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There
Are More Places To Visit In The Connecticut
Why
Vacation in Connecticut
Mystic
and New London Connecticut: Seafaring a Cut Above
 
Maple
Tree in Autumn, Litchfield Hills, Connecticut, USA
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Mystic and New London Connecticut: Seafaring a Cut
Above by John Pelley
Stop
and visit the Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center in Olde Mistick
Village, a quaint shopping center with off the wall boutiques. Get some
wonderful advice. Besides the famous aquarium which has both indoor and
outdoor exhibits and the hands on exploration of Mystic Seaport, which
offers costumed docents and craftsmen describing 19th century life in a
shipbuilding seaport, take a drive across the river and explore the homes
on the waterfront. Not only are you afforded views of crowded Mystic
Seaport with hundreds of children roaming the ships, buildings, and other
exhibits, you also have the narrow waterfront streets to yourself. Drive
at a walking pace, admiring the homes of the citizens. Each house has a
plaque naming the original owner, occupation, and date of construction.
There were carpenters, captains, sail makers, doctors, clergymen,
merchants, tavern keepers, mechanics, etc. This is a real treat, not only
being far from the madding crowds, but also seeing the 19th century
actual houses where these men and their families lived. From the exterior
construction, size, architecture and surrounding landscaping, these were
prosperous men.
Sailboats
in a River, Mystic, New London County, Connecticut, USA
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Leaving
the quiet waterfront, visit the rest of the town, passing by Mystic
Pizza, where the 1988 movie was filmed. The rest of the town climbs into
the surrounding hills, offering views of the Mystic River and the Long
Island Sound. On the way out of town on Rte. 1 find a small cemetery
dating from the War of 1812.
Stop
at Stonington, CT; another surprise. Once again the streets are very
narrow with the homes of people in the seafaring business. One notable home
is of Captain Edmund Fanning who was the first one to fly the United
States of America flag around the world in 1798-9 aboard the Betsy.
A
little known event which occurred here is a fierce battle against the
British. Holding off the landing parties from three British ships the
local citizens of Stonington and Mystic held off the invasion. A
lighthouse at the point still stands from the days of the battle. The
cemetery you passed is the home to these brave men from Mystic. The men
from Stonington are interred in a likewise historic cemetery in their
town.
Across
the Pawcatuck River, the dividing line between Connecticut and Rhode
Island, you venture into Westerly, RI. See the carousal at Watch Hill
Point. This merry-go-round was built in 1870. Each horse is hand carved
out of a single piece of wood. Their tails and manes are real horse hair.
The horses swing out when the carousal rotates giving the illusing of
flying. The carousal still is in operation.
Ferris
Wheel Against a Summer Sky, New London, Connecticut, USA
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at AllPosters.com
Next
visit New London. New London is also the boyhood home of Eugene O'Neill,
Monte Cristo Cottage. Overlooking the harbor, O'Neill, the only
playwright to win the Nobel Prize, used this setting for two of his
plays, Long Day's Journey into Night and Ah, Wilderness. Signage in
Connecticut is wonderful, until you get into the towns. The founding
fathers assume that you know what street you are on. They are very good
about giving the names of the cross streets, but are remiss on the main
streets. You might have a difficult time finding Pequot Street, where
O'Neill's home was at. Use a map.
Trumbull's
House, War Office. In the heart of Lebanon, CT, find the home of Jonathan
Trumbull, the only colonial governor who sided with the revolutionaries.
London was situated midway between Boston and New York. His home was the
meeting place of more than 1,200 strategy meetings. Perhaps the most
important one was with Washington and Comte de Rochambeau before the
battle of Yorktown.
His
neighbor happened to be Dr William Beaumont, the "Father of
Physiology". He observed and documented the digestive process in
human beings through a wound to the stomach of a patient, which did not
heal properly.
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