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Pequot Museum and Research Center
10 Pequot Trail, Mashantucket CT 06338-3180
(800) 411-9671
Admission: $15 adults, $13 seniors, $10 children over 5
Directions

This is a very interesting and very well done museum, but a few caveats are in order for Oak Pointers making the trip:

• There's a lot to see. Linda and I spent five hours here and we did not see everything the museum has to offer. As it is only open 10 AM to 4 PM, you really want to arrive right at 10 - we didn't, so had to leave before we were done.
  
  
• Right now (October 2007), traveling from the East, the signage that directs you to the museum is poor and easy to miss. There is a parking lot directly across from the museum and it's an easy walk from there, but it's also easy to just park anywhere in the nearby Foxwoods Casino, or at any of Foxwoods outlying parking areas: free shuttle buses go to the museum all day.
  
  
• The museum can be a bit cool. Linda was a little uncomfortable, and wished she had worn warmer clothes.
  
  
• The exhibit signs are sometimes hard to read. It's not necessarily the size of the print (though that might be a problem for those of us with vision problems), but that it is sometimes on a background that makes it difficult. For example, I found text on light blue backgrounds a little hard to make out, and really struggled with some of the writing on shiny wooden walls. However, there is a LOT of audio presentation here, some of it automatic, and some of it under your complete control. There are also numerous short films in various small auditoriums; if you simply cannot read the print you will have missed some details but your overall experience will still be enjoyable.

With these warnings in mind, this is a trip well worth making. The museum is a fascinating portrayal of the history of the Mashantucket Pequots (pea-kwots). Artifacts and archeological finds are displayed and explained, of course, but there are also extensive depictions through film and dioramas. The centerpiece of those is the life size recreation of a 16th century Pequot Village; you could spend hours there alone. Self controlled audio presentation units guide you through this exhibit and offer rich detail and background on the scenes presented. The life size models of the village inhabitants and even the plants and trees are truly amazing in detail - it's obvious that no expense was spared here.

Linda and I thoroughly enjoyed this, and we will need to go back to finish up the last part of the museum which we had to rush through. This deals extensively with the Pequot War, and the life of the tribe from that time onward. That includes an outdoor tour of a two acre garden (in appropriate weather, of course) and a 3D interactive tour of the Mashantucket Fort discovered by archeologists in 1992. We missed almost all of that due to lack of time.

Of course there's a gift shop, but we never got to that either. There's a restaurant on premise also, but we were so enthralled by the exhibits we never thought of eating.

Obviously we highly recommend this. Ideally, you'd stay over in the area and make it a two day adventure - or even more. We'll definitely be returning.