(no subject)
We took a family trip this weekend - about 36 hours round-trip to Mystic, CT! It's a quick and easy 3-hour drive from here (let me remind you all that I am a Westerner at heart, and therefore have a Western attitude toward distance and car travel), and so totally fun!
We left on Saturday morning, so we got there about noon. First we went to the Mystic Aquarium, and watched beluga whales (a definite favorite for all of us), penguins (a favorite of mine, though these penguins were tired and languid - it was pretty warm out), sea lions, sting rays, etc. The indoor exhibits included a great room full of tanks of jellyfish that were incredible (another all-around favorite). We all got to pet a sting ray, which was cool. There was a nice Titanic exhibit too. The crowds were crazy and quite thick, and it was getting to be a bit much, so we left and went down to the Mystic Seaport. It is also So Cool. There is more space and elbow room at the Seaport, and in general seemed to be fewer people, so we liked that. We went aboard tall ships, and we messed around in some of the period buildings, and went to some fun participatory programs. A little lower-key, but still totally fascinating. When we were burned out on that (around closing time), we found our hotel and then went into downtown Mystic for dinner. It was a good meal - I will not forget that clam chowder for a while, I think - and we walked around a bit too. Went back to thud into bed.
Our tickets to both places allowed re-entry on a second day, so this morning, we got up and went back to the Seaport, rode a water shuttle (so fun to see the grounds from the water instead walking the shore), did more participatory programming, poked around, saw a whaling ship they are restoring, went to a planetarium show..... Then back to the Aquarium, where we visited the whales, pengies, and jellyfish. Before we hopped in the car to come home, we stopped by the USS Nautilus Museum in Groton - went aboard the submarine for a whole 10 minutes probably, because it was very close to closing. The onward to home (with a dinner at the halfway point in Northampton). Yay.
We left on Saturday morning, so we got there about noon. First we went to the Mystic Aquarium, and watched beluga whales (a definite favorite for all of us), penguins (a favorite of mine, though these penguins were tired and languid - it was pretty warm out), sea lions, sting rays, etc. The indoor exhibits included a great room full of tanks of jellyfish that were incredible (another all-around favorite). We all got to pet a sting ray, which was cool. There was a nice Titanic exhibit too. The crowds were crazy and quite thick, and it was getting to be a bit much, so we left and went down to the Mystic Seaport. It is also So Cool. There is more space and elbow room at the Seaport, and in general seemed to be fewer people, so we liked that. We went aboard tall ships, and we messed around in some of the period buildings, and went to some fun participatory programs. A little lower-key, but still totally fascinating. When we were burned out on that (around closing time), we found our hotel and then went into downtown Mystic for dinner. It was a good meal - I will not forget that clam chowder for a while, I think - and we walked around a bit too. Went back to thud into bed.
Our tickets to both places allowed re-entry on a second day, so this morning, we got up and went back to the Seaport, rode a water shuttle (so fun to see the grounds from the water instead walking the shore), did more participatory programming, poked around, saw a whaling ship they are restoring, went to a planetarium show..... Then back to the Aquarium, where we visited the whales, pengies, and jellyfish. Before we hopped in the car to come home, we stopped by the USS Nautilus Museum in Groton - went aboard the submarine for a whole 10 minutes probably, because it was very close to closing. The onward to home (with a dinner at the halfway point in Northampton). Yay.