Trip to Mystic Day 2

On Saturday we woke up pretty early but stayed in the hotel and just relaxed for a bit, since neither one of us wanted to really get up yet. My mom has this crazy habit of getting up way too early, and of course once I'm up I don't go back to sleep.

We decide to go to the Mystic Seaport Museum of America and the Sea which is a recreated seaport village from the 1800s. It was a really cool place to go see, to explore and learn how things were done back then. There were all kinds of spots in the village that you could see into the past. Like how to make hemp into rope.


First they spin the hemp in a spinning wheel to separate all the threads


Then they put the separated strands onto big spools and run each spool through one hole to start to twist it together



The now thicker strands are twisted and are laid out through a machine that will start to twist all of those together (not a machine really it was all done by hand machines and cranking and twisting yourself).


Now we start to see the rope starting to form.


The finished product, tight, thick rope that can be used to tie a ship at the dock, or to use with the anchor.

Now I'm sure that I missed a step or I said something wrong in my directions, I am trying to remember this from the quick tour we got, so if anyone sees a mistake in my process, I apologize. But you get the idea.

4 of the Tall ships that tour the world are stored here, it was pretty neat to see them up close with no lines and be able to go aboard.



Mom had an absolute blast roaming these ships, she went down into the bunkers and just loved them. She loves ships, lighthouses and anything to do with the sea. The smells, the sights all of it. Isn't she cute?


This is a replica of the ship "The Amistad" there is an organization regarding this ship.

We toured the whole village and took in all the sights, learned a lot about what it was like to live and work in a village like this in the 19th century. If you ever get down to Mystic you should most definitely check this place out. It gives you a little history of what America was like back then. We went the perfect weekend, before the season hit so we didn't have to wait too long for anything.

After we left the village, we decided to drive around and see other parts of Mystic and the surrounding area, we stopped by a Glass Blowing Factory, that was pretty amazing to see. I just love to watch this kind of art. The two guys that own/run the place were so helpful in discussing the steps for glass blowing.


This is a picture of an art piece made at the studio, it was from floor to ceiling and it was amazing.

Though the place and the art were beautiful it was no where affordable for us. The glass they made is all one of a kind or to order. The studio name is Prescient Studios they have a website I linked if you are interested in ordering or checking them out. I love this picture, it is of many balls of colorful glass hanging from fishing line up against a wall, if I had a big house and a fancy room I would have something like this



After that we drove to a lighthouse so my mom could take pictures of it, and climb, she really is like a kid in a candy store when it comes to lighthouses.

We finished the afternoon with my mom going shopping and I going back to the room and for a little nap, lazy days are good. We finished the evening with dinner at another great restaurant outside of Mystic and called it a night. Another great day sightseeing through and around Mystic.

To see more pictures of our trip you can go to my flickr page
I won't lie I was too lazy to link each of these photos back to flickr this time, maybe later.

I Want More...

That's Enough!

Trip to Mystic Day 1

This past weekend, my mother and I went on a mother daughter trip to Mystic, CT for Mother's Day. It was a great trip and it was very much needed for both of us. We had a great time, and I have to say that it was a great little town. We saw just about everything you could see in Mystic, and the surrounding towns as well.

I was so excited for this trip, I haven't been away in a long time and I was starting to feel the effects of not getting away. I've been working 6 days a week 50-60 hours a week since January with really no time off. I was ready for a few days of relaxation and not have to worry about work. We both took Friday off so we could have a long weekend, we got up on Friday and I have to say I did feel a bit guilty at first and was thinking to myself "oh I should call into work and make sure everything is okay". But then I said to myself, "NO!!! if they need me they know they can call."

So mom and I pack up the suitcase, take a cooler with sandwiches and drinks, pack up the car and around 12:30-1:00 we set off to Mystic.

It is not a long drive about 1-1/2 - 2 hour drive depending on traffic, which wasn't too bad. We get into Mystic around 2:30 and check into the hotel, which by the way has a jacuzzi tub. The tub/shower was huge, our bathroom at home is very very tiny, if you are taller then 5'5" you have to bend your neck to take a shower because the shower is right under where the stairs go for the apartment above. Thank goodness I'm only 5'4" and mom is 5' 1-1/2". So you can imagine my delight to see such a huge tub.

It is a bit cloudy out with slight rain, but nothing to worry about too much. So we decided to go across the street to the Mystic Sea Aquarium. It reminded me of a smaller version of Sea World and it was the perfect day to go. There were no crowds and there were no lines for some of the attractions that we saw. There was a Sea Lion show with two sea lions named Surfer and Coco.

Coco weighed over 900lbs and Surfer was about 650lbs. It was a cute show and we learned the difference between sea lions and seals. Also that sea lions are indigenous to the west coast of the United States.

Then we went to what is called the XD Motion Theater (3D motion ride experience). Basically you sit on this chair (there were about 15) and put on 3D glasses and watch a movie, you feel like you are underwater exploring the sea beneath. The chairs move around and shake, and all types of sea creatures come at you and you feel like they are going to get you. It was hysterical I couldn't stop laughing because 1) my mom kept trying to shoo away anything that looked like a snake and 2) because every time something came at me, I flinched because the chair shook or rocked and the creature came right at me, even though I knew it wasn't real it was still a reflex, it was funny and the chairs tickled my ears. After that little adventure we toured the rest of the aquarium. We saw beluga whales, and more sea lions.



One of the other sea lions we saw was named Rider, he is a 4 year old sea lion who doesn't have anyone his own age to play with so he kept trying to bug the other sea lions in his area. It was really funny to see and he was adorable.



We also saw African Penguins, did you know that there are penguins in Africa who like the heat and not the cold. Actually the people at the aquarium told us that if it gets too cold outside they have to bring them in. I guess you do learn something new everyday. After we left the aquarium we decided to go into town to get a bite to eat and to see what was around.

We parked the car and walked around a bit, taking in the beauty of the Mystic River and asked a couple of local ladies if they knew of any good places to eat. One of the ladies had a rather big dog with her who was quite friendly and as we were talking to the ladies this dog jumped up (playfully) and tapped my mom on the nose with his nose to say, "Hey I'm down here, why aren't you paying attention to me." It was adorable and the woman said, "Did he just nudge you on the nose?" To which my mother replied, "That's okay, most attention I've had from a male in a long time" as she pets the dog. The ladies and I started laughing, my mother always one with a quick joke. They tell us of a nice place to eat called S&P Oyster, which was just 100 feet up the way.



We had a couple of drinks and had some of the best seafood I've had in a very long time. Our waiter Matt was awesome, he told us of some great places to go to see and eat around Mystic, I had the special which was Alaskan King Crab legs, grilled scallops and tiger shrimp, it came also with veggies and potatoes. Let me tell you I ate every single piece of crab, scallops and shrimp, it was to die for. Mom had the salmon with lemon sauce and mashed potatoes we order a couple of flavored martinis and enjoyed the view. It was a perfect meal to end a perfect day. After dinner we walked around the town a bit more to work off some of the food we ate and then drove back to the hotel and got settled in for the night. We watched TV, talked and just enjoyed our first day in Mystic and excited to see what was in store for us on Saturday. We figured we try the Mystic Seaport Museum of America and the Sea which is what we did. This was a cool place, they have 4 of the Tall Ships that go around stored there. It was like an old seaport village from back in the 1800s or so.

I will write about Day 2 later today or tomorrow, so please come back and read about the rest of our trip.

If you click on any picture it will bring you to my flickr page and you can see all the pictures from our trip. Please feel free to leave any comments or questions on here or on the pictures about our trip. I promise to answer all of them.

I Want More...

That's Enough!