Olde Mistick Village & Mystic CT

Today's mixture of sun, clouds and occasional raindrops encouraged us to venture out and tour nearby Mystic, CT.  The temperature was brisk with a pretty good wind blowing, but that did not stop us.  We still enjoyed the sights, but decided not to venture into the Mystic Seaport Museum until the weather improves (maybe when we return in the fall) because a good portion of it is outdoor walking.

Light house at Mystic Seaport

Mystic Seaport is the nation's leading maritime museum and one of the premier maritime museums in the world. Founded in 1929, it is the home of four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the 1841 whale ship Charles W. Morgan, the oldest merchant vessel in the country. The museum's collections and exhibits include over 500 historic watercraft, a major research library, a large gallery of maritime art, a unique diorama displaying the town of Mystic as it was in the 19th century, a ship restoration shipyard, the Treworgy Planetarium, and a recreation of a 19th century seafaring village.

Two of several vessels moored at Mystic Seaport.

The King of England began granting land in this area as early as 1640.  John Winthrop the Younger, the son of the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was among those to receive a huge amount of property, which would have been equivalent to what is now called southeastern Connecticut.  John Winthrop gave people who had worked with him in the Pequot settlement portions of his land. Among those were Robert Burrows and George Denison, who were given land in the Mystic River Valley.  We stumbled upon the family cemetery for the Denisons and marveled at grave markers with dates in the 1600s. 

Denison Cemetery

One of many historic homes in Mystic, CT

The best clam chowder I've had in a long time!  Jim had the same and loved his too.

We had lunch in Olde Mistick Village enjoying New England clam chowder and Fish (cod) & Chips, both of which were delicious.  With over 60 shops tempting us to browse through them afterward, we may have walked off some calories until we ran into the Fudge Shop.  The smoothest, delectable fudge you can imagine in two flavors made it home with us and I am allowing myself the tiniest of slices so it will last!

The grounds of St. Edmund's Retreat.

Driving around afterwards we discovered two very different places of note.  The first, St. Edmund's Retreat on a tiny island near Mystic, is a tranquil and serene spot run by a Catholic order.  In 1954, Alys Enders gave the society the beautiful 12-acre island, known as Enders Island.  Oddly it is the relic arm of the 13th-century archbishop of Canterbury who gives his name to the property and it is preserved here.  St. Edmund was canonized in 1246 over the objections of Henry III, and miracles were reported at his tomb in France.  Edmund's tomb became a pilgrimage site and a reliquary, meaning it was a place where his body and clothing were preserved for the benefit of pilgrims. The veneration of saints' bones, or relics, appears in Christianity as early as the middle of the 2nd century, and it's remained an important part of Catholic and Orthodox devotion ever since.  It was common, and remains so, for chips of bone, known as "first class relics," to be distributed to churches around the world. Articles of clothing are called "second class relics," and something that's touched a first or second class relic becomes a third class relic. Usually it's a piece of cloth; they can be found for sale in many Catholic bookshops.  The retreat itself includes the chapel, meeting halls, a mansion that belonged to the Hartford physician who owned the island before the Edmundites, and other buildings. The grounds are scattered with striking examples of religious art, ranging in style from Byzantine to Expressionist, and the little island, connected to nearby Mason's Island by a narrow causeway, seems to be a popular spot for locals to just come and relax.

The mansion at St. Edmund's Retreat.

Looking back along the one lane causeway from St. Edmund's Retreat to the mainland.

The second was Mystic Pizza, known for a movie of the same name which starred Julia Roberts and gave Julia's career its start.  We'll have to rent it now and watch it!

I leave you with photos of flowers, only two examples of the multitude of blooms we saw throughout our ride around this historic town.

Wisteria, a genus of flowering plant in the pea family.

A barrel of purple pansies.