If you are going from Boston to New York City you have no choice but to pass through Connecticut. We did, and found two very different stops along the way.
At the edge of the town of Middletown we found the Yugo Ranch!
Just 15 miles, but about 2 light years culturally, is Yale University in New Haven.
It seemed much of the university was under construction but we eventually found what we were looking for – Beinecke Library, one of the most amazing libraries in the world.
I am fortunate enough to know someone who has spent considerable time at MIT, and she was kind enough to show us around to sights on campus that most visitors don’t realize is there to be seen.
We started out with some familiar sites; the Kresge Auditorium. Designed and completed in the mid 1950s by Eero Saarinen, it is an excellent example of mid-century modern.
Next door is a chapel, also designed by Saarinen.
The Rogers Building serves as the center of MIT. It’s atrium is beautiful.
The windows facing Mass Avenue are equally impressive.
The Frances Russell Hart Nautical Museum is tucked away on an upper floor of the main building. It contains a number of intricately designed model ships.
As you wander the halls you come across all sort of great sights.
While this might look like any other hallway at MIT, it is very special. It is known as the Infinite Hall, running the length of the main building and leading to a second building.
You have heard of Stonehenge, perhaps Manhattanhenge (a posting is available), and even Carhenge.
This otherwise nondescript hallway twice a year is the location of MITHenge – the sun shines straight through the entire distance, lighting up the floor. I need to come back in November!
The outdoor space is enhanced with sculptures. MIT is a very cool place, and thanks to an insider we saw some cool sights (all completely open to anyone, you just need to know where to look).
The St Charles Street Streetcar line is the oldest continuously used street railway route in the world. Streetcars first started rolling down this way almost 200 years ago, in 1833.
The current cars were built by a company called Perley Thomas in the 1920s.
As the route leaves downtown it passes through the Garden District neighborhood, with a number of small shops and cafes.
Some of the homes have been converted into B & Bs.
Further out you pass educational facilities such as Tulane and Loyola.
The Audubon Zoo is along this route as well.
The homes of the Garden District are a highlight. Many are quite large, and all are beautifully maintained.
As you make your way past Riverbend and onto Carrollton Avenue the homes become somewhat smaller, but still nicely maintained.
It takes about an hour and a half to ride the entire distance out and back on the St Charles Streetcar, but it is well worth the time, and the very low fares.
A couple of hours on a Sunday morning provided the perfect time to wander the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts and check out the buildings.
The Stratton Student Center faces Mass Avenue – featuring the 2010 piece ‘Alchemist’.
Nearby is the Kresge Auditorium. Designed by Eero Saarinen it was completed in 1955.
Across Mass Ave is the Rogers Building. While much of MIT was built in around 1915-1916, this building was built in the 1930s to provide an interface to Mass Ave, but built in the same style – with an impressive dome.
The Maclaurin Building’s dome is equally impressive – highlighting a reading room on an upper floor.
The Green Building. Cambridge has laws restricting height, so to get around this MIT built the first floor 30′ high. Unfortunately because of this design the winds around this building hamper the ability to open and close the doors some days.
The artwork in front ‘The Big Sail’ was rumored to be an effort to deflect the wind – but MIT says this is an urban legend.
Finally the Ray and Maria Stata Center. As anyone who has studied any architecture can immediately tell it is a Frank Gehry design.
RDZ Photography 