Mystic Seaport & beyond: discover a bounty of maritime treasures along Connecticut's coastline - Brief Article

Travel America, Nov-Dec, 2001 by Vivian Holley

Two summers ago on the Fourth of July, crowds of holiday celebrants congregated to see an eye-popping parade of ships sail into New York Harbor--the stirring spectacle of OpSail 2000. From around the world the vessels came to stream past the Statue of Liberty, an 11-mile-long march of romantic tall ships and battle-tough warships, ships large and small, ships of many styles and stories.

Compared to some of its showstopper companions in the floating parade, the 136-ton, 129-foot Amistad from Mystic, Connecticut, was one of the more modest entries. But the re-created Cuban schooner steered by Captain Bill Pinkney sails tall when it comes to true storytelling. On its wooden decks in 1839, a cargo of 53 captive Africans rebelled against slave traders, later stood trial for piracy and murder, and inspired abolitionists to aid their plight. In 1997 the history-making vessel emerged from the pages of the past to star in the aptly named Steven Spielberg movie Amistad.

The born-again, built-by-hand schooner, its black hull striped with white, had been officially launched--not yet completed and still minus its masts, rigging, and sails--into the Mystic River on March 25, 2000. During the Amistad's reconstruction (at a cost of $3.1 million), its home for the previous two years had been Mystic Seaport, the country's largest maritime museum. It was a fitting choice of shipyards and a fitting swatch of America for the re-creation of the first Amistad, seized by U.S. authorities following the 19th century mutiny and towed to shore in nearby New London. Indeed, along this stretch of Connecticut's southeastern coast, the 19th century seems not so long ago at all.

Stroll the streets of Mystic Seaport and it's easy to envision yourself living in this whaling village in the days when it throbbed with seafaring activity. It throbs still. In the bustling shipyard at the south end of Mystic Seaport's 17 acres, the nearly lost art of wooden shipbuilding is thriving. In the overhead gallery that allows visitors to observe skilled craftsmen at work below, you can hear the tale of the Amistad and learn about the tools and methods of traditional shipbuilding.

Close by, awaiting boarding and investigation, is a lineup of vintage vessels (Mystic Seaport boasts the world's biggest collection of boats and maritime photography) that were once crafted by some of the same methods you just viewed in the shipyard. Among them is a wooden whaling ship, a fishing schooner, and a square-rigged tall ship.

You can stroll the busy streets, popping into village shops and taking in demonstrations of seamen's skills. Or tour the town in a horse and carriage, and cruise the river via steamboat. If suitably inspired by immersion in this world of nautical adventure, you can even rent a small boat and take to the waters yourself.

But be sure to allow ample time to soak up Mystic Seaport's new exhibit "Voyages: Stories of America and the Sea." Themed to people and their connection to the sea, the exhibit dives into subjects like immigration, foreign trade, recreation, and rivers. Interactive computer stations and hands-on art activities invite personal involvement.

In historic downtown Mystic, trace side streets along the river for a look at the comfortable homes of bygone sea captains. Even the contemporary shops, galleries, and eateries have a feel for yesteryear, tucked as they are inside an inviting mile of Victorian structures. When feet fail, you might drop into Mystic Pizza, a place made famous by the 1988 Julia Roberts movie.

Mystic lodgings are equally adept at conjuring up the past. My favorite stop is the Inn at Mystic, a 15-acre property sprawled across a hillside overlooking Mystic Harbor and Long Island Sound. The inn is a mix of several parts, including a motor lodge equipped with modern conveniences. More romantic, though, are the rooms with canopied beds in the antiques-furnished Haley Mansion, a circa-1904 Colonial Revival beauty perched atop the hill. Did I say romantic? The panoramas may be grandest from the mansion, but the romance meter fairly smokes in the Gate House, and not just because of its working fireplaces and warm English paneling. It was in softly lit room 8, they say, that Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall spent their 1945 honeymoon.

If a candlelit dinner suddenly seems a fine idea, you need only stroll down the hill to sample one of the region's most appealing restaurants--Flood Tide. It's handily situated on the Inn at Mystic's flowering acreage in a building that abounds with New England coastal charm. The cozy restaurant-lounge serves up views of local waters along with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Chef Bill Hall's masterful menu focus is on all that's fresh, from vegetables grown in the inn's garden and pears from its orchard, to wondrous straight-from-the-waters fish, lobster, and crab creations.

The ideal way to work off caloric overindulgence at the Flood Tide is a walking tour of nearby Stonington, easily accessible by car from the inn. (A chauffeured tour of Stonington is included with a tour of Newport mansions in the inn's popular Rolls Royce Package; call 800-237-2415 for information.) Along shaded, lilac-scented streets laid out in 1752 are wonderful old houses, irresistible galleries and antique shops, and a pair of 18-pound, circa-1783 cannons credited with staving off five British ships. The Old Lighthouse Museum is a must-see for its eclectic assemblage that ranges from Stonington pottery to a cannonball left from a British bombardment.