Home
>
Outdoors
>
Mystic Seaport Captured ? Links to Our Past Guide, Part 3

Mystic Seaport Captured ? Links to Our Past Guide, Part 3

Mystic Seaport celebrates the seafaring past of New England. Known as The Museum of America and the Sea, the seaport is an entertaining journey through 19th century nautical life.

This is the third part in the series of popular attractions for New England vacations with a historical theme. Others in the series are Plymouth Plantation, Mayflower II, and Old Sturbridge Village.

Located 100 miles from Boston on Route 95 at exit 90 in Connecticut, the Mystic Seaport exhibits are open between 9-5pm April-October, and 10-4:00pm November ? March.

Here's what you'll see and how to get the best out of your trip.

There's three main exhibits at Mystic Seaport: the historic ships, the authentic seaport village and exhibits, and the preservation shipyard.

THE SHIPS?

Whenever I visit Mystic Seaport I head straight for the Tall Ships in the museum dock area. I'm just drawn to these magnificent vessels, and the most popular to tour is the Charles W. Morgan ? a wonderful example of a wooden whaling ship. It made 37 whaling trips from its launch in 1841 and before retiring in 1921.

The Joseph Conrad and L.A.Dunton are the other fine specimens of Tall Ships in the museum collection.

These ships alone are worth the trip to Mystic Seaport. But two others with a unique and rich history are the Sabino and Emma C. Berry. More later about the Sabino, but Emma C. first launched in 1866, and since then has undergone many changes as a fishing vessel and a coastal freighter. She was beautifully restored and donated to Mystic Seaport in 1969.

THE AUTHENTIC VILLAGE AND EXHIBITS?

A short walk from the ships is the village exhibits and galleries.

A stroll through the recreated Mystic Seaport village stirs the imagination. Most of the buildings in the village are authentic and moved from other locations in New England and the Northeast.

With 46 exhibits you'll discover a rich assortment of shops, homes, and stores. Amble around the nautical shops and discover rope making, rigging, cooperage, and the sail loft. And two must-see exhibits are the Mystic River Scale Model, and the Shipsmith shop.

Further down from the village check out the galleries and make sure you spend time inside both the Voyages and Figurehead exhibits.

The three-floor exhibit of Voyages celebrates the legacy of America and the sea, and how it continues to impact our lives in many subtle ways. And across the street is the Figurehead exhibit, and a wonderful collection of carvings.

Unfortunately, these carvings are a bittersweet display. The desire for these carvings on ships has dwindled and it's now become an endangered art form.

Now wander back to the shipyard area and get ready to be amazed?

THE PRESERVATION SHIPYARD?

I don't know about you but I've always had a healthy fascination for the old mastercarft skills, and love to watch people work with them. Many of these skills are being lost as the economics of our time reduce the need for them. Wooden ships are a thing of the past, and so the wonderful carpentry and shipwright skills have dwindled throughout the world.

But here in this corner of the world they are uniquely preserved.

In the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard many of these skills are still practiced to keep the museum ships in tip top shape.

In the yard you'll see carpenter's shops, a rigging loft, a paint shop, metalworking shop, lumber shed, and an old-fashioned sawmill. Close by is the documentation shop containing vital records used by the museum's shipwrights, carpenters and riggers, to maintain accuracy as they work on preserving the ships.

Just across from the duPont building is the shipbuilding exhibit. Here you can see the keel of the whaleship Thames, and take in a revealing display of the many stages of building a ship.

And when you're finally ready for a rest take a 30 or 90 minute cruise on the Sabino steamboat as she travels up and down the Mystic River.

Now that you've armed with this information it's time to set the main sail, raise anchor, and head out to Mystic Seaport to experience this all for yourself.

For more information and ticket prices for Mystic Seaport visit their web site at www.mysticseaport.org.

Cliff Calderwood is the owner and contributing writer of the new england vacations guide . You can read more about Mystic Seaport and get a free travel report at his new england vacations guide site.

Chicago charter limousine Crystal Lake .. Lockport Chicago limo O’Hare

In The News:

New malware "FrigidStealer" targets Mac computers. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson offers four ways to stay safe from infostealer malware.

Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson talks about how lab-grown muscles power a biohybrid hand for scalable prosthetics and research.

Reports of task scams have significantly risen in the past four years, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Kurt the CyberGuy offers some red flags.

iPhones have a hidden folder that eats up storage without you knowing it. Kurt the CyberGuy offers some tricks to free up storage on your device.

A recent ransomeware attack targeted Zacks, an American investment firm, and a cybercriminal claimed to have stolen records for millions of customers.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Researchers unveiled a new soft prosthetic hand that combines the natural coordination patterns of our fingers with the decoding of motoneuron activity in the spinal column.

Accidentally deleting a text message on your iPhone or iPad is not a problem if you still need the message. Apple has a built-in way to recover it.

Just two months into 2025 there have been numerous Mac malware threats targeting Apple laptops, ranging from infostealers to malicious software.

A self-driving electric bus powered by artificial intelligence has an electric powertrain for zero-emission operation and an automated drive system.

SpaceX is slated to launch its Starship for the eighth time from Boca Chica, Texas, Friday, though plans could be thwarted if the FAA fails to give the green light.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Kurt the CyberGuy offers tips on how you can protect your devices against infostealer malware, which was used to infect 4.3 million machines last year.

Motional is developing autonomous vehicles capable of handling a wide range of real-world scenarios. Its high-speed robotaxi testing reached speeds of 75 mph.

Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explores whether there is artificial intelligence bias involved with the iPhone's voice-to-text conversion in the message app.

Apple's iPhone voice-to-text periodically flashes "Trump" when a user speaks the word "racist." Fox News Digital reached out to Apple about the flaw but did not hear back.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson presents five secret shortcuts: Adjust sound/vibration, share YouTube moments, fix tabs and tweak brightness.

VR transforms senior care: Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says immersive tech helps older adults explore and connect via virtual experiences.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says DNA tests pose privacy risks like shared genetic information, inaccuracies and hard data deletion.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says this enormous airship revolutionizes cargo transport by flying to remote areas.

Understanding the language of the internet can help you protect your personal information from bad actors. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explains.

Woven City is Toyota's experimental city that is a fully functional environment for people to live, work and play while doing research.

The line between spam and scams is thin. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson details his tips for identifying and avoiding phone scams, robocalls and unwanted solicitations.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents

Kurt the CyberGuy takes you through the steps to easily set your preferred web browser whether you're using a Mac, Windows PC, iPhone or Android.

Mystic Seaport Captured ? Links to Our Past Guide, Part 3

Outdoors