Beaches Near Uncasville, Connecticut

Get ready to hit the waves. Uncasville, in southeast Connecticut, is close to some of New England's top beaches. The riverfront community is nestled on the Thames River, which snakes through New London County and spills into the Atlantic Ocean. Tourists come to Uncasville to visit the Mohegan Sun Casino, but the nearby coastline is another draw to the region, with many beaches open to the public during summer season.

Ocean Beach Park

• Ocean Beach Park is 15 minutes away in New London, Connecticut. This family friendly destination is rated by "National Geographic Traveler" as one of the best beaches in New England. The park charges admission for each vehicle. The boardwalk offers amusement rides, an arcade, mini golf and a water park with Olympic-sized pool. Guests have access to showers, lockers, bathrooms and an outdoor restaurant. After the beach, day trippers can take a drive over the Gold Star Memorial Bridge to visit Mystic Aquarium, just a few exits north on Interstate 95.

Misquamicut Beach

• Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly, Rhode Island, is about 30 minutes away. The half-mile stretch of sand on the Atlantic Ocean is ideal for sunbathers and swimmers who enjoy riding the waves. The bathhouse provides guests with shade gazebos, restrooms, showers and a concession stand. Admission fees are per vehicle. A short walk from the bathhouse down Atlantic Avenue are water slides, amusement rides and a carousel. The area is also known for celebrity sightings. In 2013, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift bought a waterfront summer home in Watch Hill, an affluent village in Westerly.

Rocky Neck State Beach

• This recreation spot is 20 minutes away in East Lyme, Connecticut, and offers more than sand and sea. The park's rock-free shoreline is an ideal spot for swimmers, but many visit the 710-acre park to simply enjoy the outdoors. The 160 campsites are scattered around tree-lined bike paths. Fish and wildlife are abundant, with sightings of herring, osprey, cranes and swans. Crabbing and fishing are allowed. A parking fee is required.

Esker Point Beach

• Esker Point Beach in Groton, Connecticut, is a 20-minute drive from Uncasville. This sunbathing spot tends to be less crowded and is smaller than area state beaches. Calm waters are a draw for families with small children, although no lifeguards are on duty. The beach is best known for its summer concert series, typically on Thursday nights. Restrooms and showers are available. It's also a few miles from Mystic's waterfront, a tourist destination with plenty of shopping, restaurants and nightlife.

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Top Things to Do in Newington, Connecticut

Newington, Connecticut, looks as though it came straight from the pages of a sketch book depicting village life in days gone by. The collection of historic houses, cemeteries and monuments in the Newington Junction Historic District predate the town's incorporation in 1871. A picturesque waterfall and pond with a footbridge in the center of town are the pride and joy of Newington's residents. Next door is Wethersfield, where hundreds more examples from pre-Revolutionary War days are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Highlighting the Historical

• Among the remarkable collection of historic homes in Newington, the colonial centerpieces are the 1722 Dr. Joshua Belden House in the Greek Revival style on Main Street and the less formal 1732 Willard Homestead, painted red with its chimney in the center. Here also is the 1766 home of Silas Deane, an early American diplomat. With some examples built before George Washington was born, these historic houses give glimpses into architectural styles at a time before the nation's independence.

Washington Slept Here

• "Yankee" magazine taps the adjacent town of Wethersfield among "New England's prettiest." The town's nickname used to be Oniontown because of its deep agricultural roots. Here, the story of George Washington continues, as a tour guide takes you through the 1752 Joseph Webb House where General Washington met French General Rochambeau to plan maneuvers against the British. Wethersfield is a showcase for several hundred of the oldest, well-maintained historic houses in New England. One cannot miss the striking steeple at First Church of Christ, where a walk among the headstones of the burial ground reveals tombstones dating back to 1648.

Soak Up the Atmosphere

• A Saturday in late September is a great time to be in Newington, when the annual Waterfall Festival is held. Residents claim Newington's Mill Pond Falls is the smallest natural waterfall in the nation, so they've proudly named this festival to celebrate it. The local tradition is to adorn the branches of Market Square's crimson maple tree with ribbons tied to notes expressing thoughts of appreciation. Market Square comes to life with music, entertainment, arts and crafts vendors, and a farmers' market. The highlight event is the Artist's Chalk Walk, which brings talented chalk artists together to adorn the sidewalks before a judging panel picks the winners.

What Mark Twain Said

• Mark Twain, never lost for words, described his home in Hartford as a "combination of Mississippi River steamboat and cuckoo clock." The unusual looking 25-room mansion is open for tours daily. Events at the popular attraction include Sunday-afternoon storytelling sessions with well-known authors, haunted-house tours and murder-mystery fun.

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Things to See on the Yale Campus

You don't need to be a degree-seeking student to find a tour of 3-century-old Yale University fascinating. In addition to producing a lengthy list of U.S. presidents, Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize-winners, it claims what has been described as one of the most beautiful campuses in America. The venerable New Haven, Connecticut, school holds delightful surprises in its “sequestered nooks” and gladly shares them with visitors. Pay a visit and give it an "A."

Yale on Display

• Yale's 300-plus years of architecture creates a visual feast. Connecticut Hall is the oldest building on campus, and the Gothic Sterling Memorial Library is the most recognizable. Students ring the 54-bell carillon twice a day from the imposing Gothic Harkness Tower and work out in the Gothic "cathedral of sweat," the Payne Whitney Gymnasium. In sharp contrast with much Yale architecture is the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, a six-story glass box whose Vermont-marble panel windows filter light, dimming the interior to protect the treasures. Of the more than 20 pieces of Yale public art that can be viewed without prior arrangement, be sure to see the dignified Nathan Hale bronze statue outside Connecticut Hall, where the Yale graduate and proud hero lived as a student. Make your way across the street to Harkness Tower to relish the ironwork delicacy of Samuel Yellin's Memorial Quadrangle Gate.

Not-So-Stuffy Repositories

• While most Yale museums are open to the public, not all libraries are. Sterling Memorial Library, Yale's largest, welcomes the public during the academic year with hour restrictions. Resembling a European Gothic cathedral, its interior includes cloisters, side chapels, a circulation desk altar and 3,300 stained glass windows. The Peabody Museum of Natural History offers free admission on Thursday afternoons from September through June and houses the nation's most historically significant fossil collection. Yale University Art Gallery is free and open to the public. It offers a schedule of rotating exhibits and has a permanent collection of more than 200,000 objects. African, ancient, Islamic, European, American decorative and photographic art are just a few of the sources represented.
• Artistic Sustenance

• Try to wrangle tickets to performances by students from the Yale School of Drama, known for giving us the likes of Meryl Streep and Lupita Nyong'o. Graduate students present experimental, risk-taking works at the Yale Cabaret dinner theater; relish filet mignon before watching one of 18 different productions mounted each academic year. The Tony Award-winning Yale Repertory Theatre is the professional arm of the drama school, presenting new works and daring interpretations of classics. For the quintessential, old-Yale experience, catch the Whiffenpoofs. Founded in 1909, the world's oldest and most prestigious male a cappella group is one of the school's most cherished traditions. The best part? The legendary Mory's Temple Bar, where they appear weekly when in town, has reopened after renovation and is no longer strictly members-only.

Follow the Leader -- or Not

• If you show up for a guided tour of the Yale campus during the last week of the year, on Thanksgiving or on a Harvard-Yale game day, you'll be out of luck. Otherwise, there are morning and afternoon tours Monday through Friday and an afternoon tour on Saturday and Sunday. Tours last about an hour and 20 minutes and leave from the Mead Visitor Center, in New Haven's oldest private residence, the recently restored Pierpont House at 149 Elm Street. If you're the independent type, go it alone following a Blue Trail map you can buy from the center or download a tour to your MP3 player that includes 32 additional stops.

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Attractions in Ridgefield, CT

Ridgefield, Connecticut, with its scenic Main Street and rich selection of public parks, seems like something from a Norman Rockwell painting. Dating from 1708, when settlers purchased the site from Ramapoo Indians, this gem of a colonial town in the Berkshire Mountain foothills offers much. Visitors can choose from a selection of attractions, including outdoor facilities, historic sites and arts venues.

Clubs, Wheels, Water and Workouts

• The Ridgefield Golf Club, located just 7 miles from the town's historic center, contains a Fazio-designed course. Visitors who pay an admission fee can enjoy 18 holes set amid green hills and lush, tree-lined fairways. Ridgefield’s SPIRIT Skate Park welcomes skating enthusiasts to an outdoor facility with a full-time staff. Located on Prospect Street, the skate park contains a selection of concrete ramps and half-pipes. The Ridgefield Recreation Center serves as the town’s central fitness and recreational facility. Guests who pay a small membership fee enjoy month-long access to an indoor swimming pool and fully-equipped workout center. A variety of programs, including yoga classes and guitar lessons, are available at no extra charge.

New England Nature

• Ridgefield takes full advantage of its scenic New England setting with a variety of outdoor areas. Ballard Park, located in the center of town, showcases 5 acres of tended gardens and majestic trees. Martin Park Beach, located on the shore of Great Pond, a spring-fed lake, welcomes visitors with four sandy areas, a playground and bathhouse. Bennett’s Pond State Park, 4 miles north of town on Bennett’s Farm Road, invites nature lovers with 460 acres of wilderness. In addition to the pond itself, visitors enjoy hiking trails and engage in bow hunting.
• Art Old and New

• The centrally located Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is Connecticut’s only dedicated contemporary art museum. The museum schedules rotating exhibits along with special events like artist talks and studio tours. The Ridgefield Playhouse on East Ridge Road is the community’s premier performance venue, with a full schedule of film screenings and concerts in addition to performances by the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra. The Weir Farm National Historic Site, located 4 miles from the town center, preserves the property of American landscape painter Julian Alden Weir. As the only site in the National Park Service devoted to American painting, Weir Farm serves as both a natural preserve and visual arts center.

Beautiful History

• The Ridgefield Center Historic District comprises one of the most picturesque Main Streets in New England, with historic buildings strung along a high ridge for an impressive panoramic streetscape. A variety of structures, some of which date to the 18th century, present examples of Colonial and Greek Revival architecture. Of particular note is the Keeler Tavern, a 19th-century home that contains a local history museum and gift shop. The Peter Parley Schoolhouse on West Lane preserves the site of an 18th-century schoolhouse. The current structure dates from the early 1800s and contains the school's original pre-Civil War blackboards.

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