We're up early an in front of the hotel awaiting the Francesca Car Service to Connecticut.......

In this shot you can see the entrance to the Joe G's Restaurant in the basement of the hotel.....

Once we arrive in Hartford, Connecticut, we hike through a neighborhood........

That includes the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe.............

And another elegant Victorian now used as a non-profit headquarters..................

And this lovely estate that we plan to tour..................

The gang's all here to tour the home of..........................

Mark Twain!!! (Samuel Clemons)..................................

In the museum portion, his desk is on display--wonder if he wrote THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN on it?...................

This is the machine that did Mark Twain in! He invested so much money in this publishing machine that he had to spend many years on lucrative world-wide speaking tours to pay his bills and avoid bankruptcy.........................

This is some of the family luggage from those wandering years..............................

Can you say "leggo".................

The great man beckons us to share his environs......................

The exterior of his adorable, eccentric home......................

Frannie awaits the tour.........................

This is a long awaited destination for me I have been very interested in this home since seeing Tom Burn's moving film on the life of Mark Twain..............................

Dwight's favorite is the grand porch. The exhibits displayed many happy photos of the Twain family enjoying this very spot.......................

This shot depicts the intricate patterns of the brick and the intricate patterns of the wood railing......................

Frannie stands between the house and the carriage house........................

We await our carriage......................................

"Yoohoo! We're ready to go in..................".....................................

The very Victorian entry way and grand staircase...............(The photos of the house are scanned from postcards as no cameras are allowed inside.)

The living room. The interior was decorated by Tiffany, and was done is spurts as the family finances allowed. Al lot of what appears to be intricate wood trim and elegant wallpaper is really painted designs...................

The elegant parlor........Miss Bianca was a bit under the weather after a night out with Keeks, and it was a head's-up decision by sister Francesca that excused Binks from the tour and spared the Twain's oriental carpet from being the site of a little spit-up.......................

This is a lovely conservatory--a MUST in a Victorian house............................

The exterior of the conservatory.................Oh, and Frannie!....................

Mark Twain's bed set up just as he ordered it. He and his wife purchased the expensive bed abroad and the entire family was most attached to the carved angels on the headboard. Twain demanded that this bed be made up with the pollows at the foot of the bed because he said that he paid so much for those angels he deserved for them to be the first things he saw every morning when he woke up!...........................................

The library.....................

The exterior of the home--those are the bedrooms on the second floor.......................

This third story veranda is off of Mark Twain's favorite room................................

And this is the still pretty pastoral view out the rear................................

Of Mark Twain's Billiard Room and writing office--this is where he entertained most of his literary friends.......................................................

This is another balcony off the same room......................

Dwight reunites with Miss Binks--she still looks a bit sickish.....................

But we love her more than anything and appreciate her continuing on with our planned activities despite not feeling her best.........................

On the way out of town, we stopped to see the Connecticut State Capitol...........................

Of special interest to the Building Superintendent of the New Mexico State Capitol!