Days 8-10 May 17-19: Mystic, Connecticut

The first hour of the drive from Warren to Mystic on I-287 is serene. We are heading north and traffic is light, not too many trucks. When we turn east and cross into New York, it all changes. These drivers all have some place to be and they want to be there an hour and a half ago! Not being in a hurry is great, but makes for challenging driving! After about two hours, we are out of the New York City-inspired traffic and dealing only with more local drivers. We head east on I-95 and finally exit into Mystic, CT. A few minutes later, we are at our home for the next 3 nights, the Inn at Mystic.

Bogart and Bacall honeymooned here, enjoying its privacy and access to Fisher Island Sound. The Inn is a short walk from the heart of Mystic, the Bascule Bridge. We are hungry, so we cross the highway (US 1) to get our first meal of seaside shack fare at Sea Swirl. (We can see this place from the balcony of our room.) Wayne has the Clam Chowder and Grilled Fish Tacos and Amy has the Fresh Cod Dinner. We share Onion Rings. A great meal!

We then head into town to orient ourselves and enjoy a stroll among the quaint shops. A great sign at "Bank Square Books": "Buy books from people who want to sell you books, not from people who want to colonize the moon." We come upon Friar Tuck's Tavern and notice the Southampton/Liverpool match is on. We settle in for an hour of Aperol Spritzer, Guinness and Football. Liverpool is lucky to get their second goal, but I guess the best teams sometimes make their own luck. Game over, we head back to rest up for dinner at the Inn's Restaurant, Rocks 21. The view is fantastic. Amy has the Fish Special, Wayne has the Grilled Seafood Platter and we split an order of Bacon-Wrapped Scallops. Yum. Once again we are stuffed as we walk back to our room.

The new day dawns with us looking forward to three activities:

1) A visit to Mystic Seaport, the Museum of America and the Sea. Think of Greenfield Village dedicated to a 19th century seaside New England village. The oldest building here is from the 17th century and is in remarkably good shape. They run a preservation shipyard here which successfully refitted the oldest remaining whaling ship, the Charles W. Morgan, which we toured. We learned about Cod fishing and enjoyed many varied exhibits. One of the best was the display of Masthead Carvings.

We eat lunch at Lancer, an eatery in the Museum where we can eat outside in the sunshine. After lunch we tour "Voyaging in the Wake of the Whalers" which chronicles the sad tale of over-hunting whales, but then discusses the hopeful part: half of whale species are well into recovery.

2) After a rest in our room at the Inn, we head back to the Bascule Bridge for our 2-hour cruise aboard the Schooner Argia.

The Schooner Argia

It's too windy to hoist the mainsail, but not so windy that it is unpleasant. After clearing the harbor and the Swing Bridge (supports the Acela line between NYC and Boston), we head south to Fishers Island (part of New York). We turn around and head back north. It is surprisingly serene and enjoyable.

The Swing Bridge (Rail Line NYC to Boston)

The people we sat next to on the sail live in our Portland, just across the river from us in South East. It's odd to meet neighbors 3,000 miles away from home. We had a nice conversation about our travels and about home.

Noank from Fishers Island Sound

3) Dinner at the Oyster Club.

   We share half a dozen Oysters, Amy has the Fish Kielbasa, Wayne has the Mussels. Quite delicious!

We return to the Inn and enjoy a good night's sleep.

We awake to rain. Our plan this last full day in Mystic is to visit Stonington, but we hope for a dry visit, so we have a lazy morning.

Did I mention that there is a film crew here at the Inn? It's a Lifetime movie, scheduled to air in the Aug. to Oct. 2022 time frame. Its title: "How to Live Your Best Death". They are filming in the rooms just east of ours; I ask the crew if they want me to move the X3 and they say "no, we won't film the license plate; it's all good and your car might be in the movie!" We can't wait. But really, the crew seems very kind and it's sort of exciting even though the crew seems to be sitting around mostly and keeping quiet. I think the Inn's staff is more inconvenienced than we are and it's a good deal for the Inn as many of the rooms are booked by the cast and crew.

We head to Stonington for lunch. After a quick drive around the village, we park and dodge the raindrops to eat at Noah's. It advertises that everything is made from scratch. I believe it! Wayne has the Fra Diavolo over Linguine (the noodles are so fresh) with Shrimp & Salmon Cakes. Amy has the Meat Loaf. Both are delicious.

We head back to the room to rest and stay out of the rain. It clears up a bit and we get a chance to explore the Inn's grounds. The Haley Mansion, built in 1904, is now an event space. It is probably the number 1 go-to event space in Mystic. The views from atop the granite outcroppings are great.

The Haley Mansion 1904

Pond South of the Haley Mansion

After a nice rest, we hit Rocks21 for pre-dinner drinks. We have an enjoyable conversation with a couple from Wisconsin who often visit here. After drinks, we walked to S & P Oyster (S is for Sam and P is for Peter, the owners), just east of the Bascule Bridge. We shared a half-dozen Mystic Oysters and each had the Sesame Encrusted Tuna with Risotto. Exquisite! We topped it off by sharing a creme brulee. A very good meal!

We then had a nice walk back to the Inn. Another great day. Sad that it's the last in Mystic, but we look forward to our next locale: Newport, RI.