Best of: Mystic

Just like in (Old) England with Stratford upon Avon, I wasn't really looking forward to the tiny little town of Mystic CT in New England.  And of course, just like in (Old) England, I fell in love with the tiny little town from the get go.  Mystic is so much more than just the setting of "Mystic Pizza".  Granted, I was only there for about 24 hours, but I have to say, I could have stayed there much longer.  There's not much to do, but there seems like so much to see.  It may not be a trip full of adventures around every curve, but the city has enough charm to keep you coming back for more!

Seeing as I'm slightly predictable, my favorite place was Bank Street Books.  I'm a sucker for a good bookstore and this one surpassed even my wildest dreams for an independent book shop.  The store is jam packed with floor to ceiling shelves, and has so many titles that I've never seen in a Barnes & Noble.  I walked out with 3 books and some stationery but could have been so much worse than I was.  At one point, I was narrowing down the books I was going to buy from 6.  Like I said, the place is Awesome! (Also, the whale outside, is so much cuter than any other mascot I've ever seen!)

Then, came my travel partner's, aka the history buff's favorite which was Mystic Seaport. It's a replica of what Mystic would have looked like back in the day when fishing and whaling were the town's full source of income.  It wasn't really my cup of tea, (no real shopping or eating involved) but the seaport sits on the water (obviously!) so there were lots of pretty boats to see and visit.  Also the day was gorgeous, so taking lots of pictures outside was the perfect thing to do.

Then of course, always the best part of any trip, was the food.  Now I must say Boston and Newport had some serious runners in the race, but for me, the best food of the trip was had in Mystic, even though we never made it to THE Mystic Pizza.  I've never loved Lobster Rolls because of the cold lobster meat, I'd much rather have it warm.  But I learned in CT, they make theirs warm which was enough for me.  Seeing that The Ancient Mariner served theirs with Tater Tots was just icing on the cake.  Then of course there was Ice Cream at Twisters: a road side ice cream shack right on the water.  What's not to love? (The iced tea for one thing, but that can be overlooked - that lobster roll was to die for!)  PS: Sorry for the terrible iPhone pic of the lobster roll - I may have been a bit too excited to eat it : )