1. Nathan Hale Inn
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (860) 427-7888
Address: 06268
Description: For UConn games, graduations, and parents’ weekends, the Nathan Hale Inn on the UConn campus is packed. But its incredible facilities are available pretty much all the other nights of the year, so why not take advantage of this great hotel and restaurant to explore eastern Connecticut? There are 100 guest rooms and 18 suites, along with access to a fitness room, passes to UConn athletic facilities, and an indoor heated pool and spa. There are 2 restaurants on-site, including the Blue Oak Cafe, and you are within walking distance of all the attractions in Storrs. This is a perfect base for exploring Hartford County or Windham County, as well as south into New London and Middlesex Counties.
2. University Of Connecticut
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Education
Telephone: (860) 486-2000
Description: More than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students attend the University of Connecticut, the state’s major public university. The main campus in Storrs began as the Storrs Agricultural School, becoming the university in 1939. A major research university, with 15 major schools awarding bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees, UConn is the only public university in New England to have its own law school and medical school as well as a school of social work and dental medicine. Besides Storrs, which is about 28 miles east of Hartford, there are regional campuses at Avery Point (near Groton), Stamford, Torrington, Waterbury, and West Hartford.
3. Altnaveigh Inn
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 429-4490
Address: 957 Storrs Rd. (Route 195)
Description: This 1734 clapboard house in Storrs was named Altnaveigh, Gaelic for “hill top,” in 1951. It has been an inn and restaurant for decades, and the new owners have set about restoring it. Inside you will find three dining rooms full of hungry UConn students and their indulgent parents. They serve mostly classic American dinner fare, with small deviations like the foie gras and wild mushroom tart appetizers. In the summer, dine on the patio. And if you eat too much, you can stay overnight in one of the two recently renovated rooms upstairs, which are air-conditioned with private baths. Considering the price of dinner downstairs, the rooms are a bargain ($–$$).
4. The Blue Oak Cafe
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 427-7888
Address: 855 Bolton Rd.
Description: The Blue Oak Cafe at the Nathan Hale Inn serves up classic New England cuisine. The tavern steak and the lobster and shrimp ravioli are highlights, and the Big Blue burger is a delicious patty topped with Gorgonzola and bacon. When staying at the inn, this is a fine end to the day, or a start to it the next morning (they serve a hearty breakfast). If the white tablecloths of the Blue Oak intimidate you, next door is the True Blue Tavern ($$), the inn’s more casual option, decorated in the spirit of UConn athletics. They serve burgers, nachos, and a few entrees, as well as a selection of beers to celebrate the game. For either of these places, you should make a reservation if you’re going to be there on the night of a game or other big UConn event.
5. Uconn Dairy Bar
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 486-2634
Address: 3636 Horsebarn Hill Rd. Ext.
Description: Off of Gurleyville Road at the UConn campus, the Dairy Bar makes the most popular ice cream in Tolland County. In business since 1954, ice cream is made from the ground up, with 24 flavors at any one time, all mixed by the students. The ice cream has 14 percent butterfat, which is probably why it is so popular. The most popular flavor (perhaps due to sentimentality rather than taste) is Jonathan Supreme, named for the school’s mascot, Jonathan the Husky Dog. It contains vanilla ice cream swirled with peanut butter and chocolate-covered peanuts. Other flavors include Husky Tracks, Cake Batter, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. The store itself is without frills, like a classroom with stools and napkins, but it brings in 200,000 customers a year. Unlike some ice-cream shops, this one is open year-round.
6. Sara’S Pockets
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 429-2900
Address: 125 N. Eagleville Rd.
Description: For vegetarians attending UConn, this is a welcome haven, offering a large number of options that are no doubt a welcome change from “salad” or whatever they are usually offered. However, meat eaters can also get nice kababs, and a hamburger pizza that is absolutely delicious. The mix of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food is classic, with spinach pies, falafel, tabouleh, grape leaves, and baba ghanouj. This is not a fancy restaurant, but rather a solid lunch or casual dinner place, popular with students and locals. The Lebanese owners, Sara and Samir Saad, focus on authentic ingredients and making fresh food each day. But what makes them famous in town is their friendly, accommodating attitude and welcoming nature.
7. Randy’S Wooster Street Pizza $$
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 487-9662
Address: 1232 Storrs Rd.
Description: It takes a lot of guts to name your pizza restaurant after the holy land of Wooster Street, home to both Sally’s and Frank Pepe’s nationally famous pizzas, especially if you’re located nowhere near New Haven. But Randy has done it, and done it well, creating a popular restaurant that caters to college kids looking for a second childhood, and those who are old enough to bring their own beer. That is also an indication that this is a BYOB restaurant, although their root beer is excellent. There’s another location at 1000 Tolland Tpke. in Manchester (860-649-1166) in case you’re in that area. They are both great places to take a family, with a Hot Wheels–themed, kid-friendly atmosphere. Is the pizza as good as the ones on the actual Wooster Street? You decide.
8. Uconn Co-Op
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (860) 486-3537
Address: 2075 Hillside Rd.
Description: Although this is technically a separate, not-for-profit business unaffiliated with the school, the UConn Co-op serves as the official bookstore. It is “owned” by 30,000 members, and the board of directors has a majority of students on it. Here you can find textbooks and course materials, of course, but more importantly a selection of literature, computers, software, art and engineering supplies, cards, gifts, health and beauty products, and Husky apparel and memorabilia. There is a cafe located inside with a view of the Gampel Pavilion, where you can get breakfast or lunch, including desserts from the UConn bakery. The co-op also operates the much smaller stores at the satellite campuses throughout Connecticut. This is one of the largest and most lauded college bookstores in the nation; stop in and you’ll see why.
9. Ballard Institute And Museum Of Puppetry
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (860) 486-0339
Address: 6 Bourne Place
Description: This fascinating small museum at UConn was created in 1987 to house the puppets of professor Frank Ballard, and has expanded since then. Today there are 2,500 puppets from around the world, as well as an impressive archive on the history of puppetry, the largest collection of its kind in the US. As well as putting on exhibitions at the museum and elsewhere, the Ballard Institute runs workshops in toy theater, mask making, and shadow puppetry. Both children and teachers love these instructional activities; if you like puppets, you will too. You can visit the museum itself on Fri, Sat, and Sun from noon to 5 p.m.
10. Connecticut State Museum Of Natural History And Connecticut Archaeology Center
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (860) 486-4460
Address: 2019 Hillside Rd.
Description: This partnership between the state and UConn is leading toward an even larger museum in the next decade. Begun as an exhibit of a small part of UConn’s extensive natural history collections, the new Archaeology Center has added to that, and in the future a larger space will no doubt be needed. Right now the growing Archaeology Center has a permanent exhibit on humans and our environment, and there are also exhibits in the fields of geology, ethnobotany, and climatology here. The museum is the largest repository (meaning not everything is on display) of Connecticut Native American, colonial, and industrial artifacts, spanning 11,000 years of history. Located at the center of UConn’s campus, the museum is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
11. William Benton Museum Of Art
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (860) 486-4520
Address: 245 Glenbrook Rd.
Description: UConn has a 5,500-piece permanent art collection, some of which (it changes often) is displayed in the Benton Museum. Artists include Childe Hassam, Mary Cassatt, Thomas Hart Benton, George Bellows, Georges Braque, Gustav Klimt, and Kiki Smith. The Benton also features changing exhibitions, bringing in everything from Dr. Seuss to Japanese woodcuts of the 19th century. Closed on Mon, this excellent university museum is two and a half floors and has recently been refurbished. The building itself is on the National Register of Historic Places, and there is a small cafe called the Beanery where you can grab a bite to eat. Don’t miss the sculpture gardens outside.
12. Jorgensen Center For The Performing Arts
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (860) 486-4226
Address: 2132 Hillside Rd.
Description: Since 1955 the Jorgensen Center has been the largest college-based presenting program in New England. With 2,630 seats and 25 to 30 different performances annually, this is an impressive venue. They host musicals, comedies, dance, opera, and plays, with appearances by professional touring acting companies, symphonies, and soloists. There is pop music, jazz, classical, country, world music, and electronica. Musicians from Itzhak Perlman to Duke Ellington have played here in the past, along with groups like the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Moscow Ballet. Jorgensen also houses the Jorgensen Gallery and Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, which is the home of the Connecticut Repertory Theater. More than 70,000 people watch events at this center every year. Will you be one of them?
13. University Of Connecticut Basketball At Gampel Pavilion
City: Storrs, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (860) 486-4712
Description: Sure, Connecticut doesn’t have an NBA team, but some say that watching the UConn Husky men’s and women’s basketball teams is even better. Plus, both are contenders for the national championship practically every year, and the huge domed Harry A. Gampel Pavilion is a hub of activity at the Storrs campus. It’s the largest on-campus basketball arena in the Northeast, with over 10,000 seats, which usually sell out to capacity. The teams also use the XL center in Hartford for “home” games and playoffs as well. Why? Those extra 6,000 seats fill up pretty quick, too. So get yours early, and cheer these national champion teams on to victory. UConn has a number of other fine teams, and you should check out the soccer teams at the Joseph J. Morrone Stadium (rated one of the best fields in the nation), the swimming and diving teams at the 39,000-square-foot Natatorium, the field hockey and track-and-field teams at the George J. Sherman Family-Sports Complex, and men’s and women’s ice hockey at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum.