City: Hartford, CT

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (860) 249-6333

Address: 1 Civic Center Plaza

Description: Once called the Hartford Civic Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the venue was home to sports and entertainment, from the Hartford Whalers to Luciano Pavarotti. Today the XL Center hosts mostly sports events, though a few concerts come here instead of to the Comcast Theater or Rentschler Field. In 1997 the Hartford Wolf Pack began playing here, and in 2010 they were renamed the Connecticut Whale, and began wearing the colors of that long-ago professional team. There’s a restaurant and bar, which can seat up to 180 gourmet dinner buffet guests before and during events, and a dozen vending stands for those of us who prefer a hot dog and nachos with cheese sauce. The XL Center also brings in the Boston and New York basketball teams to play here, and, of course, they also host the national-champion Connecticut Huskies, both men’s and women’s teams. Definitely get tickets for the Big East Championship held here every spring, and come to cheer on the Whale, named for Connecticut’s state animal, of course.