Captain’s Log…Day Three ~ Into the Mystic
Ahhh, I love that song. Let’s take a moment for Van Morrison…
We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic
Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic…
Charles W. Morgan ~ Whaling Ship
Isn’t that a beautiful ship?! We got to go on it!! Yesterday we spent the afternoon in Mystic, Connecticut (which, DS#1 taught us, is spelled CONNECT-I-CUT, very helpful. He kept saying connect…I…cut, over and over until we all fully understood). Back to the adventure…
We have really enjoyed Mystic, Connect-I-cut. It’s a pretty place. We visited the Mystic Seaport yesterday. It is a Mystic “Don’t Miss”. Honestly, I would love to drive back up here with DH and see it again. It’s a National outdoor museum. You can read all about it if you follow the link above. You’ll be so impressed that you’ll be in Mystic before I return from my trip. The thing I liked best about the entire museum is how all the informational signs aren’t overwhelmed with technical terms and sailor only speak. The terms are there, but it is obvious this museum is all about teaching. It breaks the tough stuff down in digestible bites. I’m not a moron, you know (channeling Chet from Weird Science…second thought, maybe I am a moron…) so I can understand tech speak in different subjects…in a general way, but I don’t enjoy it. Who does? I mean hearing the snooty epicurean title “spaghetti bolognese” being offered to you might make you choose something else off the menu. Then you realize, “Oh, you mean noodles and sauce? Yeah, little Timmy will eat that and set me up with one too.” Well, you’re not going to find snooty down-talking here.
What we learned:
- how rope is made
- where the terms “upper case” “lower case” come from
- where the terms “first impression” & “mind your p’s and q’s” come from
- how the blubber was stripped from the whale, how it was cut down, where it was stored (ugh)
- there’s so much more, but I can’t go on forever…
What we did…
- Cruised the Mystic River aboard the Sabino, a 1908 coal-fired steamboat and National Historic Landmark. BTW, that thing is so quiet the tour guide could just talk to us in a regular voice. You could hear the breeze, the birds, each other…it was amazing. I must have a coal fired steamboat.
- Watched an informational flier get pressed on a cast iron printing press…that’s where we learned about making a “first impression”. It has to do with typeset being correct for the first print of the press. “Upper case and lower case” refers to the location of the rack of big letters and the smaller letters were kept in a case below the big letters. An apprentice would begin work with a printer around the ages of 10-12. One of his jobs would be to put all of the individual letters away after they had been used. The p’s and the q’s could easily be mixed up, so it was important to “mind your p’s and q’s”.
- We got to go onto and tour several enormous ships. It was incredible. They look huge from land…and they are huge. What a job those sailors had. A moment of respect. silence………………………………………………..
Well again, I could go on forever, but just trust me when I say that it’s a don’t miss. We learned and experienced so much, but I don’t want to turn this into a verbal slide show.
NEXT>>>>>>LIGHTS, CAMERA, PIZZA, ACTION…..
You know it. Do I have to tell you? Really? Of course we ate at Mystic Pizza! What?! Did it not put Mystic Connect-I-cut on the map for me? You think I’m just a geographical genius? Please. I learned how to take my first steps by watching a Kodak commercial. I certainly didn’t learn about Mystic in school…not that it probably wasn’t mentioned. Don’t dwell on that.
Well, it’s only a mile or so from the Seaport. You cross over a cool drawbridge and it’s on your right. It looks the same outside as it did in the movie, but the inside is totally different. Yes, the waitresses (mostly) wear the Mystic Pizza shirts. We got a pitcher of root beer and I had some New England beer. I forget exactly what it was, but it was great and I’m not even much of a beer drinker. We got a large pepperoni pizza. To me, it looked kinda great…and I know I’m having a heart attack in about 20 minutes. There was grease sitting in littles pools on top of the pepperoni. If you didn’t hang on to the cheese well, you’d pull it right off the pizza. I have to say though, the flavor was terrific. It didn’t taste like every pizza I’d ever had. It really was a bit different. Hey, a large is 8 pieces, so that was 2 each for my brood. You might consider ordering two. We also ordered a large basket of garlic bread. It was almost as good as the garlic bread DH makes. Awww, it made me happy.
The place is decorated with framed photos of movie stars and naturally, it also has a bunch of movie stills framed there too. A flat screen wall mounted TV was playing THE movie in the background. That was pretty cool, because I was then able to do some quick comparisons to the restaurant and the town. Yep. Some of it matches. The kids thought that was cool, but were later stunned and equally impressed to find out that it was rated R and they got to see some of it. They’re off to reform school now. LOL
Well, I woke up today at 6am…a cruel joke that I’ve yet to find the punchline to, but at least it gave me a chance to write. Gotta motor if I’m gonna pack in Plymouth, Mass today.
