Hartford is known not only as the capital of Connecticut but also as the insurance capital of the nation. The 21 towns that encompass the greater Hartford tourism district offer something for everyone – whether it's history, art or culture. The lively downtown district gives visitors plenty of entertainment, dining and shopping options. Top tourist sites include the old state house (properly named since it's the oldest in the country) and the wadsworth athenaeum, which is the first public art museum in the country and spans some 5,000 years of art history. Other attractions are the shrilly appealing ancient cemetery at center church; and bushnell park, which employs the ideas of natural landscaping architecture developed by Hartford native Frederick law olmsted. Of course, no first-time visitor to Hartford should pass up a visit to nook farm, which showcases the victorian-style homes of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain.

Downtown Hartford is the heart of the city's social and cultural life. When touring, be sure to visit the wadsworth athenaeum, which is the nation's oldest public art museum. This museum is nationally recognized for its collection, which is comprised of more than 45,000 pieces that span 5000 years of sculptures and paintings, china, furniture, and textiles.

Try to visit the nation's first municipal rose garden sometime between late june and early july, which is when the roses are at their peak. Take time to stop and smell the roses at Elizabeth park! be sure to catch a glance and aroma of the some 15,000 roses that grow in beds, over archways, on fences, and around gazebos. As the capital of Connecticut, Hartford has plenty of history to explore and the state capitol grounds are a great place to begin! Frederick law olmstead, the father of american landscape architecture, was born in Hartford and designed the state capitol grounds.

The highlight of the exhibit gallery of the mystic aquarium is the amazing reef featuring 30,000 corals, sharks and stingrays, along with a wide array of many colorful fish species. Take in the institute for exploration, a daily dolphin show, and the outdoor beluga exhibit. Educational and entertaining exhibits are the hallmark of the children’s museum. Included are a planetarium and a wildlife sanctuary made up of 30 animals, including a mountain lion, a chinchilla and bobcat. Star station one, an exhibit that is charting the development of the international space station, is currently being built in outer space. A replica of the international space station is also being built in the science center. Special events are featured throughout the year. This victorian gothic "cottage" was built in 1871. Along with Mark Twain, Stowe, author of "Uncle Tom's cabin" and "The american woman's home" was a member of nook farm's prestigious literary community. The home is dedicated to a program series that focuses on social issues such as race relations and women's roles. Inside is Stowe's personal writing table along with several of her paintings.

Visit the home where Mark Twain wrote several of his famous novels, including "Tom Sawyer, "Huckleberry finn" and "The prince and the Pauper". This stick-style victorian mansion was built in 1874 in this famous nook farm neighborhood.

Bridgeport is a thriving multicultural city located right on the water of long island sound in the southern part of connecticut. Its great location and proximity to other cities such as new york and boston make bridgeport a wonderful city to live, work, and visit. Abode of american icons such as pt barnum and tom thumb, bridgeport’s rich history of providing the rest of the united states with needed manufactured goods during the early- to mid-20th century earned it the name “arsenal of democracy” during world war II.

Bridgeport is also often referred to as the "park city" because it possesses such brilliantly designed public parks. Our seaside park and beardsley park were both created by frederick law olmsted, the landscape architect who famously designed central park. The barnum museum is an easy stop off of i-95. The building itself is an interesting architectural mix. The museum is split into three floors. You enter the first floor in the gift shop and then proceed into a room that explains some of barnum's background. Here, there are many pictures of attractions like george washington's nanny, an albino family, and general tom thumb. There's also a replicate fiji mermaid. Next, you enter the iran stan library, a room filled with furniture from barnum's famous, turkish inspired mansion. The second floor is mainly about bridgeport and art. There is a small collection on barnum's attraction jenny lind, the swedish nightingale. The third floor has a large model of a circus. If you are looking for a scaled down science museum geared exclusively for kids discovery museum is the right place to come.

A visit to the beardsley zoo was a wonderful experience. There were plenty of animals for the children to see. The peacocks do wander in a large picnic area; however they do not bother the patrons for food. It’s a good place to go if you’re just looking for a short trip to do some walking around. Atlantic league baseball, it's cheap, lots of fun, and a good safe family environment in a small, clean well run ballpark at the bluefish baseball club.

Bordered by one of Arizona's largest mountain preserves, and situated in the saguaro-dotted sonoran desert on the northwestern edge of the blooming valley of the sun, it's no "surprise" that Surprise was named Arizona's fastest growing city four times in recent years.

If you are looking for some cool and affordable summer fun there’s an aquatic centre that takes swimming beyond the box. It includes a 4,700-square foot water play area with zero depth entry, eight-lane competitive pool, diving well with two one-meter boards, two slides, vortex whirlpool, classroom, concessions and more.

For those art lovers the well-respected West Valley art museum presents it’s five exhibit halls an exceptional offering of artists and collections from around the globe. A summer surprise awaits you at the white tank regional park located on the western edge of Surprise. You can hike or bike to this rare desert waterfall with family and friends. Spend a day at Maricopa county's northwest regional library, the $5.5 million, 20,000-square-foot library features a gift shop, and many public access flat screen computers and separate adult, teen and child areas with Greenhouse reading rooms overlooking a five-acre lake.