A walk downtown this week reveals that business is far from “as usual.” The USA Gymnastics Visa Championships happening in various locations across the city has brought a lot of people in, even creating lines at the Marriott Starbucks — the one Starbucks where one can almost guarantee there will never be a line.

It will be interesting to see to what extent this week-long event has affected business in Hartford. The promotion of it has been incredible in a way that does not typically happen with events and conferences here.

For folks with money, there are many opportunities on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to view competitions.

The rest of us can drop by the Old State House on Friday from 11-1 to catch free demonstrations:

Today, besides the gymnastics demonstrations, there were living statues: