Thanks to Hurricane Irene, I only got to poke my big toe into New England this summer – just as far as Mystic, Connecticut. While I was disappointed to have to hightail it out of the Northeast prematurely, I’m glad I got to at least visit this little seaside village. It’s a great place for a short family getaway, especially as the leaves begin to change this fall.

Itinerary for a Mystic Weekend

You can book a couple nights in one of the local hotels or get back to nature at Seaport Campground. The wifi is limited to the main office, but the sites are spacious and the staff is friendly. It’s a nice campground for the money and is near the area’s best attractions.

Day 1

Head to breakfast (or brunch if you’re a late riser) at Kitchen Little, a diner that looks like a hole in the wall but offers up stellar seafood omelets. It’s a favorite among tourists and locals (when the tourists have gone home). After breakfast, keep heading down highway 27 to Mystic Seaport. Check out the shops and The Museum of America and The Sea (pick up the combo pass here to save on admission to local attractions later in your visit.) Plan to spend the rest of your day here wandering through the exhibits. Grab lunch or a snack at the Seaport, but hold off for dinner until you’re ready to leave, then head over to the infamous Mystic Pizza, inspiration for the Julia Roberts’ film of the same name.

Day 2

Start your day with breakfast at Somewhere in Time, a cafe known for their breakfast pastries. Past visitors swear by the homemade banana bread french toast. When you’ve filled up on syrupy baked goods, you’re just a short drive away from the Mystic Aquarium, one of the region’s best known attractions. You can spend the rest of your morning exploring the marine life exhibits on this compact campus, then take a lunch break at Ten Clams. Ten Clams isn’t known for it’s creative menu or fancy atmosphere, but it’s a good place to grab cheap lunch items. After lunch, hop into the car and enjoy the scenic drive up to the Mashantucket Pequot Museum. This museum is by and about the local Mashantucket Pequot tribe, the owners of the nearby Foxwoods Casino. The attract is award-winning and explores the tribe’s local history as well as the larger Native American story in New England. It’s an important perspective to have before leaving the area now dominated by European descendants.

Photo: Britt Reints

Mystic Seaport

Most people have only heard of Mystic, Connecticut from the Julia Robert’s movie, Mystic Pizza.  But New Englanders have known for years that Mystic is a fabulous destination for families – not because of the pizza but because of the family-friendly attractions!

I grew up going to Mystic, which is a convenient road trip not only for families from Boston and Rhode Island, but also for families from New York City.  I just love the quaint shops in Olde Mistick Village, an old American shopping village with beautiful landscaping.  The Mystic Aquarium and Mystic Seaport are also wonderful family-friendly locations that kids will absolutely enjoy.  The Seaport is perfect for families with boat-loving kids, while the aquarium appeals to all children.

If you are planning on visiting and seeing these attractions, you can probably save with the Mystic Pass.  The pass includes:

• Admission to both the Mystic Seaport and Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration
• One free fountain drink at Penguins Café at Mystic Aquarium.
• One free reusable water bottle.
• One free planetarium show at Mystic Seaport.
• Discounts for restaurants, attractions, lodging, and shops throughout the Mystic area through March 2011

Rates for the card range from $22 for kids aged 3-5 to $55 for adults, and if you are planning on visiting the Seaport and the Aquarium, you’ll probably find it worth the cost.

Photo credit: AMOC on Flickr

In my in-box:  “Black Holes!”  In the message, there was a notice about a new exhibition at Yale’s Peabody Museum:  “Black Holes:  Space Warps and Time Twists.”

My 5-year-old space fanatic son watched me open this email, forwarded from his grandmother who lives in New Haven, CT.  “A BLACK HOLE!” he screamed, and then begged for me to take him there right this minute.

Alas, we live in Southern California, and a trip to this exhibit would make it an expensive museum day indeed.  However, since we often travel to New Haven to visit family, all is not lost.  The exhibit, which explores the phenomenon of the super-sucking space sinkholes, runs through May 1, 2011.

Far from just a bunch of photos of black holes on the walls, the Peabody’s exhibit is an interactive “space mission” that makes you feel like you are going out into the universe and experiencing what an encounter with a black hole might feel like.  Visitors are given a journal to keep track of their mission, which they can view later online.

Part of the exhibit is a section about Yale scientists who are researching and looking for black holes.  Forget about professional sports players – these are worthy role models for a smart kid.

The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, located at 170 Whitney Avenue, is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.

Fancy meeting YOU here!

The next installment in my impromptu series on kids’ museums in Connecticut features the Connecticut Science Center, which opened in June 2009 and intrigues adults who have not yet gone to see it.  “I really want to get up there,” they say, and when I tell them I’ve been there they ask what it’s like.

“It’s great for kids,” I tell them, and I suppose with a cocktail party on the main level in the evening it would be great for adults, too, but that’s just me.  On a random day in the middle of summer, though, you can bet there are summer camps barreling through every exhibit, crowding up the films and shows, and clamoring for front-row views of the demonstrations.  With my life so full of Kid already, I can’t imagine visiting the center sans children.  But the place does Read More »