A day in CT for only $10

Day Trip

For those of us that live here in CT, we are always caught saying two things… “There’s nothing to do in CT” and “Everything is too expensive here.”  Yup, I have to admit, a little digging was required to find a cheap, entertaining and interesting day, but Edith did it!  For only $10 today we got to meet local celebrities, have a culinary experience and saw our state from a new perspective.



Kara Sundland, Edith, Scot Haney and Me after the show.



We met at the WFSB studio in Rocky Hill to grab a seat in the audience of Better CT, a local talk show featuring “Scot and Kara”. The studio holds about 20 audience members, so you are really right up in the action at all times.  They start promptly at 10am and run the show basically in order.  They open with chit-chat (today we learned that Scot and his partner of 20 years split up, YouTube has a frog sitting like a person on a bench and Beyonce is People’s most beautiful woman of the year.) went into a cooking segment, met with a local fundraising group, interviewed a celebrity, spoke with activists and showed us some eco friendly products.  Something for everyone. 

The camera men and relations folks really make you feel part of the show and give you life saving tips…. Do not eat anything Scot offers from the “Recipe of the Week” as Scot licks his fingers...alot.  It was interesting to watch an interview Russell Hantz (Of Survivor fame), as Russell was on an audio feed from the West Coast and only Scot could hear what he was saying.  We got to watch him have a one sided conversation – then we had to go home and view the show at 3pm to see what was said from California.  A great time and the tickets are FREE, just sign up in advance.

From Rocky Hill we went over to the Lincoln Culinary Institute on Sigourney St. in Hartford, where the students prepare a daily buffet lunch.  In this second floor dining room today’s menu included chicken legs with lo-mein noodles, garlic mashed potatoes, white fish, a cob salad and pasta.  They also had pizza, wraps and a dessert table.  As this is in a busy part of the city with free parking, it is no wonder that locals come in for a quick $10 lunch.

I loved the chicken and mashed potatoes and the cheese tortellini with carbanara sauce was rich and tasty.  The cob salad was perfectly presented and yummy but the desserts stole the show.  I tried the orange dream cake and the bit of the chocolate cake with raspberry. 

We were on the hunt to stay close to the culinary school but to find something free and interesting.  Edith found us the Museum of Connecticut History in the State library.   The walls of the main hall are lined with paintings of every CT “governor” from 1600’s to today.  There are great exhibits about the Charter Oak Tree, Martin Luther Kings’ visit to CT, coins and things invented right here in our great state, (the Frisbee and the Electrolux vacuum for starters) as well as an impressive display of Colt Firearms.  You can spend about an hour here and also can arrange for guided tours.

The CT state library also houses our State Supreme Court where you can watch cases in action and also trek down to the basement for a spin through your CT genealogy.