On a bright Wednesday morning, I joined the commuters from New York to the Constitution State to find my way up to Hartford. Stopped at one of the roadside reststops for brekkies. I like that the Northeastern states compensate for toll roads by building these pretty nice food court-type establishments. Too bad they are mostly populated by McDonald's.

Fairly easy access is provided to the capitol building from the highway. Without any guide, I was able to navigate myself to the vicinity. Parking was not easy to find, however, and when I finally thought I had figured it out, I found myself on the onramp for I-84. After a little detour, I settled on a metered space a block away.

Hartford was the first capitol I've been to while the legislature was in session. There were tons of people around - politicians, activists/lobbyists, some security. It was exciting to be there while things were happening.

The building itself is a mass of marble, naturally. There are giant fountains on either side of the central staircase.

In one wing, the painted balconies inside brought to mind the hotel casino in Atlantic City done up like a steamboat.

There were stickers on the steps outside opposing gay marriage.

I met up with a college buddy now living in the area, and we lunched at Sweet Jane's Rock n Roll Cafe. We missed the lunch rush, and so got an overly friendly waiter who exchanged names and handshakes with us. I guess that's better than being totally ignored.

Next, I scurried off to Providence in hopes of getting there before it closed.