About 20 miles from Hartford, Bristol is best known as the home of ESPN and the site of the oldest theme park in the United States - Lake Compounce. Bristol was for a long time a major producer of chrysanthemums and still hosts the popular annual Bristol Mum Festival.

The city has a large number of significant museums, such as the American Clock & Watch Museum, the Bristol Historical Society Museum, the popular interactive Children's Museum Imagine Nation and the Witch's Dungeon - Classic Movie Museum. Besides many other beautifully tended green spaces in the city, the 70-acre Harry Barnes Memorial Nature Center is worth a visit with its dense forests, rolling hills and fields, nature trails and an interpretive center.

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