An Advanced Degree in the Splendors of Autumn

At Yale's campus in New Haven, visitors to Connecticut can enjoy the sights of the fall season. For those seeking more nature and less civilization, the rugged Thimble Islands are nearby. (Michael Marsland)

I'm usually not an enthusiast of faux-old architecture, but at Yale it works. The building techniques and materials, including the thick, solid blocks of stone, were copied from the Middle Ages. The designer created niches for statues but didn't fill them, thus evoking the kind of loss that often accompanies the passage of time. He hired skilled craftsmen to make leaded-glass windows, then smash and repair them using the same methods medieval glaziers would have used.

I was as impressed as when I first saw Oxford. Perhaps even more so, since the builders of Yale had to resurrect centuries-old techniques.

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The wealth of Yale mixes with the poverty of many residents in this small city of 124,000 people, and for a time decrepitude crept into areas near the campus. However, extensive urban renewal projects begun in the 1990s have made a notable difference. Today, upscale shops and restaurants line the streets, along with modern office buildings.

The city centers on the leafy New Haven Green, home to three beautiful, historic churches. The green, a privately owned national historic landmark just steps from the Yale campus, is worth a close look. I stroll toward City Hall and come upon the Amistad Memorial. The sculpture sits on the site where Africans who took over their slave ship were imprisoned in 1839 while it was decided whether they should be returned to Africa. Exhibits about rebellion leader Sengbe Pieh, who gained control of the ship but was tricked into sailing it into Long Island Sound, are displayed at the New Haven Museum and the New Haven Historical Society.

In the evenings, New Haven's drama scene comes alive. The university's Yale Repertory Theatre is among the best regional companies in the country, a training ground for the likes of Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline.

There's also the Long Wharf Theatre, which is now staging Eugene O'Neill's "Hughie" starring Brian Dennehy and next month will present the world premiere of Paula Vogel's "A Civil War Christmas." The Shubert Theater will present "Mamma Mia!" and "Footloose" before the end of the year.

New Haven County is home to 10 national historic sites as well as vineyards, wide-open spaces interspersed with charming towns, and orchards with pumpkins, cider, corn mazes and you-pick fruit trees.

For nature at its purest, I travel 12 miles from New Haven to the Thimble Islands. The hundreds of stony outcroppings within three miles of the mainland range from half an acre to 17.5 acres.

During the Revolutionary War, the islands were stripped of trees so the patriots could see British ships coming. Today, the successors to trees sacrificed to the fight for independence have grown as high as 50 feet.

Only 25 of the islands are inhabited, and those by only about 100 families, none of them year-round residents. The islands are rugged and yet elegant. Marble Island, for example, is made of rough pink granite.

Sometimes the endless views of rock, water and trees are interrupted by man-made structures, but in an interesting way. One island, for instance, has a 27-room Tudor-style mansion partially hidden behind formal gardens. The caretaker's house could be mistaken for the home of a wealthy New Englander.

On the ride back to shore, I soak in the full spectrum of fall and the fact that not once during my New Haven visit did I ask myself, "Now what?"

For more information, go to the Greater New Haven Convention and Visitors Bureau, http://www.visitnewhaven.com, 800-332-7829. For information on Yale University, http://www.yale.edu.