Mystical Connecticut

We arrived in East Lyme, Connecticut on Thursday, 6/26 after a short drive from Littleton, MA. We are in a nice RV Park that is centrally located to many sights along the coast. Yes, Lyme is the city for which Lyme Disease is named.

Our time in Connecticut has been refreshing after days of rain in our previous locations. We realize that there are many areas in desperate need of rain (we hear ya in South Georgia), but we are very grateful for a few days to venture out of the cozy but close confines of our home on wheels. We have had two beautiful days of sunshine with warm breezes.

We have enjoyed some down-time and half-day excursions to visit the Mystic Seaport and the Mystic Aquarium. During our visit to the Mystic Seaport, we happened upon the Wooden Boat Show that was being held along the Mystic River. So, in addition to visiting the ships along the river, we were able to see some really beautiful wooden boats sailed/brought to the area just for this event.

A highlight of the day was being able to climb aboard the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaling ship in the world. Built in 1841, she is jewel of the watercraft collection of Mystic Seaport, presiding over a fleet of more than 500 historic vessels.

Mystic became famous as one of the few remaining shipyards for building huge wooden ships. We took a water taxi from one end of the museum to the other. The museum has 17 acres and a recreated village along the river. The train still operates on a turnstile bridge that opens across the river to let boats pass. The slave ship used in the move Amistad was built in Mystic. The Mystic River flows into Long Island Sound. During our visit the river was alive with sailboats, peapods, kayaks, water taxis and all manner of boats. We saw a wooden catamarand from Scotland, which had been built in England. Lots of wooden boats were down from Maine just for the show. There are lots of sailing programs for children and young teens in the area.

Visiting lighthouses has always been intriguing for us. The more challenging the walk or hike, or the more stairs to the top, the better (for Jerri). While the Mystic Lighthouse was easily reached and visible, it still was beautiful in its own way.

Friday was pretty much spent in Mystic Seaport, about 15 miles from our campground home. Saturday we had a wonderful down day in the campground taking it easy. We rode our bikes through the campground and rented a paddle boat on the lake. Today (6/29) we ventured to the Mystic Aquarium and Olde Mystick Village. This aquarium is like a mixture of Sea World, a regular aquarium, and a theme park. Exhibits were indoors and outdoors. There was an indoor marine theater with a presentation of California sea lions; a 3-D dive experience which was like a theme-park ride; outdoor tanks with Beluga whales and African penguins. We are also in close proximity to the Submarine Museum, the US Coast Guard Academy at New London, the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation and Museum, and Foxwood and Mohegan Sun casinos. Connecticut has lots of state parks in the area to choose from but the price for non-residents is higher and higher still on the weekends. Some state parks charge by the car and others by the person.

The 4th of July holiday changed our plans a little with campground reservations difficult to get this late, so we'll be leaving Connecticut on July 3rd and traveling to Mt. Pocono, PA for the holiday weekend, then continuing southward.

Happy in our mystic travels,
J&K