Mystic, Connecticut, is a charming seaside village located along the Mystic River in the southeastern part of the state. It is famous for its maritime heritage, historic charm, and quintessential New England atmosphere.

Coming from Pennsylvania, we drove through piece of New Jersey and New York to get to Connecticut. When I planned the trip, I had no idea how close we would be to New York City, so we were excited to see the Manhattan skyline and drive over the Hudson River on the George Washington Bridge. Then we made our way to the Merritt Parkway (Route 15), which is a very scenic drive from Greenwich to Milford CT. The architecture of every bridge overpass is different and interesting. Not much color at the time we went through it, but I’m sure it would be gorgeous later in the fall.  Then we followed I-95 until we reached our destination of Mystic, Connecticut. Mystic is a historic seaport village with a lot of New England charm.   

Sights to See:

• Mystic Seaport Museum – It is a village set up much like historic Williamsburg, where it replicates the port village from the late 1800s with different building showing things like wooden barrel making and sail making. There was also an old wooden whaling ship you could walk through to see how the sailors lived, as well as other boats and ships as displays. You can spend hours there to see every building. Very cool and kid friendly. Costs $35 Adults, $22 Children.  They also offer 90-minute narrated cruises down the Mystic River for an additional cost.
• Old Mistick Village – It is an open-air shopping village of colonial style building with approximately 50 unique specialty shops and eateries. Some examples of their shops:
  • Bestemors – a Scandinavian gift shop with items from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark
  • Irish Eyes – an everything Irish specialty gift shop
  • Pepper Place – offering a selection of hot sauces, spice mixes, salsa and BBQ seasonings
  • Toy Soldier – a toy store with unique and retro toys and collectibles
  • Kitch – a kitchen gadget store
  • Sofia’s Magical Christmas – a Christmas Store with every variation of Christmas ornament you can imagine.
• Downtown Mystic – The heart of Mystic is a quaint little fishing and boating town with a main street of shops and restaurants. First we drove around the town looking at the architecture of the homes and building and boats in the marina. Then we ended the evening walking the town with its quaint shops and stopping for dinner at one the restaurants on Main Street. Don’t miss stopping in front of Mystic Pizza, from the 1980’s movie, for pictures.
• Mystic River Bascule Bridge – We watched the last opening of the day for the Mystic River Bascule Bridge right from the edge of the bridge. It is the oldest operating one-side-lift bascule bridge in the United States, with visible exposed machinery, and an overhead counterweight system made of concrete. We weren’t expecting it to be one of the highlights of the day, but it was–it was pretty cool to see it raised and lowered.