Mystic, CT in a Day

Looking for a charming New England city that offers fun attractions in a picturesque landscape? Then look no further than the city of Mystic, CT. Located in Southeast Connecticut, Mystic is a about 2 1/2 hours from New York City, 2 hours from Boston, or an hour from Hartford, CT. There are many options including flying into one of those cities, or Providence T.F. Green International Airport, which is located about 45 minutes away. We opted to drive there. For the city of Mystic, it is necessary to have a car, as the attractions in this post are not within walking distance of each other. Nothing is longer than a 20 minute drive though.

We started our day at a cute Orchard called Holmberg Orchards. This scenic orchard is located about a 15 minute drive away from the city center of Mystic, so it is close by. They offer lots of different pick your own fruit options. Depending on what time of year you visit, you can pick blueberries, peaches, pumpkins, and apples. Be sure to look up online what days they are open, and the hours of operation. We went on a Thursday at 9 in the morning. While we were there we had the opportunity to pick apples. The rolling country side and cute barn just added to the ambiance of the Orchards. Holmberg also has a country store that offers fresh fruit and vegetables, a bakery section, and other grocery items that the farm produces. While we were there, they were promoting their peach salsa!

After the orchards we made our way to the Mystic Aquarium! A big thank you to Stevi Bramich for helping us with our trip here! The general ticket includes admission to the exhibits and entrance to the Sea Lion show. There are options to pay more to see the National Geographic theater, 4D theater, and the Birds of the Outback exhibit. The Sea Lion Show is offered at four different times during the day, so be sure to plan your trip around seeing this. We went to the 10:30am show, so it was the first thing we saw. This show highlights both the talents of the sea lions while also educating the audience about different ways to help conservation efforts. The show ran about 20 minutes. It is a great stop if you want to sit down in some air conditioning too. The California Sea Lions are extremely talented and it was a great show to watch!

After the Sea Lion show we went to the Main Indoor Exhibit. This room has many tanks filled with salt water fish, fresh water fish, frogs, and turtles. There was also an exhibit that showed multiple different jelly fish! The lighting for these was done very well so the jelly fish looked really cool. There were lots of educational spots so while you are looking at the animals you can learn more about them too! The main exhibit also features tanks where you can see sharks and the California Sea Lions from the show.

Once we finished the Main Indoor Exhibit, we made our way outside. Here you can see the largest Beluga Whale exhibit in the United States, as well as the Penguin Pavilion, Sea Lions, seals, and one of our favorites the Swamp Trek. We were originally going to skip the Swamp Trek, but it was a lot of fun to search for the frogs and turtles! They had so many different species, and you can really get some good pictures of them. The Beluga whales were so playful and fun to see. We even got splashed by one, so that provided a fun story. The outdoor park is partly shaded, so it is smart to bring a hat or sunglasses if you go on a sunny day.

All of the animals at the aquarium looked happy and healthy, and it was great to learn more about these creatures. The Mystic Aquarium does a lot with conservation, so you can get a small look at the rehabilitation they do to help the animals! The Mystic Aquarium is a great stop for the whole family, and be sure to stop by the gift shop for some great aquatic themed buys!

After the aquarium we made our way to lunch at Go Fish. While the Aquarium does have food available we decided to go to Olde Mistick Village for a different location. Go Fish was a higher end seafood restaurant. Inside featured colorful murals and had colorful decorations hanging from the ceiling. Two options we recommend are the Crab Cakes and the Calamari. Everything was delicious!

Once we had lunch, we walked around Olde Mistick Village for a few minutes. There were lots of shops that ranged from Souvenir type places, clothing shops, Christmas shops, and even Ice Cream places. There are lots of places to sit and enjoy the views. It would be easy to spend a whole afternoon here just casually meandering your way through the shops.

After we had enjoyed the views of the village, we made our way through the actual city of Mystic. Located here is the famous Mystic Seaport, a large "living museum" where you can experience what a seaport is like. We unfortunately did not have time to go in and see the Seaport, and it should be noted that this does cost money. On our next visit though we would have loved to stop by! Also in Mystic is the famous Mystic Pizza! You can drive by this small restaurant, or stop by and have some pizza and get to relive the Mystic Pizza movie. This was a fun stop too see. There were lots of entertaining little sights in Mystic that you can stop by and watch like the drawbridge, some ice cream stores, and just admiring the views of the water.

After we drove through Mystic(it was around 2pm at this point), we made our way to Fort Griswold. Used during the Revolutionary war, this fort is now a state park that lets you get to see a little bit of history. You can walk around the star shaped fort, see plaques that explain more history of the battle, and get a better understanding of what happened at the Fort and at the largest battle to occur in the state of Connecticut. There is also a small museum that you can visit, free of charge, that shows some historical artifacts and gives you a better sense of the battle. Next to the museum is the Groton Monument, which when opened lets you climb 166 steps to get an amazing 360 degree view of Groton. We luckily were able to climb the steps and see the amazing views.

Our day was slowly winding down by this point(around 4:30pm), but we did manage to stop by the Submarine Force Library and Museum. Groton is where the World's first nuclear powered vessel is located, so there is a whole museum giving information about the past and present submarines!

Depending on how much time you have left while you are in Mystic you could stop by the Foxwoods Casino. Inside this resort there is a Tanger Outlets with stores like Under Armor, Kate Spade, Brooks Brothers, Nike, Columbia, and so much more! This could be a great place to get some deals on your favorite brands.

Overall, the city of Mystic is a fun place to visit and take in the day! There is so much to do and see, plus the views of the water are incredible. From the cute stores to the history there is something for everyone in Mystic, CT. Below is a map of our travels so you can see where we went, and the spots in green are some of our suggested stops in case you have more time than we did.
What would you have done in Mystic that we didn't have time for? Be on the look out for our new post about Key West! Thanks to Skyscanner we were able to find a great priced flight to Atlanta, so we are going to be going there soon! What cities should we go to after? Be sure to check out our Instagram and Twitter account for travel tips, pictures, and other fun facts.

Blue skies,

Kat&Elle
#americainaday