Yale's Hometown Makes Funky Fall Getaway

Oct. 3, 2003 -- Aah, autumn in New England.

Each year, the region's flinty hills are crowded with visitorsin search of crisp apples, spicy cider doughnuts, fields ofpick-your-own pumpkins and colorful foliage, set off against whitechurch steeples and brilliant blue skies.

As a native New Englander myself, I love the season and sop upas much of it as I can.

But there's only so much cider-sipping and leaf-peeping you cando before you start to wonder what else the New England autumnscene might offer.

How about tangy Malaysian food with vintage French wines,cutting-edge theater or dance-til-you-drop clubs? Or colonial andblack American history? Rare art from the British Isles? Thepurported birthplaces of pizza and hamburgers?

Art and Cultural Capital of Connecticut

You get all that, and the colored leaves, too, in New Haven —located about two hours from Boston, New York and the quaint townsof southern Vermont.

New Haven bills itself as Connecticut's arts and culturecapital. These bragging rights are impossible to verify, but thecity does boast three nationally renowned theaters, five museums, asymphony orchestra and other musical groups, galleries, festivals,monumental architecture and dozens of restaurants with globalflavors.

For the traveler to Olde New England, the city also has loads ofhistory. Its roots date from 1638, when a group of Puritans sailedinto the harbor in search of land to build a Christian utopia.

They built their city in a grid of nine squares, with a centralsquare called the green. New Haven's design is the ancestor ofplanned cities from New York to Paris.

The green is still an open, public space today and it has threechurches in a row, two with the postcard-requisite white steeple.Center Church on the Green was built on part of the colonialburying ground and has a not-to-miss crypt.

Colonial New Haven hosted three famous fugitives — the threejudges who signed the death warrant for King Charles I of England.Two of them were hidden in a cave at the top of West Rock, animposing geological formation that houses a state park.

Visitors can still see the cave and enjoy a glorious vantagepoint for fall foliage. A road through the park is open Thursdaysthrough Sundays through leaf season; hikers can go in anytime.

Check Out Yale's Secret Society

For the blue-blooded and academically gifted, New Haven issynonymous with Yale University.

The Yale campus hosts weekly tours, and many of its attractions,from student music recitals to lectures by world and businessleaders, are open to the public.

For a self-guided tour, start at the oldest building,Connecticut Hall (1750) and see the statue of Nathan Hale, a Yalealumnus and hero of the American Revolution.

Much of the campus was designed by James Gamble Rogers and builtin the 1920s and 1930s.

Also, see the secret society headquarters of Skull and Bones(1856, since expanded) on High Street, where President Bush andother Yale alums cavorted.

A textbook example of Egyptian Revival is the gate to the GroveStreet Cemetery (1845) by Henry Austin, with a chilling message forvisitors: "The dead shall be raised."

Another campus attraction is Hillhouse Avenue, which CharlesDickens once called "the most beautiful street in America."

At the time, the street showcased private mansions in GreekRevival, Italian villa, Beaux Arts and Victorian styles. Today,most are Yale offices and classrooms, carefully preserved,including No. 37, where President Bush lived as an infant while hisfather was a student at Yale.

Modern masters also built on campus. The Beinecke Rare Book andManuscript Library (1961) by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill hasmarble panels instead of windows that filter the light to protectrare tomes, including a Gutenberg Bible.

Also, see the Art and Architecture Building (1961), designed byPaul Rudolph, notable for its asymmetrical design involving towersand slabs of striated concrete, and Ingalls Rink (1957), by EeroSaarinen, known as the "Yale Whale" for its wavy roof.

For architectural gems off the Yale campus, check out the U.S.District Court (1913) on Church Street, designed by James GambleRogers (the second-floor courtroom is a gilt-and-plaster fantasywith the golden word "JUSTICE" behind the bench). Next door isthe High Victorian elegance of city hall (1861) by Henry Austin.

Also, see the former Armstrong Rubber Co. building (1968) onSargent Drive by Bauhaus master Marcel Breuer, an L-shapedstructure in which the top block of the building is suspended oncolumns above the lower section; the Brutalism masterpiece (oreyesore, some say) Veterans Memorial Coliseum (1969) on GeorgeStreet by Kevin Roche, and Oriental Gardens (1970) on WintergreenAvenue by Paul Rudolph, a study in stylish affordable housing.

If this architecture tour makes you hungry, New Havenrestaurants offer an array of tastes from around the globe. Notableethnic restaurants are Bentara on Orange Street, a Malaysian spotwith a huge wine list; Roomba, a Caribbean place, specializing inseafood, on Sherman's Alley off Chapel Street; Caffe Adulis onCollege Street, featuring Ethiopian and Eritrean dishes; andIstanbul Cafe on Crown Street, the place to get shish kebabs andother Turkish delights.

Birthplace of Pizza, Hamburgers?

New Haven eateries also claim to be the birthplaces of twoAmerican favorites: pizza and hamburgers. I won't get into thevalidity of these stories here, but for a turn-of-the-20th-centuryhamburger experience, go to Louis' Lunch on Crown Street, where theburgers are broiled vertically in gas-burning ovens and ketchup isforbidden.

The burgers make an excellent base in the stomach for someserious late-night partying along College Street. Bar makes its ownbeer, and Neat Lounge is a sophisticated spot. The Sci-fi Cafefeatures life-size models from science fiction movies and seriouslyweird drinks, and the street pulses with dance music from variousnightclubs that seem to constantly change names and themes.

The pizza places are on Wooster Street. New Haven natives debateendlessly about whether Sally's or Pepe's makes the better pie, butat either place, prepare to wait in line for a table. The pizzashave wafer-thin crusts and do not come with mozzarella cheeseunless you order it. Native purists prefer the pies with asprinkling of parmesan, or the white clam pizza, which has clams,garlic, parmesan and no sauce.

If you want mozzarella and want to sound like a native, fake thelocal slang. It's not "pizza," its "a-PEETS'," and don't say"mozzarella," say "mutz."

Whether you eat at Sally's or Pepe's, walk up Wooster Street toLibby's, an Italian coffee shop and bakery, where the homemadeItalian ice comes in dozens of flavors. (And, at $1 for a heapingsqueeze cup of Italian ice, Libby's offers the best food deal inthe city.)

For a fancy night out, try Union League Cafe on Chapel Street.Its impeccable service and classic French food is popular with thetheater crowd.

Did someone say something about theater?

The Shubert Theater is known as the "Birthplace of the Nation'sGreatest Hits," for hosting pre-Broadway previews of SouthPacific, The Sound of Music and other musicals.

The Long Wharf Theatre also is known for hosting premieres.Recent winners include the Pulitzer-winning "Wit."

And, the Yale Repertory Theatre has a history of providingcutting-edge drama along with tomorrow's stars. Meryl Streep, HenryWinkler and Jodie Foster are among the Yale drama alums.

New Haven's museums also draw crowds. The Yale Center forBritish Art houses the largest collection of art from Britain andits colonies outside the United Kingdom.

Across the street, the Yale University Art Gallery has worksfrom ancient artisans and modern masters.

The Peabody Museum of Natural History, also a Yale museum,houses some of the first dinosaur fossils to be excavated andclassified, as well as exhibits on American Indian culture, birdsof New England and other natural history attractions.

The Knights of Columbus Museum has exhibits on the founding ofthe fraternal organization and the history of Roman Catholicism inthe United States.

The New Haven Colony Historical Society houses a museum aboutNew Haven history, including a milestone in the history of blackAmericans — the Amistad incident.

Memorials and Football Games

In 1839, a shipful of Africans, bound for the Caribbean asslaves aboard the Spanish ship Amistad, rebelled and took controlof the ship. It landed in Connecticut, and a trial was held in NewHaven to see whether the Africans were the property of theSpaniards, or whether they were illegally taken from Africa andfree to return.

The New Haven judge sided with the Africans, and the U.S.Supreme Court agreed. The case was an important precursor to theabolition of American slavery.

A memorial to the Africans stands in front of city hall, and areplica of the Amistad has its home port in the city's Long Wharfsection, although the ship is currently away from home, touring thecountry.

For outdoor fun, New Haven's social event of the biennium occursNov. 22, when Yale plays Harvard in their annual Ivy Leaguefootball game.

Besides the tailgate parties and rousing choruses of "BoolaBoola," the Yale Bowl is a great place to see the last of theautumn leaves fall.