Connecticut: LEGO Capital of the United States

Connecticut is the LEGO Capital of the United States. The LEGOLand Discovery Center opened in Kansas City in April. My family was invited to a sneak preview of LEGOLAND! My Uncle Jeff was even able to come with us. I had a lot of fun!

At LEGOLAND we toured the Mini Factory where we learned how LEGOs are made. First the colors are mixed, then they are melted and poured into molds where LEGOs are formed. I was given a souvenir LEGO to take home!

I also rode the Kingdom Quest ride to rescue a LEGO princess. Then, we watched a LEGO movie in 4D. 4D means you see it in 3D with special glasses, and then effects are added so you feel the movie too! I felt wind blowing when it was windy, rain coming down, bubbles, and more. This was my FAVORITE thing.

At LEGOLAND they created a miniature version of Kansas City entirely from LEGOs! It is called MiniLand and I thought it was really cool to see our Baseball Stadium, Sprint Center, Union Station, Plaza, and other local landmarks. The fountains in MiniLand even work! It was terrific!

We also built with LEGOs. We made race cars and raced them, we built buildings to see if they could withstand an earthquake, and we played with giant LEGOs too.

These are some photos of our day:

Visiting LEGOLAND Discovery Center with my Family

Riding Kingdom Quest with Dad & Uncle Jeff

Union Station made out of LEGOs

Kauffman Stadium made out of LEGOs

The Connecticut Menu

Louis' Lunch

1st American Hamburger

As I was learning about Connecticut, we read the story of Louis’ Lunch, a restaurant in New Haven, built in 1895 where they claim the American Hamburger was invented. The story according to http://www.louislunch.com/history.php:  “The beginnings of the hamburger sandwich as we all know it today was really quite simple. One day in 1900, a gentleman hurriedly walked into Louis’ Lunch and told proprietor Louis Lassen he was in a rush and wanted something he could eat on the run. In an instant, Louis placed his own blend of ground steak trimmings between two slices of toast and sent the gentleman on his way. And so, the most recognizable American sandwich was born.  Today, Louis’ great grandson, Jeff Lassen, carries on the tradition. The hamburgers have changed little from their historic prototype and remain the specialty of the house. Burgers are made fresh daily; hand-rolled from a proprietary blend of five meat varieties and cooked to order in the original cast-iron grills dating back to 1898. The Lassen family hold firm on their desire not to offer any condiments. The Louis Lunch experience is about the taste and simplicity of a fresh burger grilled to perfection. Cheese, tomato, and onion are the only acceptable garnish.”

Cooking Hamburgers

So, for dinner I made hamburgers, fries, and Boston Baked Beans (from neighboring Massachusetts, as I hadn’t cooked a Massachusetts food yet). My family loved the hamburgers and said they were terrific. To make them, I mixed ground beef, one beaten egg, minced onion, and a little seasoning. Then, I rolled lumps of meat into little balls and smashed them with my hand to make patties. My dad helped me fry the hamburgers on the stove.

Dinner and a Movie

After dinner, we watched, “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” starring Bing Crosby. The movie is based on the book by Mark Twain. Mark Twain grew up in Missouri, my home state, but then spent his adult life in Connecticut. The movie is a musical comedy about a man traveling back in time during the era of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and using modern inventions to impress them. Before long the king thinks he is a magician, but he is really just a modern mechanic.

Connecticut: Facts & Fun

Connecticut is super fun because many of my favorite candies and toys were invented or made there!

Facts about Connecticut:

• Capital: Hartford
• Nicknames: The Constitution State and The Nutmeg State
• Statehood: Jan. 9, 1788 (5th)
• Motto: He who transplanted still sustains
• Bird: Robin
• Highest Point: Mt. Frissell

Children’s Books by Connecticut authors that we read:

• Yankee Doodle Numbers by Elissa D. Groden is a Connecticut counting book filled with very interesting facts about Connecticut…. my favorite was the invention of the lollipop.
• Solomon Grundy by Susan Ramsay Hoguet this book is a poem about an early colonist.

Fun things I learned about Connecticut:

• Yankee Doodle is the state song.
• President George H.W. Bush was born in Connecticut.
• The lollipop was invented in Connecticut. According to the story, George Smith had the idea to put hard candy on a stick when he watched a horse named Lolly Pop race. He and Andrew Bradley founded the Bradley Smith Company in New Haven and made the candy. In 1913, they patented the name lollipop.
• Pez candy and dispensers are made in Orange, Ct.
• Enfield is the U.S. headquarters for LEGO.
• Silly Putty was invented in Connecticut when researchers were developing products for WWII soldiers. For fun, we made some homemade silly putty (a.k.a. flubber) – it was definitely more like Flubber or Goop than Silly Putty, but it was still a lot of fun. The recipe is at: http://www.greensim.com/lemonade/concoctions.html
• Bridgeport is home of P.T. Barnum, founder of the “Greatest Show on Earth” circus…. one of my favorite family traditions every year.
• The Frisbee was invented in New Haven. According to the story, Yale college students would eat pies from Frisbee Pie Baking Company, then they’d practice flying the empty pie tins. Wham-O Corporation (a toy company) noticed this and used the idea to rename their “Pluto Platters” “Frisbees.”
• There are six lighthouses in Connecticut.
• The Beecher sisters are from Connecticut. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” a famous book about slavery, and her sisters helped start schools for women and fight for women’s right to vote.
• Adeline Gray was a girl from Connecticut. She used to jump off the roof of her house with an umbrella! When she grew up she tested parachutes for the military for WWII.
• There are three main rivers in Connecticut: Housatonic River, Connecticut River, and Thames River.
• Louis’ Lunch (opened in 1895) in New Haven, Connecticut, is the first restaurant to serve hamburgers in the United States and it is still in business!
• Some inventors from Connecticut include: Eli Terry (clockmaker), Eli Whitney (cotton gin), and Charles Goodyear (rubber manufacturer; tires).

Emily's drawing: Sperm Whale of Connecticut

The State Animal of Connecticut:

• We also learned about the state animal of Connecticut, the Sperm Whale. The Sperm Whale is the largest toothed whale in the world. We read books about it and watched videos, like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djckNIMEwQo
  
• Baby whales are called calves, their mothers nurse them. Sperm Whales make clicking sounds that echo off the water so they can learn about the things around them. Whales look like big fish, but they are really mammals. Whales have blubber that keeps them warm and helps them to float. Sperm Whales are toothed whales. Whales travel in groups called pods. They hold their breath for up to 2 hours and use their blowhole (like a nostril) to breathe.