By Land or Sea

Going to Mystic Seaport in eastern CT, is a nice way to spend a fall day  - especially if you take a grandson. It is a very nice area and they have a fine boat collection  - the summer is the best time to see them all, but the big attraction this Nov. was a chance to look at the whaleship Charles Morgan. They pulled it out Nov 1.

They used the old fashioned method of a marine railway.  Katrina knocked down many live oak trees, and some of them were donated to the museum to fix up the Morgan.

Here is a shot of 2 of Mystic’s boats.

There is an old fishing schooner - the LA Dunton that was in the water and open - it fished the Grand Banks off Newfoundland.  They have left the lower area pretty original - even some salt cod under glass.Trent - my grandson got a kick out of “steering” the boat.

There are quite a few notable boats that stop at Mystic and/or stay for the winter.  Nina is a famous old racing schooner -

Amistad had stopped and the crew was doing some work on the boat - she was built for education and telling the Amistad story.

There was even a small schooner for the kids.

 There are some demonstrations including a blacksmith shop - one of my favorites  - The backsmith decided to make a coat hook, and my grandson was facinated -

The blacksmith gave him the coat hook

A fun trip  - even for little kids.

Stopped back on Feb 7 and the Morgan had steps up so you could get on the deck and then down below - it was the first day that was open.   Mystic was hosting both the Catboat Assoc.  and the American Schooner Association - I was down there for that.     The Morgan will be out and undergoing repairs for at least 3 years.  It is really worth seeing  - there are not a lot of Whaleships around any more.