by boat, by car, by foot � get to >> >> New Haven, CT

By Karen Beaudoin

2007-06-26

Drive time
3 hrs., 56 min/239 miles

Hit I-95 South and head through NH and into MA. Get on I-495 via Exit 59 toward Worcester. Next look for I-90 (Mass. Pike) and head toward Springfield via Exit 22. Take Exit 9 to catch I-84 toward Sturbridge/Hartford, which will take you into CT. Merge onto CT-15 South via Exit 57 (left). Next take I-91 South via Exit 86 toward New Haven. You’ll want the Trumbull St. exit (3). Make a slight right, then a left to Temple and right to Wall. Look for College St. on the left.

Touring tips

• The Grove Street Cemetery is a must-see for history buffs and contains the remains of Lyman Beecher, Charles Goodyear, Noah Webster and Eli Whitney.

• The Pilot Pen Tennis Championships, part of the U.S. Open Series, will be held Aug. 17-25 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale. Call 888-997-4568 or go to www.pilotpentennis.com.

• New Haven claims to be the pillar of pizza and Pepe’s on Wooster Street is the best place to get it. Don’t expect a menu, just “tomato pies made to order.” If you want to go top of the line, try the clam pizza.

You may be just a quick jaunt from the shores of Long Island Sound when you arrive in New Haven, but don’t bother bringing your bathing suit — there’s so much to do you won’t even think about the surf.

Examples #1, 2 and 3 are East Rock Park, West Rock Ridge State Park and Lighthouse Point Park.
East Rock is named for a rock that’s 365 feet high and 1.5 miles long. From its summit you can take in panoramic views of the Sound and the city. West Rock stretches over 1,500 acres, enough to keep hikers and nature lovers busy for days. Lighthouse Point, located of Exit 50NB off I-95, features a lighthouse built in 1840. There’s also a carousel on the grounds, open 10-5:30 at a cost of .50 cents a ride.

And there’s Yale.

Stationed in New Haven since 1716, the university’s well-kept buildings are covered in stately ivy providing a breathtaking walk around campus. The Payne Whitney Gymnasium is one of the largest buildings in the world exclusively used for sports. It and all the other Yalie stomping grounds can be seen on a free tour, Monday-Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 1:30.

Also on campus is an art gallery (free admission), displaying works by Picasso, van Gogh, Monet, Matisse and Homer, and the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments ($2), where concerts are periodically given. Just north of the music is the Peabody Museum of Natural History, where more than 11 million artifacts live ($7).

Two hotels that will put you in the center of the action are the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale (203-772-6664), with rates from $169-449, and the Courtyard by Marriott at Yale (203-777-6221, $109-179). Dining options come in quite a variety, from Sweet Relief Cafe where entrees start at $5 to Roomba (Latin & Caribbean fare) which has dishes starting at $22. New Haven is said to be the birthplace of the hamburger and at Louis’ Lunch on Crown Street the burgers are broiled vertically in gas-burning ovens and ketchup is a no-no.

Legend has it the corkscrew and the lollipop were also invented in New Haven so bring the kids and placate them with a green apple sucker while you use one of those famous corkscrew on a relaxing bottle of wine.