Well, I got so much good information here, it would have been awful of me not to post a trip report, even though we were only in Mystic for one night!
We drove from Fairfield CT to Mystic CT with several family members in from out of town for an overnight at the Hilton, across the street from the Mystic Aquarium. It only took us 1 hour and 10 min, but it was fun to spend the night to enjoy the hotel, etc. We all really liked our rooms...very clean and updated, quite nice despite other reports. The newly renovated pool was great and even had a playground just outside from the pool. Everything you need when traveling with little kids! We checked in early (bonus) and then just walked across the street to the aquarium. It was fairly crowded being April break here in CT, but still plenty of room to move about, seeing everything and it was fun for my 2.5 year old and my 70+ year old father. We were there for about 3 hours and then walked back to the hotel for a quick dip, then across the street again to "Go Fish". This is a huge restaurant right in Old Mystick Village and had a great kids menu, otherwise, the menu was expensive except for the wine which had many inexpensive wine choices. The strangest thing was, you could only order from their full sushi menu if you sat in one area of the restaurant. We never got a straight answer from anyone, but we assumed it was due to the lack of sushi chefs. Odd. But they seated us in a great room off to the side and our service was excellent. Nothing was open in the village afterwards (I'm sure b/c it was April) so we made the "long" walk to Friendly's for the longest wait ever for ice cream.
The next morning, we walked back over to the Aquarium since our one day tix were good for 3 days and had a short visit before getting in the car to drive down to the seaport. We said goodbye to the rest of our family/group as they went to visit the seaport (which they all enjoyed for a couple of hours but had an awful lunch experience at a galley cafeteria?) and drove home since our 2.5 year old was pooped.
I am happy to answer any questions and thank you all who helped me plan this very simple trip!
Sarah
IN case anyone cares...Mystic 1 night trip report
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Hi Sarah, I have had family members who have visited Mystic for just a couple of nights with their little ones so I enjoyed your report. Sometimes a trip close to home and with a simple itinerary is the best!!
We were stationed in Groton for a couple years, so went to Mystic often. Your trip report made me think back to our fun times there as well. Glad you enjoyed it!
Loveitaly- Thanks! We wish our son slept better at the hotel, but that is a whole other issue! I failed to mention that I left my 13+ mos old at home with my Mom, which was a good choice. Now, though we are wanting to go to another close by, slightly off season destination!
mms- It really was great for my son, even being 2.5 years old. I am glad you have wonderful memories as ours are just starting!
rungirl--Our son was the same age as yours when we lived there
Hi rungirl, I so envy you with your little ones. In my opionion trips with children are so precious. I look back so fondly on those times. And I am so glad we took our daughter with us everywhere unless she was at summer camp or spending some time with my aunt and uncle or her older brothers and sister etc. I have so enjoyed trips with my grandsons also. Precious memories which you will be collecting for the next few decades. Lucky you!
mms- Cute! Do you have any other fun local things to rec. for us?
LoveItaly- It's funny you should say that, b/c now that we are done having babies, I am "envious" of my friends with infants! But it is fun to finally start doing fun, family things with them. We look forward to more trips soon!
In Groton, Paul's Pasta was great. The kids loved watching the boats go under the bridge from there too. Near there is a park (cannot remember the name, but look on a map) that had a great play area and was right on the river, so the kids played in the water. It was very close to the Ledgelight lighthouse.
There are some great u-pick places up past Ledyard that had either pickings or events all year long. I will check and see if I have any of those flyers around still.
Over the years I've heard so many wonderful things about Mystic I really want to visit "one of these days"--it's on my list!
Glad you enjoyed a nice trip, I enjoyed reading about it.
I enjoyed the read, rungirl. It has been years since my last visit to Mystic, now I have to return!
Thanks, cmcfong! I'd be happy to help if you need it!