Mystic

Any one remember the Julia Roberts movie Mystic Pizza? It was a very l o n g time ago. The movie takes place in a real little seaport town in Connecticut called Mystic. Wellll, guess where my dad and his beautiful wife took the Crumb Snatchers and me?

The little town was charming and so stunningly different than Plainsville. What with the houses that were built in the 1700's, maintained, and still lived in today. Makes me reconsider my tiny, old 46 year old house. Heck, it's not soo old. In fact, in comparison it's considered modern.

But what made the trip so outstanding was a little place called Mystic Seaport. To date, it is one of the best places the kids have visited to experience the past. If you've ever been to Colonial Williamsburg, that's what it's like only on the sea. We felt like we'd stepped back in time. Whaling ships, harpoons, rope making (the BIG kind, not your run to Wally World to fetch some rope to tie down the blue tarp kind), eye-opening discussions of slave ships while visiting the dark, scary, cold underbelly of the ships were just a few of the learning opportunities that took place. Looking out over the water we could almost imagine watching the ships and boats coming and going with their catches. We visited houses, the school, doctor's office, lobster huts and the ship yard to name a few. What a great way to capture the imaginations of two little minds! Both C.S. loved studying colonial times so this was perfect to help solidify all they'd learned from books.

On the deck of the whaling ship.

Here in pioneer country we had blacksmiths. On the coast they had shipsmiths.

Here he was in action. He's pulling the lead hooked to the bellows to stoke the fire. You can just make it out if you look real close in the upper left corner. It kind of looks like a giant metal funnel on it's side.

Examples of harpoons they'd previously made.

"Look at the SIZE of that thing!"

(No comments necessary.)

When Granny M said, "Look like you're drowning. Look like you're in trouble." #2 said, "Oh, I can do that easy..." I am not sure what to think when I look at this picture after remembering that comment. Did she mean, "Oh, I can do that easy because I can be so dramatic?" or did she mean, "Oh, I can do that because I am always in trouble?". Cause to me, she looks more like she's hanging from a gallow than drowning.

(While #1 is worried about the imaginary shark circling in front of him...)

We visited a pharmacy.

Hmmm...

It's really just a fabulous, giant, old kettle that could've been used for a whole number of things. But, since it was an overcast day, those great ships are in the background for ambiance, and we were in New England ... I'm thinking Witches of Blackbird Pond.

Should I share with girly-girl what they did to witches in New England?