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Mystic Seaport, CT
International Magazine
Living History at Mystic Seaport®
© 2003 By Bonnie Neely, Photos By Bill Neely
Have you ever wanted to go to a place that existed only in your imagination..you see it hazily through the fog, you sniff the cool, crisp air, you hear the birdsongs twittering above, see a glint of brilliant sunlight reflected on water. In your imagination you might hear a train whistle's whooo-whhooo approaching and you wish to get aboard. You might feel the gentle rocking of a great sailing vessel and imagine your ancestors crossing the ocean. In your reverie you long to go to such a mystic place of simpler times gone by. Located between two historic towns Mystic Seaport® is the place of your dreams and the perfect destination for a fascinating and educational family vacation. Located on the Mystic River harbor and nestled beween the town of Groton on one side of the Mystic Bridge and Stonington on the other side of the bridge Mystic Seaport® is a non-profit institute dedicated to the preservation of historic wooden sailing vesssels of all types. This indoor-outdoor museum comprises an entire historic village, so it feels like the town of your reverie, and you could happily spend a week or more enjoying all the maritime history it has to offer. Groton and Stonington are modern towns although still beautifully quaint and unique with many of the unique shops and businesses situated in well-preserved old buildings.
Sea Dogs…are they the salty old sailors? Think again! Everyone knows about firehouse dogs, but who has ever heard of dogs, real dogs at sea? A new extensive exhibit at Mystic Seaport® is a delight of learning about these brave little friends who are far more than pets at sea and have a long historoy of being important shipmates. Children and adults alike will love the experience which is a main focus for the year. You''l find lifesized black iron dog silhouettes marking the special exhibits throughout the living museum. There are canine demonstrations, true stories, and photographs, and memorabilia of real ship dogs and theier heroism, lighthouse dogs and their companionship,US K-9 Corps Defense dogs and their bravery.This is an exhibit that will inspire and cheer children from one to one hundred. Mystic Seaport® Publishing Company has produced an enticing Sea Dogs book for children's souvenirs you'l want to purchase in the gift shop.Mystic Seaport® Museum of America and the Sea is the reason to go to this area of Connecticutt. Not actually a town, Mystic Seaport® Museum of America and the Sea is on the Stonington side of the Mystic River, while the town of Grotton is just across the Mystic draw bridge, but everyone refers to the whole area as Mystic. A unique private, non-profit institute,it is th eleading maritime museum and preservation in the US and is world renowned.
This indoor-outdoor museum comprises the whole seaport on the Mystic River, a working shipyard which repairs and restores all the historic wooden ships in the collection, a sawmill which is used to prepare the trees donated by highway clearing and land owners tree farming to make way for young trees in old forests.White ash is used for oars, and whaling boats had oars 22 feet long. White oak is for the ship frame. Live oak, a protected tree, was donated from a SC highway project to build the Amistaad replica in 2000, which just happened to coincide with the famed movie. Spielberg came here to research the film.
Visitors can see the old village with its rare historic shopes with fishing village necessities, and this living, working past. There is a children's museum and daily events (check the printed schedule for exhibitions and times), and a Planetarium which features regular shows.
You'll find some first person interpreters in costume and in period, who speak as if they are in the mid nineteenth century. But this living history museum emphasizes the third person interpreters who are not in costume and are very knowledgeable of the maritime history and are there to answer your questions or guide you to more discoveries. There is much of interest for every age level, and adults or maritime enthusiasts and collectors could spend a week here studying the various in-depth exhibits which house more than two and a half million items of maritime history.
According to Peter Glenkoff, director of communications, in 1957 planes surpassed ships for international travel. He spoke nostalgically, “I traveled to New York on a steamer at the age of fourteen, and it was a premiers experience of my life. Since 1957 we have lost the American experience of the sea, our relation to the sea, how we got here.”
Wooden whaling ships were a historic landmark, and without whale oil the industrial revolution would not have been possible. Here you can board an authentic whaling ship, sailing ships,, and oil tankers and see premier re-enactments of many of the sailors tasks, from hoisting the sails to bilge pumping by hand.
For the entry price this historic site has much to offer for those with a casual interest in ships and the sea and just want to be entertained. There is a marvelous fine art collection of paintings, prints,statuary related to the sea. You'll find the ship figurehead museum fascinating. An excellent scale diorama of the mid nineteenth century Mystic River with the village and seaport is in the Model House. For a nominal extra charge you can see the Planetarium or You can ride a horse carriage through the old village or ride a steamboat on the river, rent boats to row yourself.
However,Mystic Seaport ® is not only a destination for fun but also for learning for ages pre-school through Elderhostel. For serious students or historians this museum offers far more. There is a semester undergraduate college credit program in Maritime Studies through Williams College, and another program, the Museum Institute for Graduate Studies, including ship building and literature of the sea. (On July 31,the anniversary of Herman Melville's birthday, they feature aboard the whaleship an around the clock continuous reading of Moby Dick.) Call 1-888-SEAPORT for educational offerings.
The indoor-outdoor museum houses 520 historic wooden vessels,, which must be continually removed from the water and maintained and preserved in the working shipyard. This non-profit Institute guards one of the most extensive maritime collections in the world, yet you can also have the thrill of docking or mooring your boat overnight here and find pumping facilities, heads & showers, and excellent restaurants and have the opportunity of visiting these historic vessels. Reserve your spot ahead.
Several world famous vessels are here including the 1908 Steamer Sabino from Maryland, the last operating coal fired steamboat. You can take one of her silent cruises any day, or sometimes have the special cocktails and Dixieland band event in evenings.Quentin Snediker,the head of the shipyard, showed us the Brilliant in dry dock. She had been lifte from the water on the Lift Dock which has 240horsepower engines to raise and lower the whole dock by wenches. It is quite a different experience to see a ship with the entire hull exposed and to realize how immense it is. The Brilliant, now in her fiftieth year as a sail training vessel, was built in 1932, and is the oldest in continuous operation. Classes in sail training are taught here also. She is used for day outings for high school groups, for camp training experiences, and for races. In the millineum year George Moffett with a crew of young trainees in Operation Sail Trans Atlantic Race and won first in class and first in fleet
You will want to get aboard the La Dunton, a 1921 Gloucester fishing schooner, and feel as if you're living Captain's Courageous. In the height of her fishing days, the Dunton carried 10 dorries for men to put into the sea and drag an 1800 foot fishing fope with hooks every fathom for catching cod and halibut. These were put into baskets and transferred to the Dunton deck, cleaned and then placed in the hull in pens. For each layer of fish a layer of salt was added, and as the layers compressed each other and the salt preserved the fish, the pens were built higher to hold 100 tons of fish! The Duntan was stable in a storm which tilted her to ride the waves at a 45 degree angle! Brave and rugged were the man whose life depended on their catch. No Affirmative Action rules, but ships were a cultural and racial peasoup. Crews might consist of Native Americans, blacks escaping slavery, whites, East Indians, and a mixture of immigrants, all working together to survive and prosper.
The 1866 Noank Sloop is another historic treasure you'll not want to miss. Also see the Gerda III which is on loan here. This boad saved over 300 Jews escaping Denmark into Sweeden during the war.
Be sure to visit the River Scale Model House to see the intricately crafted model of Mystic River and seaport villages,which depicts daily life of the 1850's along the riverbanks.
It costs a lot to maintain and preserve history. The operating budget of Mystic Seaport® non-profit Institute is $24 million annually. They are continually updating collections and doing extensive archiving. For a recent acquisition of a wooden boat they had to raise in advance $350,000 to put into savings to get 5 percent annually just for the maintainance and upkeep of the wooden artifact! Careful preservation is a work of love and kept going by generous donations, which you can make by clicking here. Open daily except Christmas, Mystic Seaport® has varying exhibitions which are published daily. Check the brochure or the Navigation Station for events and times. At the Galley Restaurant you `ll find good food served quickly, and at Seamen's Inn Restaurant & Pub you'll find more upscale and elegant dining. It is one of the foremost dining establishmemnts in the coastal area. For more information click here or call 1-888-9SEAPORT
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