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Mystic/Stonington Mystic is far better known than its
population of 2,600 would indicate. A maritime heritage made it the
state’s most visited tourist destination – until the nearby casinos
came along. A center for shipbuilding since the 17th century, Mystic
produced more than 1,000 sailing vessels, more noted captains and more
important sailing records than any place of its size in the world. Mystic has another claim to fame. Its downtown is the only place where U.S. Route 1 traffic is stopped hourly while the rare bascule bridge over the Mystic River opens to let sailboats pass. Just to the northwest of this area
are two of the world's largest casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, each a
resort destination on its own.. Mystic Seaport Museum,
75 Greenmanville Ave., Mystic. From a local marine historical museum
with one building in the old Greenman family shipyard in 1929, Mystic
Seaport has evolved into the nation's largest maritime museum, an
impressive testament to the lure, the lore and the life of the sea. The
seventeen-acre site along the Mystic River contains more than 60
historic buildings, 300 boats, a planetarium and significant collections
of maritime artifacts and nautical photography. Together they create a
mix of a working 19th-century seafaring community and a museum of
massive proportions. You can poke through the old bank and print shop,
watch shipbuilders and craftsmen at work, view early gardens, board
three sailing vessels and visit the hardware store, schoolhouse, the
drugstore and doctor's office, and the delightful little Fishtown
Chapel. Guides cook on the open hearth of the Buckingham House kitchen,
sing chanteys and demonstrate sail-setting, whaleboat rowing and fish
salting. A highlight is a tour of the Charles W. Morgan (1841), the last
of America's wooden whale ships afloat, and a ride down the river on the
1908 steamboat Sabino. More than 400 small craft, the largest such
collection in the country, are on display in the Small Boat Exhibit and
North Boat Shed. Others are afloat along the seaport's docks or can be
seen from a visitors' gallery as they undergo repairs in the Henry B.
duPont Preservation Shipyard. (860) 572-0711 or (888) 973-2767.
www.mysticsearport.org. Open daily, 9 to 5, April-October, to 6 in July
and August, 10 to 4 rest of year. Adults $16, children $8. Mystic Aquarium,
55 Coogan Blvd., Mystic. A $52 million expansion has turned
the Mystic Marinelife Aquarium into one of the best anywhere. Only the
exhibit building and theater remain from days gone by. Now you’ll
linger at the spectacular outdoor Alaskan Coast habitat where beluga
whales and harbor seals swim about or bathe and bark, as the case may
be. Watch penguins pass by like so many little fish in an aquarium in
the Roger Tory Peterson Exhibit. Marvel at the high-tech audio-visuals
of Challenge of the Deep, home base of ocean explorer Robert Ballard’s
Institute for Exploration. Even the original exhibit building erected
only a few decades earlier has a new look. Now called Sunlit Seas, it
features 40 new fish and invertebrate exhibits. Highlights are a tidal
salt marsh that’s home to flounder, puffers and crabs and the colorful
Coral Reef, a 30,000-gallon habitat with sixteen viewing windows onto
500 varieties of exotic fish, sharks, stingrays and moray eels.
Challenge of the Deep presents fascinating deep-sea findings and
shipwrecks, including Ballard’s discovery of the sunken Titanic and
his most recent archaeological expeditions, including one in 2000 to the
Black Sea. (860) 572-5955.
www.mysticaquarium.org. Open daily, 9 to 5, to 6 July-Labor Day. Adults
$16, children $11. Denison Homestead Museum,
Pequotsepos Road, Mystic. This 1717 farmhouse is furnished with
heirlooms from eleven generations of Denisons. Billed as the only New
England home restored in the style of five eras, it has a Colonial
kitchen with fireplace, a Revolutionary era bedroom with four-poster
bed, a Federal parlor, a Civil War bedroom with ornate franklin stove
and an early 1900 living room with fine Dutch china. Just up the road
from the homestead is the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, a
125-acre wildlife sanctuary that was the bulk of a land grant given to
Capt. George Denison in 1654 by the King of England. Seven miles of
nature rails wind through the center. (860) 536-9248. Homestead open
mid-May to mid-October, Thursday-Monday 11 to 5. Adults $4. Nature
center open Monday-Saturday 9 to 5, Sunday noon to 4. Adults $6.
The historic “borough” of Stonington
is Connecticut’s most captivating coastal community. Off by itself on
a picturesque peninsula, it's a fishing village with Connecticut’s
last commercial fleet, an arts colony and a year-round residential
enclave. Old houses hug the streets and each other. The Portuguese
fishing population adds an earthy flavor to an increasingly tony and
sophisticated community, with interesting antique shops and galleries. Palmer House, 40
Palmer St., Stonington. The majestic, sixteen-room Victorian
mansion that Capt. Nathaniel Palmer and his seafaring brother Alexander
built in 1852 was saved by the historical society from demolition in
1994 and opened to the public as a fine example of a prosperous sea
captain’s home. Several rooms contain memorabilia from the brothers’
adventures, family portraits and local artifacts. The piano in the
parlor is the only original piece remaining in the house, but rooms are
furnished with period pieces. The craftsmanship by local shipwrights is
evident in the sweeping staircases and built-in cabinetry. The cupola
yields a view of the surrounding countryside and sea. (860) 535-8445. Open May-October,
daily except Tuesday 10 to 4. Adults $4. Old Lighthouse Museum, 7
Water St., Stonington. The first government-operated
lighthouse in Connecticut is perched on a rise above Stonington Point,
where the villagers turned back the British. Opened by the historical
society in 1927, this museum is a tiny storehouse of Stonington
memorabilia. Whaling and fishing gear, portraits of the town's founding
fathers, a bench dating back to 1674, articles from the Orient trade and
an exquisite dollhouse are included in the six small rooms. Climb
circular iron stairs of the tower to obtain a view in all directions. (860) 535-1440. Open May-October;
Tuesday-Sunday 10 to 5. Adults $4.
Material excerpted from New England's Best, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth, copyright 2002, and Inn Spots & Special Places in New England, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth, copyright 2004.
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