Take A Daycation

It's your day off. Or you've got a personal day to spare. Take it. Because there is nothing on earth more precious than a summer day.

A Taste Of Close-Quarter Undersea Living at USS Nautilus Museum - Hartford Courant This being the 50th anniversary of the USS Nautilus' historic crossing of the North Pole, it seemed like a good time to get down to Groton and tour the world's first nuclear-powered submarine.

Islands Of The Sound - Hartford Courant When we were thinking about a single-day getaway, we wanted to go some place beachy, but not honky-tonk. That's how we came to the Stony Creek section of Branford with its harbor view full of the storied Thimble Islands, and how we happened to board the Sea Mist - one of three ferry services that combine history with a little voyeurism, a peek into the lives of the wealthy, if generally not famous.

Yale Campus Just Part Of New Haven's Vibrant Cultural Life - Hartford Courant If you're still longing for a little insider's access to those hallowed halls, a free tour of the Yale campus is a good place to start your New Haven daycation. Led by students bearing keycards, an hourlong tour from the Yale Visitors Center is a nice campus-history primer.

Riding The Rail Trail - Hartford Courant Rail trails have become enormously popular in recent years, with good reason: What's better than a place to ride a bicycle, walk, run or roller-blade without having to deal with motorized traffic?

Boston's Tinseltown Walk - Hartford Courant Onward we go this Friday afternoon, in search of the next bit of Hollywood history tucked away in the nooks and crannies of Boston's cobblestoned streets and storied buildings. It's a lively 90-minute walking tour that, for $20, tests our knowledge of cinematic trivia while showcasing the city's past and burgeoning new film scene.

A Ride To Rap's Roots - Hartford Courant Depending on which watershed moment you're using as a marker, hip-hop is about 30 years old - plenty of time to develop a rich history. And considering it started in New York, a bus tour of the landmarks of rap seemed like a great idea.

Shelter Island Offers Scenery, Sandy Beaches, Good Food - Hartford Courant Island. The very word conjures a place apart from the rest of the world. Bermuda, or perhaps the Caribbean; boats and sunshine and the sound of the ocean; lemonade on shady porches. Islands are usually so lovely, in part, because they are hard to get to.

Daycation: There's An Unsung But Splendid State Beach In Milford — And It's Free - Hartford Courant Now more than ever, we need a break — an occasional respite from our everyday lives. Yes, a "daycation" — a day spent away from the office or job site, and away from chores, just to relax and play. Once again this summer, we are taking one day a week to suggest a nearby escape. Enjoy!

Exhibit Examines Costumes Of The Courageous - Hartford Courant With the economy faltering, swaths of the Midwest underwater and a few climate-change scientists predicting the end of the world as we know it before 2100, now seems like a good time for a muscle man in spandex and a cape to swoop in and rescue the planet.

Where Past Is Present - Hartford Courant At Old Sturbridge Village, it's always the early 1800s, but with a commentary track.

The Sea's Acrobat Act - Hartford Courant We have a whole day off, we've scraped together gas money, and so we are daycationing in Plymouth, Mass., a historic town that sprang up when the Pilgrims set foot on that famous rock, which is now, by dent of nearly four centuries of souvenir hunters, far smaller than it was back then.

Carnival Of The Animals - Hartford Courant Simon and Garfunkel insisted it was all happening at the zoo.

Taste Of North Fork - Hartford Courant Long Island's South Fork is the Hamptons, Sag Harbor, pushy people up from the city, the scene and being seen, big money, big houses, big crowds, big traffic, big hassles.

Voyage To The Bottom Of The Cove - Hartford Courant My wife, Bette, and I had come to Fort Wetherill State Park in Jamestown, R.I., to sharpen our diving skills. We hadn't dived since we got our PADI certification nearly two years ago, and we wanted to prepare for later this summer, when we cruise to Roatan, Honduras, one of the best dive sites in the world.

Ethnic Bites Of Big Apple - Hartford Courant At the rumbling corner of Delancey and Essex streets in Manhattan's fabled Lower East Side, a sandal-footed, backpack-wearing Josh Wolff stands before his two dozen charges and promises we're about to get a real taste of the neighborhood.

A Playground Of Bones - Hartford Courant On our recent visit to the Dinosaur Place, my son bought a geode - an unassuming little rock that promised to reveal a crystal when we cracked it open with a hammer.

A Fabled Journey - Hartford Courant I was standing on tiptoes, stretching over an extra-tall ticket counter to see my receipt printing at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, when a security guard sidled up next to me. I signed my receipt, lowered my heels and turned to smile at him.

A Soul-Refreshing Day At The Beach - Hartford Courant There are folks who go to the ocean to cook their skin, read books they wouldn't touch at home and whiff the buttery scent of tanning oil.

Battle-Ax Brigade in Fall River, Mass. - Hartford Courant From gray ship decks to floral carpets in a blood-stained house, Fall River holds treasure for those who love stories of war and unsolved murder.

Mystical Allure - Hartford Courant What better activity on a warm sunny spring day than hanging out, people-watching on a river bank while you absorb a few rays, lick an ice cream cone and pretend to read a magazine.

Low-Slung Karts Give Everyday Drivers A NASCAR Feeling - Hartford Courant Glen Ransden tells me people come to a kart track to drive all out. They want to open the throttle.

Old Memories & Free Spirits - Hartford Courant It wasn't the town I remembered. That didn't mean I didn't like it. It was just different. That's all. That's the emotional tug I felt when I spent a day in Northampton, Mass.

Vintage Attractions In Providence - Hartford Courant Almost every college town has a street where everything happens. Thayer Street, on the edge of Brown University's campus, is it for Providence.

Straight Escape - Hartford Courant Get your bike. If you have kids, get their bikes, too. In East Hampton, Colchester and Hebron is a section of an old rail line reincarnated as a segment the Air Line State Park Trail, a bicyclist's dream.