Friday, June 29, 2012 - Museum and Theater District Walking Tour and visit to Yale Art Gallery and Yale Center For British Art

Bounded by College, Elm, York, and Crown Streets, this small, four-block section of the city boasts world-class art, architecture, and theatre, as well as the heart of Yale and the place where the hamburger was invented.

The self walking tour started at the corner of College and Chapel Streets, at INFONewHaven, a great resource for learning about all the goings-on in downtown New Haven.  From there, it proceeded past the Union League Cafe on Chapel Street, which is located in the Sherman Building, the former residence of Roger Sherman, New Haven's first mayor and the only person whose name appears on the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.  The walking tour then passed by some of the most notable buildings at Yale -- Skull and Bones (the most famous of Yale's secret societies and one of the oldest in the country), Harkness Tower and Old Campus, the Brutalist Art and Architecture Building, Yale University Art Gallery (1832), Yale Repertory Theatre, Yale Center for British Art, Louis Lunch, where the hambuger was invented, and the Shubert Theater, where "Oklahoma" and "A Streetcar Named Desire" premiered. 

I had planned to eat at Louis Lunch, the birthplace of the hamburger.  It has been owned and operated by the Lassen family since 1895.  It was packed with customers waiting to be served and there was limited, unavailable seating so I walked a couple blocks to Starbucks.    I got a Fruit and Nut Box, Izze Clementina drink and Shortbread cookies for a late lunch.

I visited the Yale Art Gallery.  Founded in 1832, it is the oldest college art museum in the country.  The Main building was designed by Louis Kahn and completed in 1953.  It was his first major commission.   Afterwards I visited the Yale Center for British Art.  It has the largest collection of British art outside the United Kingdom.  It is the last building designed by Louis Kahn, completed in 1977, three years after his death. 


I went back to the OMNI Hotel.  Christopher went to the AUSS Concert so I watched television and rested.  We went to BWW (Buffalo Wild Wings) on Church Street for a very late dinner.