Mystic Seaport

Frommer's Review

Few visitors fail to be enthralled by this evocative museum village. It encompasses an entire waterfront settlement, more than 60 buildings on and near a 17-acre peninsula poking into the Mystic River. Plan to set aside at least 2 or 3 hours -- if not an entire day -- for a visit. A useful map guide is available at the ticket counter in the visitor center in the building opposite the museum stores (which stay open later than the village most of the year, so make them your last stop).

Exit the visitor center and bear right along the path leading between the Galley Restaurant and the village green. It bends to the left, intersecting with a street of shops, public buildings, and houses. At that corner is an 1870s hardware and dry-goods store.

Turning right here, you'll pass a schoolhouse, a chapel, and an 1830s home. Stop at the children's museum, which invites youngsters to play games characteristic of the seafaring era. It faces a small square that is the starting point for horse-drawn wagon tours.

From here, the three-masted barque Charles W. Morgan, one of the proudest possessions of the Seaport fleet of over 400 craft, is only a few steps away. It was built in 1841.

If you're a fan of scrimshaw and ship models, continue along the waterfront to the right until you reach the Stillman Building, which contains fascinating exhibits of both. Otherwise, head left toward the lighthouse. Along the way, you'll encounter a tavern, an 1833 bank, a cooperage, and other shops and services that did business with the whalers and clipper ships that put in at ports such as this.

The friendly docents in the village are highly competent at the crafts they demonstrate and are always ready to impart as much information as visitors care to absorb. The fact that they aren't dressed in period costumes (except during special events like the Christmas lamplight tours) paradoxically enhances the village's feeling of authenticity by avoiding the contrived air of many such enterprises.

The next vessel encountered is the iron-hulled square-rigger Joseph Conrad, which dates from 1881. Up ahead is a small lighthouse, which looks out across the water toward the large riverside houses that line the opposite shore. Round the horn, go past the boat sheds, the fishing shacks, and the ketches and sloops that are moored along here in season until you come to the dock for the perky little 1908 SS Sabino. This working ship gives half-hour river rides from mid-May to early October, daily from 11am to 4pm, and 1 1/2-hour evening excursions Monday through Thursday leaving at 5pm, Friday and Saturday at 7pm. A few steps away is the 1921 fishing schooner L. A. Dunton.

And still the village isn't exhausted. A few steps south is the Henry B. Du Pont Preservation Shipyard, where the boats are painstakingly restored. One recent project was the re-creation of the schooner Amistad, which inspired an exhibit exploring the historical incident.

Also on the grounds are the Galley Restaurant, which serves pretty good fish and chips, fried clam strips, and lobster rolls; and Sprouter's Tavern, which offers snacks and sandwiches.

When you exit for the day, ask the gatekeeper to validate your ticket so you can come back the next day for free.

Across the brick courtyard with the giant anchor is a building containing several museum stores as well as an art gallery. These superior shops stock books, kitchenware, fresh-baked goods, nautical prints and paintings, and ship models.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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