Good stuff

I lived too long in New Heaven to recommend anyone (I like) to stay there. Agreed, if you like pizza, Pepe's is one of the top places (and their white clam pizza is to die for). Modern is pretty good too. Other than that, if you don't have anything to do with the big four letter school, New Haven is not that very worthy.

Also, flying to any of the 3 NYC airports will be a. a pain in the rear b. begging for delays and c. more expensive, because you would have to get to New Britain. On the other hand you will have the experience of an awesome drive crawling through the Bronx on I-95, which might be nice (if you don't lose a wheel in a pothole.) Nah. Fly to BDL. Delta flies directly from MSP. Rental cars are cheaper there than in NYC and going through security faster

As far as staying, based on the times I have been in the area, I think that either the Meriden-Wallingford area (about 15 minutes south towards New Haven) or the Framington area and from that side of I-84 west (North of New Britain) are probably better than Hartford. Not a big Hartford fun either.

As far as food goes, the one thing I would recommend (in addition to the New Haven pizza, which is out of the way) because it is just so New England, is to google "fish fry" and find a small ma and pa joint that looks a lot like the old school Dairy Queens with just outdoor seating. Oh. Like MN, wine and beer is sold in liquer stores that in the local dialect are called "Package Stores". So if you are looking for microbrew offerings to take to your hotel room, ask for a "package store". Nothing to do with the UPS store.