The other big plus is that the Merritt gives you easy access to parks, restaurants, museums, town centers, wildlife sanctuaries, and other attractions. The Merritt Parkway Conservancy has a map that highlights spots worth a stop. I made a recent trip to explore some, sticking mostly to places within a mile or two of an exit.
I get off first at exit 50 in Bridgeport for the Beardsley Zoo. The place is packed with adults pushing strollers. A large Amur tiger - one of only a few hundred left of the biggest cats on earth - paces the length of the fenced compound where it lives. The zoo was recently re-accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and participates in several conservation programs, including breeding endangered species.
At the Discovery Museum and Planetarium a mile off exit 47 the noise level is akin to a playground at recess. Kids are climbing in and out of aerospace machines. Michael Ducharme, 2, lets a paper helicopter go over a stream of air blasting from the “Hover Port,’’ watches it waft into the air and circle down, then retrieves it and starts over. His brother Matthew, 5, has built a paper rocket, loads it into a machine, pumps the mechanism, then hits a release button that blasts it across the room. Their mother, Lisa, says this is their first time at the museum. Like me, they’re out exploring. “Every Saturday we go out and find something new,’’ she says. “We’ll go to a kids’ museum, or if it’s a nice day we’ll go for a picnic in the park and feed the ducks.’’
It is a nice day, and I next take exit 35, stopping at the Bartlett Arboretum. It’s a chance to walk through woods full of red oak, black birch, and other trees, past marshes and ponds. I keep it in mind for a future foray with the dog; they’re allowed, leashed.
