country that offer a puppetry degree); and, depending on the season, you might catch a Connecticut Huskies football game or watch the amazing women's basketball team play at home.