Saturday morning, we headed with my nephews to Mystic Seaport, in Mystic, Connecticut. This is a maritime museum that focuses on New England's whaling past. Mystic is the annual field trip destination for just about every kid in Connecticut. When I was in elementary school, the 19th century seaport museum was a pretty modest affair. Now, though, the place offers all kinds of hands-on activities for kids and museum displays that include Connecticut's military maritime history as well as its commercial one.


From Mystic Seaport
The dimly-lit figurehead exhibit is, and has always been, my favorite.  The sculptures are romantic and dreamy, capturing a bit of the soft side of those old-time sailors.  (Of course, the stitchery decorating the Navy whites and the handmade doll furniture do that, too.)
From Mystic Seaport
The rescue station was new to me,  That display included a life boat, an all-metal rescue capsule a la Jules Verne, and living quarters (below).
From Mystic Seaport
The Joseph Conrad is one of my nephew Alex's favorite ships.  The interpreter aboard that 1921 schooner finally answered his question of why the wheel is so big and to the back.  We learned that you stand to the side of the thing to navigate so you can put your back into it, if need be.  We have enough trouble walking through electric doors, so the need won't be arising soon.
From Mystic Seaport


The trees atop the main masts indicate the vessels that will be in port on Christmas.  The Charles W. Morgan Whaleship, the 1841 whaling ship from New Bedford, Massachusetts that has been at Mystic since 1941, did not have a tree on it because it is undergoing restoration work.  We were able to walk on the main deck of this last wooden whaleship in the world and see the painstaking work being done, however.  We also walked amid the piles of logs being milled and tested for possible use in the restoration.   Mystic is an amazing place, and the hard work that made it possible, then as now, is palpable there.