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Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
Confession time: I have never heard of Harriet Beecher Stowe, nor have any idea who she was. I found out about this simply because it is often mentioned with Mark Twain House. When I looked up the website, the book title "Uncle Tom's Cabin" vaguely rang a bell, yet I didn't know what it is about.

After lunch at Grants, I drove to the Stowe Center, right next door to Mark Twain House.

"Right next door" is an understatement. The 2 houses are no more than 50 yards from one another, and one can easily walk from one to another without moving your car. (Each place has its own parking lot: Mark Twain House lot is much larger.)

I arrived around 2:10pm and was told I could go on the 2:30pm tour. Admission is $9, but I got a $1 discount for visiting Mark Twain House on the same day. The visitors center is pretty small. An area in the back has several chairs where one can watch a 25-min introductory film. I watched most of it before I got called away for the house tour. Our group had 7 people I think.

Harriet Beecher Stowe moved into this Victorian House in 1873, just one year before Mark Twain moved into his. Harriet was an entire generation older than Mark Twain. She bought this house to retire in. It is much smaller and more manageable than her previous house. She lived here with her husband and her twin daughters who never married.

I didn't find the house that exciting, to be honest. It looks like just another stuffy, boring, Victorian house (square box design with 4 rooms per floor). Sure, there are some photographs of her family, as well as items she bought in Europe, and paintings she did herself. But on the whole, nothing about the house screams out.

Having said that, I learned a great deal about Harriet Beecher Stowe - through both the introductory movie as well as the guided tour. Uncle Tom's Cabin was the second best-selling book for years after it was published, second only to the Bible. It made Harriet Beecher Stowe a very rich woman - probably the richest woman in the US at that time by her own right. Uncle Tom's Cabin was the first book she published. She subsequently wrote 30 more books but none were that popular.

At the end of the tour (~45 mins), I can't help but wonder if 100-150 years from now, people will be touring JK Rowling's house?

Even though the tour I took was called Home and Garden Tour, there was no tour of the Garden. Unless you consider, "This is the Victorian Garden!" is a tour. In any case, her garden isn't big so I can't imagine much can be said about it.

Bottom Line: Not a must-see. If you are a huge fan of hers, then I'd recommend it. Or if you're like me, clueless as to who she was, you will find this educational. But if you know enough about her and Uncle Tom's Cabin, I don't think this tour adds much.

Wadsworth Atheneum
As soon as I left the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, the thunderclouds have returned and it started raining. By the time I drove to downtown, it was pouring again. I found a spot near the Old State House, so I got out and took a quick shot. It is open for tours, but I didn't have time.

Then I drove a few blocks to the Atheneum and found street parking on Prospect Street, at the backside of the museum. It was just after 4pm, and meters are in effect until 6pm. Even with an umbrella, by the time I got to the Atheneum entrance, the lower part of my pants were soaked.
Since the goal of this daytrip is to see the Ballets Russes exhibit, I made a beeline for it. What's different about this exhibition in Hartford (vs Pusey Library), is the inclusion of actual costumes in the show. There are plenty of original drawings of costume designs and set designs on display, but it is fantastic to see how a 2-D drawing transforms into a 3-D finished product.

The costume for Le Spectre de la Rose is in the first gallery.

Diaghilev was known for commissioning the avant garde artists of that time. He even had artists Picasso, Juan Gris, Juan Miro, Giorgio de Chirico, Henri Matisse to design sets and costumes for his ballets. On view at the exhibition are several Japanese-influenced costumes by Henri Matisse, and these by Juan Gris and de Chirico.



Afterwards, it was time to explore the rest of the museum. It is not that huge in size, and the collection is heavy on European art. I really enjoyed it because it has a good representation of each period: Italian Renaissance, Flemish paintings, Dutch still life, French Rococo, classical Spanish, English pre-Raphaelites, French Impressionism, German Expressionism... even a painting by Klimt and 2 by Munch. It also has an extensive collection of porcelain, esp English, Meissen, and Sèvres porcelain.

However, my favorite "piece" of the museum collection, is actually a Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing on the walls of the grand staircase. I love the colors and the curves.

I spent a little over 2 hours at the museum. I skipped several sections: mainly the non-European art galleries. I did some shopping at the Museum store before leaving around 6:30pm.
The drive home was complicated by heavy rainfalls again as soon as I got back on MassPike. But I made it home safe and sound around 8pm.

Total Cost for the day
Gas + Toll $25
Metered Parking $3
Mark Twain House $17
Harriet Beecher Stowe Center $8
Wadsworth Atheneum free (reciprocal museum membership - saved $10)
Lunch $18

Grand total (not including shopping at the museum store) = $71