Jill's Journal: Our love affair with Connecticut continues. The five of us drove up the beautiful coast yesterday to Mystic, famous for its seaport and its pizza. We experienced both! The pizza, made famous by the movie “Mystic Pizza,” was definitely distinctive with an unusual tang/sweetness to it. Rob loves the movie -- I haven’t seen it in probably 20 years and remember only that it’s about waitresses, angst, and a pizza parlor. Another viewing is probably in order. :)
Mystic Seaport, a recreated 19th-century seafaring and whaling village, is a complete treat. It bills itself as the “Museum of America and the Sea.” The 19 acres are packed to the brim with maritime collections, ships, village buildings, shipbuilding exhibitions, artifacts, etc. Shipbuilding began on the site in 1837 and Mystic Seaport in its current state was began in 1929 to preserve the New England coastal way of life. Fascinating stuff. 
The thing we collectively most enjoyed was probably the Charles W. Morgan, an 1841 whaling ship and the last wooden whaleship in existence. The girls loved exploring a real wooden ship, although poor Erika’s heart broke when she learned it was whales that were hunted.
Madelyn had a similar reaction of shock and sadness a little later when we also toured the Amistad, a replica of the famous 19th-century schooner whose 53 captured West Africans revolted and fought a bloody battle for their freedom. These little girls learned all kind of world injustices at what we thought was an innocent shipyard! Lost innocence or not, Mystic Seaport was well worth the trip.
2 comments:
Mystic is one of my favorite places! Chris and I got to go there twice when we lived in NY. Once without kids even! There's a great toy store on the Main drag and a quaint ice cream shop, too.
Julie, the girls loved the toy store!! We practically had to drag them out to watch the drawbridge in action. We skipped the ice cream shop as our kids would like to go into every single one they pass... I'm with you; I loved Mystic!!
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