The Best Place To See a Dinosaur This Weekend is in Hartford

If you want to get up close with dinosaurs in Connecticut this weekend, in years past, I would have directed you to the Peabody Museum at Yale University in New Haven or Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill. Unfortunately, the Peabody has been temporarily closed for the past couple of years. and it's still cold out. But, while Peabody is undergoing a major update and transformation, there's a event bringing true-to-size dinosaurs to Connecticut this weekend, indoors, in Hartford.

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We're around a year away from the Peabody's reopening (early 2024), but you can see a whole slew of life-like dinosaurs this weekend at Jurassic Quest. The traveling dinosaur exhibit is coming to the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford this Friday-Sunday, March 10-12, 2023.

The last time that Jurassic Quest came to Connecticut, it was held as an outdoor drive-thru event at East Hartford's Rentschler Field. Not this time, it's indoors, and a walk-through.

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT AT JURASSIC QUEST?

A bunch of exhibits that will make your kid say 'Wow', including a 60 foot long Spinosaurus, an 80 foot long Apatosaurus, and a lifesize Tyrannosaurus Rex. Trainers will be strolling around with baby dinosaurs, walking and stationary dinosaur rides, a bounce house, bungee pull, fossil digs, and more.

The event should take an hour or two for you to leisurely stroll through. From what I can tell from the looks of it, Jurassic Quest is appropriate for all-ages, even though Jurassic is in the title, I wouldn't expect a pack of Velociraptors to chase you around the Connecticut Convention Center.