Dayton Kingery: Mystic,Blast from the Past & Refreshingly Modern

Greenwich CT

19 January, 2021

1:55 AM

Description

It feels a bit odd to refer to any section of Interstate 95 as "off the beaten track," especially the 200 miles leading from New York to Boston, which must be one of the busiest stretches of highway on earth. Somehow, however, the town of Mystic manages to pull it off. Nestled on the Connecticut coast halfway between the big cities, Mystic is both a window to the early years of American history and a upscale destination for east coasters looking to get away for a holiday weekend, or even just for a Sunday out-of-town. Of course, visiting the city at the moment goes together with Covid-19 restrictions, which at the moment include required quarantine for people entering Connecticut from states other than New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island. But the museum is open to the public, both in person and online. Without question, the centerpiece of the town is the Mystic Seaport Museum, which serves both as a tribute to the region's maritime history and a research center dedicated to "inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience." The most notable exhibition is the Charles W. Morgan, a whaling ship that dates to 1841 and is the oldest American commercial vessel still in existence. Current exhibitions also include A Way with Wood, Voyaging in the Wake of the Whalers, Figureheads & Shipcarvings, Mary Mattingly's Open Ocean, the Benjamin F. Packard Ship's Cabin, and Sailor Made. For individuals and families who would like to get to know the museum but are not quite ready to return to public venues there is an option to visit from home. The museum also offers an extensive remote lecture series on topics ranging from virtual role playing to the lore of ancient Egypt to Mayan civilization and more. Once visitors have spent time inside the museum grounds internalizing the maritime history of the Atlantic coast, the town of Mystic acts as a bridge between past and present. The museum grounds are dotted with storytellers, musicians, and craftspeople illustrating the ways in which 19th century Americans earned their livelihoods from the sea, as well as the the Henry B. DuPont Preservation Shipyard, where shipwrights demonstrate the skills and techniques of traditional shipbuilding. In walking distance from the museum are some of the best seafood restaurants in the United States, many of which come with a sea view (well, in normal times, anyway!)