xpost: Mystic

For those who have been to Mystic, would you recommend staying there just one night or two? DH and I are thinking of taking our 2 year old there for a little getaway...is there a lot to do there? I'm thinking that we'd take the ferry over, go to the aquarium the day we arrive...and then I'm not sure what else there is to do with a toddler. I'm looking at hotels now and I'm curious if it would be worth booking a place for 2 nights or if we could just make it a one-night trip.
TIA!

Re: xpost: Mystic

I think you could get it done in one day. The aquarium wasn't too big, I think we got through it in less than 2 hours. And the seaport is right down the road, which we actually enjoyed more than the aquarium.

If you do chose to extend your trip, there are things you can do. Essex is nearby, where you can ride a steam engine. And so is Mohegan Sun. At the recommendations of fellow LIFers, we brought our kids there for dinner and shopping. It was super kid friendly and the kids loved it, especially our 10 year old.

Re: xpost: Mystic

We took my DD at that age and stayed for a long weekend, she loved it. We did the aquarium, walked around the little shopping village, and also went over to the seaport to see all the ships. We also went to both Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods with her during the day and walked around, shopped, and ate. It was a nice weekend.

Re: xpost: Mystic

Thank you for the responses! I appreciate the feedback! :)

Re: xpost: Mystic

We just got back from Mystic this evening.

DS is almost 3 and we went with another couple that has two children, ages 4.5 and 2.

We stayed for 3 nights and i think that was a good amount of time for us. Granted if it was just us and DS it would have had a little more time because adding kids just adds times to activities.

The first day we drove there and stopped at The Dinosaur Place which is about 20 minutes from Mystic. We only walked around outdoors and then let the kids played in the playground. Before going to there, we had lunch at Oakdale Pizza which was good.

The second day we went to the Mystic Seaport. We walked around there, went on a horse and carriage ride, say a pirate "play" (it was a cute little production) and took a boat ride. We then had lunch and kids took a nap. The seaport closed by the time we got back to it, so we took the kids to a local playground (Mystic River Playground) and let them run around to get their sillies out before dinner.

The third day we went to the Mystic Aquarium. We spent most of the day there. My DS is OBSESSED with animals. We saw the seal lion show, the shark feeding, all the exhibits in the main gallery and then the sponge bob 4D show and saw the titanic exhibit. We fed the kids at the aquarium. Then saw the outdoor exhibits. We let the kids nap in the car and after went back to the playground for a little before dinner.

The fourth day we went back to the Mystic Seaport so the kids could go to the Children's museum, which was just ok. Someone told us their children played there fore 2 hours. Our kids were playing but I don't think it was a 2 hour type of museum. The have arts and crafts stuff for kids too - but most of it is for 4 and older and they strictly enforce that. We then let them play at the playground at the seaport, had lunch and then headed home.

There is another Children's museum (i think children's museum of southeastern connecticut). We didnt go there but I wish we had. I think the kids would have had a lot more fun there at that museum as opposed to the one at the seaport. You can definitely quickly hit the children's museum at the seaport the day you go to the seaport.

Food wise, if you like lobster - we found the most amazing lobster rolls at Ford's Lobster in Noack - which is about 10 minutes away. I was doing research online and someone reviewing Abbott's Lobsters mentioned Ford's is where the locals go. The lobster bisque there was awesome too. It is a BYOB place. We had lunch there two days.

We had dinner one night at Latitude 41 which was super yummy.

We had too many kids otherwise we would have walked in all the little shops in Old Mystic. Very cute place. Also, there is yummy ice cream at a place at the drawbridge.

Have fun!

xpost: Mystic

We took DS when he was 14 months, and we stayed only one night. It was more than enough.