Hidden Gems of North-Central Connecticut

WINDSOR, CT — Morse code, radio, phonographs - words of a bygone generation which seem to have gone the way of powdered wigs, Nehru jackets and pet rocks. However, those communication wonders are on full display in Windsor at the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut.

Since opening in New Britain in 1990, the museum has moved five times, first to East Hartford and in 2005 to its current home at 115 Pierson Lane in Windsor, near the Palisado Avenue Historic District. The museum was dedicated to the preservation of old-time communications equipment and to educating the public about this wonderful history.

Museum exhibits are organized along a timeline from the 1800s through 1980s. The aisles are identified by decade with a sign at each end. Exhibits include extensive collections of early phonographs, microphones, novelty telephones, jukeboxes and much more.

The museum is open year-round on Thursdays and Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1-4 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors 60+, $5 for students, special needs and military, and free for children under 5. More information is available at 860-683-2903 or by visiting www.vrcmct.org.

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The Hidden Gems series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path. Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" in the area that you wish to see featured in this column? Email your ideas to tim.jensen@patch.com.

Other columns in this series:

• Old Country Banquet Hall
• Brazilian Gula Grill
• Thomas' Smokey Pit Stop
• Congregational Church of Burlington labyrinth
• Noah Webster House
• The Bushnell's Green Room Wall
• Belding Wildlife Management Area
• The Aborn Castle
• Heublein Tower
• Birthplace of Jonathan Edwards
• Grave of Revolutionary War Soldier Heman Baker
• Jessica's Garden, Lobster and Ice Cream Shack
• Shade Swamp Sanctuary
• Ken's Corner Breakfast & Lunch
• Tolland Red and White
• The Packing House
• Cold Harbor Seafood
• Nye Holman State Forest/Heron Cove Park
• Hosmer Mountain Soda Shack
• Connecticut Trolley Museum
• Matterhorn Mini Golf
• Wood Memorial Library & Museum
• Hastings Farm
• Liquid Nirvana
• Iwo Jima Survivors Memorial Park
• Academy Hall
• Southington Drive-In
• Little Theatre of Manchester at Cheney Hall
• Somersvillage Gifts & Gourmet Baskets
• New England Civil War Museum
• The Pinchot Sycamore
• Stafford Palace Theater
• Mansfield Hollow State Park
• Old Tolland County Jail and Museum
• Hill-Stead Museum
• Mark's Restaurant