Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Yesterday, we went to Hartford, CT to the Mark Twain house and museum. I've wanted to go there for years. It is about 100 miles from here, and it took under 2 hours to get there. There were two separate tours of the house, one of where the family lived, and the other of the kitchen area where the servants spent their time. It's a lovely brick Victorian house, built in 1874. Mark Twain lived there from 1874 to 1891, and sold it in 1903. He wrote many great books while living there with his family. Most of the furniture was sold off in 1903, but his one daughter who survived him was still alive when the house became a museum in the 1960s and she donated the things she had inherited. There also is a visitor's center on the grounds, with a great museum shop (I spent $146 in it!). I think I may have known more than the guides, although I kept my mouth shut because I hate it when people act like know-it-alls at Cherry Hill. Next door is Harriet Beecher Stowe's house, but we didn't go there.

On the way back, we stopped in Lee, MA and ate dinner at the Salmon Run Fish House. Great place, this was our third time there.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for visiting our museum and for spending so much in our store. I hope you return, and that you have a more informed guide for your visit.

J. Nichols, MTH&M

howzerdo said...

Oh, I'm not complaining, please don't misinterpret my post. Your guides were super nice, and they knew a lot! Certainly enough to serve as cordial guides at the house. I own the complete works of Mark Twain, and although I wouldn't call myself a Mark Twain scholar exactly, he is my favorite author so I am probably more in the know than your average visitor. But I still learned some things during my visit! I volunteer for Historic Cherry Hill, a house museum in Albany, and used to be a docent there. I knew plenty - but probably not as much as a Van Rensselaer family expert! Anyway, it was a perfect day that I will always remember fondly, and I probably will return someday!! Thanks for visiting my website.