Sites Around the State Series

I've decided to begin a new chapter in my blogging adventure. It's going to be called Sites Around the State Series and I plan to share some great places to see and things to do around our great state of Connecticut!


Hopefully if you live nearby, or plan to visit sometime in the future, these posts will offer some helpful information and insight into some of the great places to see.


Living in New England we are blessed to be surrounded by hundreds of years of fantastic living history. I want to be sure I'm taking advantage of that and exposing my girls of all the great things about CT.


Some posts will be about hikes or outdoor adventures, some will be museums and such and others will be just good 'ol family fun to be found around these parts.


So here's to a new adventure! I hope you will enjoy the ride and even if you DON'T live nearby I hope you will enjoy seeing a good glimpse into our little 'ol corner of the USA!


MYSTIC SEAPORT - The Museum of America and the Sea


The girls and I and some homeschooling friends went to Mystic Seaport yesterday. It's located in Mystic, CT on the Mystic River. We have been there a couple other times, but the girls had been quite a bit younger and we just never made it very far before they were either bored or tired. This time, they were older and wiser and ready for adventure! haha ... more like it's always more fun with friends! {And never underestimate wearing good walking shoes!} At the seaport you will literally feel as though you are walking around an old whaling village. There are several large ships / sailboats on the water and many different buildings which represent the way the shops and buildings would have been many years ago. One of the kids favorite things to do was board a couple of the ships and check out what it would have been like to live onboard one.

One of MY favorite things was seeing this HUUUUGE model of the town of Mystic and the river which depicted the way the town looked about a hundred or more years ago. The details were incredible with tiny little people, lights in the houses, tiny ponies & carts, sawdust where they were building something, etc. I could have spent HOURS just looking at every little detail and picturing myself travelling the little dirt roads of Mystic many years ago ...

Another favorite part of mine was this lighthouse. Stepping inside of it we watched a short film about American lighthouses, when they came to be, how they were used, and how they function now. It was super interesting to me and I LOVED seeing all the unique lighthouses that we have across the US. {We have several great ones in our area.}

One of the large ships we went on, the men were working on repairing some of the rigging {I think that's what it's called!} I'm pretty sure our kids would have loved to climb those nets had they been given permission! hahaha

One thing that REALLY impressed me was that every building or ship we went in had extremely knowledgeable staff. Not like when you go in a shoe store and the associates have no idea about the product they're selling ... Not at Mystic Seaport! Every employee we interacted with knew their stuff and could easily explain what things were, what they were used for, and how they did things way back then. I was very impressed. This guy below was working in the silversmith shop and took a long time showing us how he made things and answering questions from the kids.

Here is the inside of the meetinghouse ... the kids wanted to know where was the nursery and Sunday school classrooms - hahaha.

And one of my fave buildings, the school house! I sorta wished I had a little school house of my own that was just like this! Best thing in the school house was the large woodstove right in the center of the room --- keeping everyone nice and toasty during school time.

This is the store where people would have bought dry goods and fabric and other wares ... the lady 'working' in this shop was VERY talkative and "wished us well in our endeavors" when she found out that we were homeschoolers. :)

Another very friendly and knowledgeable staff member teaching the kids about life on a boat ...

How would you like to sleep in one of those tiny bunks?

The Seaport also has a full sized Planetarium which was FABULOUS! We paid the extra $2.50 pp to go in and view a guided show that was about 30-40 minutes. Our guide 'Max' was great and interacted with the kids as he showed them things in the night sky. Since the girls and I are studying Astronomy this year it was really neat to see it sort of played out through the planetarium and I was impressed with how many answers they were able to give because of what we've been learning this year.

All in all the Mystic Seaport was a great place to visit. Truly a living museum of American history. This is a link to the website for the Seaport. And if you're interested, you can check out a pass at the local libraries which will allow you to tour the Seaport FOR FREE! {all we paid for was the Planetarium.}