CT Weekend Events: MLK Day Activities & A Whimsical Dance Performance

CONNECTICUT — From indulgent pairing events and quirky bar crawls to family-friendly MLK Day activities and enchanting performances, Connecticut offers a packed weekend of diverse experiences for all.

Of late, vineyards and breweries have become all about the pairing parties, and we think that's a super idea. The vintners at Sunset Meadow Vineyards are throwing a "Wine, Cheese & Honey Pairing" event at their farmstead in Goshen on Friday, Jan. 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets are available online here.

If your tastes trend less to the vine and more to the keg, Two Roads Brewing Company will be pushing all your barley buttons on Friday at their brewery in Stratford. The "Sip & Savor: Ultimate Chocolate & Beer Pairing" pours from 6 to 7:30 p.m., and will be marrying delectables from Fascia’s Chocolates out of Waterbury with some of Two Roads' finest brews. It promises to make for "a unique exploration into the perfect harmony between craft beer and artisanal chocolate." Tickets are available online here.

If western civilization isn't collapsing fast enough for you, join your tribe in Stamford on Saturday for "The Official Onesie Bar Crawl." Think a less-coy "SantaCon," with zero charitable pretenses. The debauchery will disembark from Towne Parlor Pizza & Pints at 4 p.m. Register online here, and gain access to the Stamford Official Onesie Pub Crawl Map. Promoters are calling it "Stamford's coziest night of the year." We're not sure what to think.

Jan. 20 is the third Monday in January, put aside to honor Dr. Martin Luther King. All good, unless you have school-age kids. Propping them up in front of the PS5 will only get you so far. To these families, may we suggest baking a few apple pies? Lyman Orchards in Middlefield will be holding apple pie making workshops for kids, families and adults on Jan. 20. The 30-minute classes will be held inside the Apple Barrel bakery kitchen, beginning at 10 a.m., and all the participants will walk off with a 6-inch pie. Tickets are available online here.

Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury had a similar idea. The museum's "School’s Out: Capturing the Moment" program offers a full school-day art program. There's even free early drop-off and late pick-up included from 8 to 9:30 a.m., and 3:30 to 5 p.m. Tickets are available online here.

Or head further south to The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, where the curators have assembled a program targeting young ones, all about being good neighbors to their animal friends. Guests will be able to participate in hands-on activities that help animals and educate themselves about how wild animals spend their winter season. Admission is free for those under 18.

Admission from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to the Sacred Heart University Discovery Science Center & Planetarium in Bridgeport will also be free on MLK Day. Their newest exhibit, "How People Make Things," starts Monday and will be right up your student's alley.

Has any story, outside The Bible, been produced, presented, explained, explored, twisted or reinvented more than "Alice in Wonderland?" Probably not, which doesn't mean we're not anxious to catch "MOMIX Presents Alice" at the Oneglia Auditorium in Torrington on Sunday Jan. 19. The dance troupe combines "illusion, acrobatics, magic, and whimsy" for "an experience beyond imagination," according to Le Monde du Cine in Paris. Oregon Arts Watch said the show managed to be what so many dance shows often cannot: a whole lot of fun." Tickets are available online here.