Mystic, Connecticut

The first stop on our Northeast road trip adventure was the adorable town of Mystic, Connecticut.  It was as cute as all the pictures had depicted.  We stayed at the Hilton Mystic which is right across the street from the Mystic Aquarium.  I highly recommend this hotel.  The staff was friendly, the rooms and indoor pool were clean, and it was very convenient to shopping and dining at the Olde Mystic Village.

Olde Mystic Village 

Mystic River

Downtown Mystic 

The beluga whales alone are worth a visit to the Mystic Aquarium.  Although the aquarium is slightly on the smaller size, the exhibits they do have are so well done.

Meg was obsessed!

One morning we took a short road trip to Watch Hill, Rhode Island.  The whole reason I originally planned this Northeast Adventure was to coincide with the Taylor Swift concert in Boston.  I had been waiting almost a year to surprise Meg with the tickets.  I thought if we were going all the way to Boston for a concert we might as well do some traveling while we were there.  But then Covid hit and the concert got postponed.  So going to see Taylor Swift's mansion in Watch Hill was the next best thing to seeing her in concert!

Watch Hill is a fairly small beach town.  I had read that there isn't much parking near the beach, so we left fairly early and found street parking across from the beach and near some cute boutiques.  There was an entrance to one side of the beach that required visitors to pay a fee, and because we were there early it wasn't open yet.  We watched other beachgoers walking a different direction and decided to follow them. We walked in front of Taylor's house and followed others down this beautiful path. 

We enjoyed walking up and down the beautiful beach.  This type of sand was so easy to walk on and Meg enjoyed finding unique rocks.

There was a nice paved walking trail to this lighthouse as well!

We were back in Mystic that evening and decided to enjoy the downtown area.   Mystic's most well known attraction is their drawbridge.  It was very neat to watch it as we took a break from shopping at all the adorable stores downtown.

Everyone has to take a picture in front of Mystic Pizza while in Mystic!

On our last night in Mystic we ate at the highly recommended S&P Oyster House.  The location is right on the Mystic River.  We sat outside and enjoyed watching the boats go by.  Our waiter was incredibly friendly and was so surprised to have Okies visiting.  The food was delicious and it was the perfect way end our time in Mystic before heading to Boston.  The next time I visit Mystic I would love to stay at the Whaler's Inn.  It is in a very convenient location downtown with so many restaurants and shops within walking distance.  I also wish we would've had time to try paddleboarding on the Mystic River.