Middletown is a funky little town on the Connecticut River about 15 miles south of Hartford. It's rather artsy and has lots of restaurants (3 Mexican places, 3 Indian places, 2 Thai places, a Tibetan place and uncountable Italian places.) There is a major college -
http://www.wesleyan.edu/ Wesleyan University - located up the hill from downtown but it's the only college town I've ever seen that doesn't feel much like a college town. Where are the bookstores? The import clothing stores? Well, there may be one or two but they're hiding. To find the heart of Middletown you've got to do a little snooping around.There are excellent resources here for those with an artistic bent. The '''Buttonwood Tree''' is an intimate performance art space on the North End of Main St. '''Oddfellows Playhouse''' provides a start in the world of theater for kids of all ages. Then there's '''Kid City''' - sort of an exploratorium - a great place to take your kids on a rainy afternoon. And of course all the cultural offerings of Wesleyan University. A few years ago it was rated one of the 100 best art towns in America.Middletown is also the home to Connecticut Valley Hospital, the major psychiatric facility for southern New England (United States of America)|New England. So if you see a few questionable people on the streets, relax, they're outpatients and they're probably properly medicated. http://wikitravel.org/en/Middletown (Connecticut)