We planned to spend the morning at the Seaport anad then go on to other Mystic adventures, but we ended up staying all day, and could have come back for more! My 8 year old daughter had a blast. We started by having a lesson in how to write with a quill pen, then we switched to using a nib with an inkwell. It was fun! We toured one museum, then headed over to the children's museum where she learned how to use semaphore to signal other ships, and played a game with a few other kids using the flags. After a half hour of playing dress-up in period clothing in a replica child-sized house, we moved onto the outdoor play area where the kids played sea captain and pirates on the toy ships.
Lunch was reasonable and there were lots of choices....$21 for three of us. We then toured the ship-building stations and watched a few videos about the history of the ships at the seaport. Next up was a short cruise around the harbor with explanations of the village and other vessels. We walked through the village, a series of transplanted but real new England buildings, preserved here and decked out in various styles: a school, a church, drug store, furrier, etc. fascinating. It was like walking though an episode of Little House On The Prairie. The kids were even catching minnows on the small beach. They also have one building with a miniature replica of Mystic, which goes from day to night and tells the history of the shipping industry in this area.
We ended the afternoon with a session of old-fashioned games for kids....walking on stilts, playing hoops, and catch with sticks and hoops (which has a name that I cannot remember.) There was so much more we could have done if we had more time. There are always exhibits going on, classes, boat-making workshops, great period-dressed people walking around to help explain anything. It was quite idyllic and my usually high-tech daughter had a wonderful day!
