Mystic

Why Mystic:

I was in Rhode Island staying with my sister’s in-laws Paul and Betsey. Mystic, Connecticut, just 35 minutes from their house is constantly considered one of the top tourist destinations in all New England. Having never been, I asked to go for the day. 

July 27, 2024: A Heavy-Hitting Town

Mystic has three mega attractions: the Mystic Aquarium, Mystic Pizza and the Mystic Seaport Museum. Our goal was to visit all three despite a late start. 

We arrived at the Mystic Aquarium around 11:00. As this was a Saturday in the summer, at least 10% of all the children in Connecticut were here. After managing to find parking, we bought our ticket and headed in. 

The Mystic Aquarium is the largest in New England and one of the most famous in the United States. It is best known for its beluga whales which live in a tank right past the main entrance. 

Most of the exhibits are in a single building. While the building was not huge, every fish and creature shown was mesmerizing. There were no misses. 

In addition to the main building, there are significant outdoor exhibits including seals/sea lions and African penguins. 

In short, the aquarium was good but probably half the size that I was expecting given the steep entry fee. Just try to avoid going on a school holiday. 

We then drove across a dramatic drawbridge and into the town center of Mystic. Finding parking took nearly 20 minutes. The historic town is full of fun shops and restaurants and was bumping! 

We ate lunch at the iconic Mystic Pizza, which is the namesake of a 1988 Julia Roberts rom-com. While there was a wait for a table we got slices quickly from their slice counter. The pizza was tangy and overall, nothing special (Connecticut has steep competition) but definitely still tasty.

We then headed to our final attraction of the day and Connecticut’s single top tourist attraction: the Mystic Seaport Museum which celebrates Mystic’s longstanding shipbuilding industry. The museum has multiple parts. The front half of the museum is a recreated historic shipbuilding village. The museum took real 19^thcentury buildings from nearby towns and moved them here to create a fake village. 

The town has houses and numerous business such as a blacksmith, a school, church, rope factory, cooper and much more! The buildings are staffed by reenactors who will explain their craft. Many of the businesses also help run the museum; for example, the 19^th century printing press still creates the memos used by the museum to advertise events. 

Abutting the seaside town is the museum’s unparalleled collection of over 500 (yes 500) historic ships. This includes America’s oldest commercial vessel, a whaling ship from 1841. It is the only 19^th century American whaling ship in existence out of a historic fleet of more than 600.  

Not all the ships in the museum’s collection have ties to New England. One ship, the Gerda III, is a Danish vessel used during WWII to smuggle Jews from Nazi-controlled Denmark to neutral Sweden to save them from the Holocaust. Over 600 Jews were saved by this ship. 

The final part of the museum is the shipyard. Mystic is now the center of wooden ship repair and ship building in North America. Nearly every historic ship you visited on a field trip has at one point been worked on in Mystic. This includes the Mayflower II which I recently visited yesterday in Plymouth, Massachusetts. My guess is that the museum is singlehandedly propping up the industry, as wooden shipbuilding is incredibly niche in the 21^st century. 

Paul, Betsey and I spent 2.5 hours in the museum but easily could have spent 4. 

It was now 17:00 and we were spent. Mystic was still swarming with people, so we drove back to Rhode Island for dinner. 

Final Thoughts:

Mystic’s popularity is justified- this is one of the best coastal towns in all New England. It has two mega tourist attractions: the aquarium and the seaport museum. The town itself is gorgeous and lively. And it is easy to reach on I-95 or the New York-Boston train but is far enough from the major metro areas to still retain its own unique character. Also, it has the coolest name. 

Beyond Mystic Pizza, the town has a strong culinary scene. One of its restaurants just won a James Beard Award. Mystic also has a strong art scene – there were two separate art festivals the day we visited. 

Unlike most of New England, I think Mystic could be a year-round destination. Yes, the town is likely prettiest in summer and fall, but all the attractions and restaurants are open year-round. So maybe make this a winter getaway if you live in the region. 

The biggest downside of Mystic is price. The aquarium is over $60, the Seaport is over $30 and the food (excluding the pizza) is pricey. So expect to spend at least $150 per person on a day trip here.