Submarines, Smooth Jazz & Old-Time Locomotives: This Weekend In CT

CONNECTICUT — It's the first weekend of the final month of summer, and Connecticut is doing its best to beat back autumn with a full schedule of history, music and fuzzy animals.

Two days full of educational activities and free train rides for the family are planned for Aug. 3-4 at The Danbury Railway Museum. The event will run each day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with train rides hourly at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., and 2 p.m.

The museum will be operating the Railyard Local, a short trip in a vintage 1925 Reading Company passenger coach being pulled by a locomotive built in 1948.

After returning to the Danbury Union Station, guests may tour an award-winning restoration of the New York Central’s famous 20th Century Limited observation car, "Tonawanda Valley," built in 1928.

Inside Union Station, you’ll find railroad lanterns, timetables, tools, historic photographs, uniforms, telegrams, china and silverware, and, happily, model trains.

Outside and across the tracks is the historic Danbury Railyard. The 15-track, 10-acre historic yard is home to over 75 pieces of railroad rolling stock and locomotives.

While you're visiting, be sure to say hello to Uncle Sam, the world's largest statue of the star-spangled icon.

If maritime history is more your cup of grog, chart a course for New London. On Aug. 3, Thames River Heritage Park will present "Submarines, Battlefields and Betrayers," its survey of local military history on the Thames Boat Tour.

…and there's plenty: the area is the birthplace of the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine, home to two embattled forts, and the center of the state's shipbuilding industry. Set sail from Waterfront Park at 1:05 p.m. for the 75-minute tour, and get your tickets online here.

Or stay dry and cozy while you "Experience the Bounty of the County" at the Goshen Open Farm Tour 2024, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Twelve farms will be opening their barns to visitors for free tours meant to showcase the variety of agriculture going down in Goshen. Expect everything from blueberries, grapes, and honey, to goats, pigs, and Texas Longhorns.

The rain-or-shine event is presented by The Friends of Goshen Agriculture to benefit The Goshen Agriculture Council. The tour is free, the map is online here.

You'll likely be rubbing elbows with a different clientele at the SoNo Arts Festival: Juried Fine Arts & Crafts show in Norwalk, Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The art from nationally recognized fine artists, along with music, food and kids' activities, will be sprawled along Downtown South Norwalk rain or shine.

The talent will be top tier this year at the 5th Brass City Jazz Fest on Saturday, Aug. 3 at Library Park in downtown Waterbury. Billboard #1 and 2023 Smooth Jazz Artist of the Year, saxophonist Vincent Ingala, and flutist Ragan Whiteside, a Billboard #1 and Best Contemporary Jazz Artist Award Winner, are both on the program. The free show begins at 2 p.m., and is scheduled to run to 10 p.m.

The elevation will be slightly higher, the music a bit more down-home, and the vibe closer to an afternoon picnic in the park on August 3–4 at Music on the Mountain in New Milford. The weekend-long music celebration is set against the majestic Candlelight Farms and features both local and Nashville-based artists. Tickets are available online here.