Sports, Thrills, Cruises, Trains, Fairs, Parades, & Events

Sports, Theme & Adventure Parks, Carousels, Cruises, Trains, Trolleys, Fairs, Parades, Festivals, & Events

This page is another catch-all; a listing of a bunch stuff around Connecticut that doesn’t really fit anywhere else. It’s the rare list that I don’t realistically think I’ll actually complete for differing reasons. We’ll just have to see. There’s a little bit of crossover here with my museums and superlatives lists, but not too much.

Lots of stuff on this page is representative of similarly themed events or tours or whatever. That is, there may be multiple duckpin lanes and river cruises, but there’s no need to list and experience them all.

As always, please let me know what’s missing.

Jump to Sports and Sporting Events
Jump to Theme Parks, Adventure Parks, and Carousels
Jump to Cruises, Trains, and Trolleys
Jump to Unique Parades, Fairs, Festivals, Events, & Resorts

Sports & Sporting Events

Participatory Sports

Jai Alai, Berlin
Fencing, Bloomfield
Skiing/Snowboarding at Mohawk Mountain, Cornwall
Skydiving, Enfield
Axe Throwing, Hartford
Subterranean Kayaking, Hartford
Monza World Class Karting at Foxwoods, Ledyard
Skiing/Snowboarding at Powder Ridge, Middlefield
Rollerskating, Middletown (Closed)
SuperCharged Karting, Montville
Skiing/Snowboarding at Ski Sundown, New Hartford
Irish Road Bowling, New Milford
Ice Skating, Shelton
Curling, Norfolk
Hot Air Ballooning, Plainville
Race Car Driving, Salisbury
Skiing/Snowboarding at Mount Southington, Southington
Skiing/Snowboarding at Mount Lakeridge, Torrington (private)
Lawn Bowling, West Hartford
Off Track Betting, Windsor Locks
Skiing/Snowboarding at Woodbury Ski Area, Woodbury (Closed)

Non-Participatory Sports

Not too interested in the dozens of defunct franchises. Sorry.

My 2006 World Cup Tour, Hartford County

Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Bridgeport (AHL)
Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, Cromwell (PGA)
Danbury Hat Tricks, Danbury (FHL)
Connecticut Whale, Danbury (NWHL)
Morefar Back O’Beyond Golf Course, Danbury
Story of the Danbury Trashers, Danbury
Whale Bowl, East Hartford (AHL)
Toronto FC, East Hartford (MLS)
The Hartford Athletic, Hartford (USL)
Hartford Yard Goats, Hartford (AA)
Friends of Vintage Baseball game, Hartford
Hartford Wolf Pack, Hartford (AHL)
Water-skiing, Litchfield
Connecticut Sun, Montville (WNBA)
New England Black Wolves, Montville (NLL)
New Britain Bees, New Britain (Atlantic League)
Norwich Sea Unicorns, Norwich (NYPL-A)
Lime Rock Park, Salisbury
Ski Jumping, Salisbury
Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford
The Connecticut Brakettes, Stratford
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Thompson
Foothills BMX, Torrington
New London-Waterford Speedbowl, Waterford

Champion/#1 Ranked Teams:

#1 Trinity Squash, Hartford
#1 UConn Men’s Soccer vs. Providence, Mansfield
#1 Yale Hockey vs. Union, New Haven
Welcoming home the champion Huskies, Windsor Locks

CT Collegiate Football Tour

Western Connecticut Colonials, Danbury
UConn Huskies, East Hartford
Sacred Heart Pioneers, Fairfield
Trinity Bantams, Hartford
Wesleyan Cardinals, Middletown
Central Connecticut Blue Devils, New Britain
Southern Connecticut Owls, New Haven
Yale Bulldogs, New Haven
US Coast Guard Academy Bears, New London
Post University Eagles, Waterbury
University of New Haven Chargers, West Haven

Other College Sporting Events

Yale-Harvard Regatta, New London
The Game, New Haven
Brush with Fame: Jim Calhoun, Mansfield

Theme Parks, Adventure Parks, and Carousels

Six Flags New England, Agawam, MA (close enough)
The Adventure Park at The Discovery Museum, Bridgeport
Lake Compounce, Bristol
Fields Of Fire Adventure Park, Groton
HighFlyer Zipline, Ledyard
The Adventure Park at Storrs, Mansfield
Quassy Amusement & Waterpark, Middlebury
Empower Leadership Sports & Adventure Center, Middletown
It Adventure Indoor Ropes Course, New Haven
Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Park, Portland
Nomads Outdoor Adventure, South Windsor

Carousels

At some point, probably around 2008 or so, I came across a brochure for the Connecticut Carousel Trail. No idea if that’s still a thing, but at least it is here on CTMQ.

Beardsley Zoo Carousel, Bridgeport
Lake Compounce Carousel, Bristol
Carousel Museum of New England, Bristol
Danbury Fair Mall Carousel, Danbury
Bushnell Park Carousel, Hartford
Magical Fish Tale Carousel, Madison
The Shoppes at Buckland Hills, Manchester
Quassy Amusement Park, Middlebury
Pilgrim Furniture City Carousel, Milford
Lighthouse Point Park, New Haven
Ocean Beach Park, New London
Carousel at Old Lyme, Old Lyme
Pilgrim Furniture City Carousel, Southington
Sonny’s Place Carousel, Somers
Mill River Park Carousel, Stamford
Brass Mill Center Island Carousel, Waterbury (Gone)

Cruises, Trains, & Trolleys

Cruises

Thimble Islands Cruise, Branford
RiverQuest Winter Wildlife & Bald Eagle Cruise, Essex
Argia Mystic Cruise, Groton
Project Oceanography Cruise, Groton
Lady Katherine Cruises, Hartford/Middletown

Train & Trolley Rides

Danbury Railway Museum, Danbury
The Shore Line Trolley Museum, East Haven
Connecticut Trolley Museum, East Windsor
Essex Steam Train, Essex & Deep River
Railroad Museum of New England, Thomaston/Waterbury
Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum, Windham

Worthwhile Model Train Layouts

Note: several of these are seasonal and/or rarely shown.

Canton Historical Museum, Canton
Danbury Railway Museum, Danbury
Connecticut River Museum, Essex
Housatonic Model Railway Club Layout, Fairfield
A Cardinal House, Glastonbury
Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop, Hamden
Time Machine Toy & Hobby, Manchester
Wickham Park Train, Manchester
Amato’s Toy and Hobby, Middletown
Pizza Works, Old Saybrook
CT Cellar Savers Fire Museum, Portland (Closed)
Boothe Memorial Railway Museum, Stratford
Torrington Armory Annual Display, Torrington
Masonicare Train layout, Wallingford
Peters Railroad Museum, Wallingford
Westport History Museum, Westport

Unique Parades, Fairs, Festivals, Events, & Resorts

I’m certainly not interested in every parade, fair, festival, event, and resort, just the unique ones. In fact, I’ve deleted a bunch of town fair write-ups because they were boring.

Berlin Fair, Berlin
Christmas Town, Bethlehem
Connecticut Garlic Festival, Bethlehem
Large Scale Fly-In at the Wintonbury Flying Club, Bloomfield
Brooklyn Fair, Brooklyn
Holy Apostle’s College Fall Festival, Cromwell
Deep River Ancient Muster, Deep River
Durham Fair, Durham
Stop-Log Exercises, East Hartford
Essex Shad Bake, Essex
Loser Day Parade, Essex
Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, Greenwich
Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival, Hartford
Governor’s Mansion Tour, Hartford
Three Kings Day Parade, Hartford
Club Getaway, Kent
Schemitzun, The Festival of Green Corn and Dance, Ledyard
AntU Day, Mansfield
St. George’s Gingerbread Village & Bazaar, Middlebury
Wigwam Festival, Montville
Little Poland Festival, New Britain
The New London Basque Festival, New London
Annual Burning of Benedict Arnold, New London
North Branford Corn & Potato Festival, North Branford
Orange Country Fair, Orange
VJ-Day Parade, Plainfield
Plainville Hot Air Ballon Festival, Plainville
Fire & Ice Festival, Putnam
Jumpfest, Salisbury
Highland Festival, Scotland
Wood Memorial Gingerbread House Festival, South Windsor
American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, Stamford
Christmas Village, Torrington
Albanian Festival, Waterbury
Boombox Parade, Windham
Saponare Christmas House, Windsor
Solair Family Nudist Resort, Woodstock