We've seen the light.

I know this is a tourist town, but we are tourists after all and we could spend hours in these shops. Oh, how I could buy art here! And if Tomcat would agree, we'd redo our entire house from a little store called Whyevernot. In another store Peanut announced, "You know why I like this store so much? Because everything is so cheap!" If only...

We spent hours tooling around the town yesterday and of course we ate dinner at Mystic Pizza. What a blast from the past! The movie plays up on a big screen -- I bet you don't remember Matt Damon in it -- and it's 80's music non-stop. The pizza is actually decent, with proper kid portions for once.

So, can you tell, we've completely lost it. We're infatuated with Mystic and we never want to leave. I speak for all of us.

Grandma needs to tour the historic buildings, which incidentally are housed by people like you and me, so she has a slim chance of being able to do so! The seaside colors here appeal to Peanut as well as the abundance of nature. She wants to take an acrylics class like the one she barged in on in a local gallery the other night. Little Man wants to learn to sail (did you hear that Tomcat?) and play at the beach all day and night. I want to slow down, read again, paint again, have 4 seasons again. Somehow I'm dreamy enough to think it could happen here. Why is that? All day long I want to take pictures. The light is golden, different here and from what I'm told everyone who visits feels like this. We aren't unique at all!

Mystic Seaport

It took a while to get into the Mystic Seaport Museum and that surprised me because it's so lauded. Grandma enjoyed it more than me because she got to read all the posted information while I talked to the kids. Plus she's always

had a thing for Clipper ships.

We're here in the off season so that surely has something to do with it's lackluster vibe.
More importantly, the staff here are less magical with children than in other places we've been. Repeatedly, they were told "don't touch" or "get down" in areas I would have expected them to be encouraged, like on the Dunton Schooner.


Something that really irks me is when adults won't listen to what kids are actually saying and try to dismiss them. My kids ask serious questions and they deserve decent answers. I felt like no one was interested in teaching them anything; they kept trying to send us to the Playscape where they could climb on small wooden boats.

Little Man wanted to climb the real masts like a pirate which I fully understood. When they said he couldn't, he got it. But he still had questions about climbing them and he really wanted to understand some things about the ladders and sails. But the worker talked over him, didn't look him in the eye and continued to repeat all the reasons why it was dangerous to climb up there. Arrgh, matey.

Things changed for the better when we took a carriage ride around the village. Our driver was cheery and even though it was a low-key tour, he woke us up -- we got a genuine sense of life in the ship-building era.

Then we went to the Planetarium and met the most wonderful docent. He clearly loved his job and he practically directed the entire 35 minute show directly to my little ones. Granted, there were very few people there, but his efforts were extremely appreciated. He even let Little Man sing Why Does the Sun Shine and then did his best to teach he and Peanut how to use a sextant. This was Peanut's introduction to "angles and degrees". We could have spent hours discussing why a sailor might need to know where exactly he was in order to find out how to get where he wanted to go.

There were several other interesting exhibits so I asked what everyone's favorite spot was:

-Grandma loved the pharmacy with it's giant container for leeches, which makes me wonder...did kids used to wail, "I need a leeeeech", like they do for band-aids nowadays?
-I enjoyed the Figureheads exhibit because I'm a sap for the movie Titanic and that's all I could think of in there.
-Peanut liked the crew quarters aboard the Dunton, walking through the skeleton of the Australia, and the Planetarium.
-Little Man liked the guns in the gift shop -- is this really my kid?
-Doodle liked the man singing in the church and the Frozen In exhibit where she got to sit in an igloo and wrap up in a fur. Did you know when it's 50 degrees below zero outside it's a balmy 30 degrees above zero inside?

Connecticut - State #34

Cross the state line into Groton-Stonington, CT and a whole new world emerges. I have to say that I've always had a bad impression of people from Connecticut. Outside their own state they appear uptight and edgy -- like they have a big chip on their shoulder.


Here in Mystic, I'm overcome with compliments for both the people and the area. Everyone and everything is beautiful. It's a seaside town but actually on a brackish river, so it's tranquil and quiet with pristine boats and cottages in every direction.

We're staying in a converted carriage house in the Historic District and it is just oozing with seaside charm. This has to be my favorite

'hotel' of the trip thus far. In fact, the kids are still so tired, and Grandma and I are so enamored with Mystic, that we've decided to stay here an extra night before heading into over-stimulated NYC.

Connecticut License Plate