Mystic Seaport Museum

A seaport museum of antique ships and support buildings

When my husband mentioned a quick trip to Mystic, Connecticut, I had no idea where we were going.  I had seen the movie Mystic River and found it to be powerful.  I had heard about but not seen the movie Mystic Pizza which launched Julia Roberts.  Sadly I admit that I did not know for sure which states bordered Connecticut and was surprised that we were to fly into Providence, R.I. and drive only 47 miles to Mystic.

My husband is the one who reads about and builds models of antique ships.  He is currently building a model of  The Charles Morgan, a whaling ship that operated for 80 years, making over 37 voyages--some as long as 5 years away from her home port.

I am a lover of museums of any kind but was still unprepared for how special this outdoor museum on the water is.  We spent 3 hours  walking onto ships and listening to knowlegeable people explain the culture of the sea and management of a ship's crew.  It was a fascinating experience.  One thing I learned is that life at sea was a very demanding and difficult one.  Just managing the live food on board--chickens and goats--would have had me wanting to go home.

Bob beside the Charles Morgan (above) and on board with a docent (below)

We both were amazed that there was still a lot of autumn color in Connecticut as late as November 13.  It wasn't the peak of autumn but the colors were still beautiful and made a perfect frame for the many typical colonial-style homes in the area.