The historic port at Mystic, CT.
There was little I knew about Mystic, CT before I went there two weeks ago. I knew there was a famous pizza place where Julia Roberts said the f-word a lot and Kit dated a married guy. And I knew that it was on the water. Suffice it to say, neither of those two facts would have made a good tourist brochure.
But now, having been there, I can tell you it’s absolutely beautiful, and a great place to throw yourself back in time. As my mom likes to say whenever she visits a historic place, “I’m pretending.” In Mystic, mom pretended she was wearing lots of gingham and singing shanty tunes in the local schoolhouse. She gets into it.
Settled on the Mystic River (btw, wasn’t that a movie about Boston? that confused me the entire day…), this historic village was once a whaling port. Today, the village is preserved as it would have been back then, and once inside, you can explore the large ships that are being restored at the port. The village also includes tiny shops, an old-timey printing house, a schoolhouse, two churches and historic homes.
After leaving the 19th century, you can also visit the downtown area, home to the famous Mystic Pizza. Here, fancy restaurants sit right on the water, and shops are squeezed together on a narrow street. And the pizza, while not New York in style, is still great in its own Mystic-al way.
I wouldn’t recommend a day-trip to Mystic if the weather is bad. I got the feeling that a rain-storm could take you right off your feet there. But it is a great place to walk around and explore on a sunny spring day. So prepare yourself for a trip back in time!
For some reason my mom seems very excited to be going overboard...
Any suggestions for another day trip? E-mail me at nomadblog.wordpress@gmail.com!
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