Nothing turns a woman into a little girl quite like a ride on a carousel horse and the Nutmeg State is rich in them. Connecticut boasts at least a dozen locations offering old-fashioned carousels, and at least five of them have the real mccoys, genuine antique wooden carousels. Now, antique by American standards is relative, since we are a nation only 233 years old; however, carousels date back to 500 A.D. in the Byzantine Empire and the word carousel itself comes from the Italian garosello. Currently, there are less than 200 wooden carousels operating throughout the entire United States and while Binghamton, New York calls itself the Carousel Capitol of the World, I think Connecticut offers a good challenge.
In Connecticut, most of today’s carousels dot the shore from up in Stonington right down to Bridgeport, with a smattering of others sprinkled toward the central portion of the tiny east coast state. Did you know that Connecticut is actually the 48th in size out of the 50 states? So that’s a lot of carousels in one small area.
Danbury Fair Mall Carousel photo: Daniel Case, 2007
1. Danbury and Bridgeport – host the two carousels closest to New York City. There’s a double-decker one inside the Danbury Fair Mall so you can keep even the little kids happy while Mom shops. There’s also the carousel at the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport – lions and tigers and horses, oh my! The animals on both of these are made of resin (except for the zoo’s real animals, of course!)
2. Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven and Bushnell Park in Hartford offer antique wooden carousels, as does Lake Compounce in Bristol.
Bushnell Carousel - where rides are still just $1.00
3. Ocean Beach Park in New London, near the Groton Naval base, has a rare aluminum carousel and a sandy beach and boardwalk for old-fashioned family fun; while the nearby Mystic Carousel & Fun Center also has one at exit 90 off I-95.
4. The state’s piece d’resistance has to be the Carousel Museum of New England in Bristol, where the young and old can see the old and new. The museum has a staff of trained artisans which take time and pleasure in restoring fantasy steeds from across the country.
Believe it or not, there’s even a privately owned antique wooden carousel in Connecticut but its location is a secret!
Posted by wanderlustwomen 
