Coolest things about the Mystic Seaport
One of over 1 million images, Courtesy of Mystic Seaport
Ok, The Mystic Seaport is amazing for literally anyone from anywhere to visit. That said, if you’re into ships and the sea and history, be warned that the seaport experience may be a euphoric nirvana for you. That’s high praise, but believe me this is an unparalleled, living, breathing monument to the maritime roots of the United States. Of course the “Mona Lisa” of the Seaport is the Charles W. Morgan, and you can visit their website for the details on everything, but here’s an “insiders guide” to a few of the coolest things about the Mystic Seaport from our standpoint.
- National Historic Landmarks: There are 90,000 places listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There are 2500 designated National Historic Landmarks in the entire country. Four of those Landmarks are ships floating at the seaport that you can climb aboard: Charles W. Morgan (sole remaining wooden whale ship), Emma C Berry (Noank fishing smack), LA Dunton (Gloucester fishing schooner), Sabino (oldest coal-fired steamboat). Note: there are also hundreds of other historic watercraft on display or archived.
.
-
Built into the seaport experience are highly knowledgeable “interpreters” and others whose mission is to take time for explaining, in vivid and colorful detail, what you are seeing. Note: try to go early or on off days to take best advantage of this resource!
. - There is a working shipyard at the Seaport actively preserving the art and craft of wooden shipbuilding. Incredible. We’re talking major projects. Currently they are restoring a precise replica of the Mayflower for Plimouth Plantation. This is a 5 year project to prepare for the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage (1620 – 2020).
. - Massive collections and resources (for the hard cores) including 2 million artifacts: “…The collections range from marine paintings, scrimshaw, models, tools, ships plans, an oral history archive, extensive film and video recordings, and more than 1 million photographs—including the incomparable Rosenfeld Collection….”
For God’s sake go to the seaport, but please do more than stroll the waterfront. There is so much to absorb and they’ve created amazing access on so many levels (only a few noted above).
For a unique walking tour, food tour, historic tour or guided tour of Mystic, Stonington or Noank, please contact [email protected] the founder of Mystic Revealed.