Day Four : Mystic CT

Hooray for two nights in the same hotel and being able to spread out all our stuff and make a mess!  Today we awoke in Mystic CT.  We didn’t have quite the leisurely morning we had hoped for, oh well.  The kids were still up by about 7:30.  We enjoyed a continental breakfast, complete with a pancake maker.  The kids loved watching them fall out the end, esp Chloe – she was dancing excitedly at one point. 

After breakfast, we took a drive through and around Mystic.  The New England scenery is beautiful – the rocks and green grasses and glimpses of water everywhere.  We ended up on Stonington Point, and we got out to explore the rocky beach.  We had a blast climbing the big boulders and watching boats and birds.  And what trip to the beach in clothes and sneakers would be complete without getting those clothes and sneakers wet??  Congrats to Abby for stepping in the water and soaking herself!  Fortunately, we had clean shorts and underwear in the car, but we did swing back by the hotel for dry shoes.  We then parked in downtown Mystic and wandered the little downtown area.  We stopped in a few stores, and we watched the Mystic River Bascule Bridge rise.  It’s a pretty cool drawbridge.  Chloe was very excited to see the boats going by – “Mommy picture that one, yes yes!”  We have lots of pictures of boats going by the raised drawbridge.  After that, we spent a good bit of time at the Mystic Knot Work store.  The kids each picked colors for their own Weekapaug bracelets [although they don’t call them that in Mystic!], and the storekeeper tied them for us while we waited, super cool.  Coleson’s Aunt Betty used to tie bracelets for all the kids each summer, so it’s pretty neat that our kids have their own to wear this summer.  We had awesome sandwiches at the Drawbridge Café [my Santa Fe turkey was the best :)] before heading back to the hotel. 

Despite all the cool and new and exciting things to do on vacation, the kids wanted to swim in the hotel’s indoor pool so bad they could hardly think straight :)  So off to the pool we went.  I snuck out for a quick run, and then we watched a couple of minutes of TV to relax before heading off again.  We were able to walk right across the street to the Old Mystic Village.  We saw some shops and visited ducks at the duck pond, including some really cute babies.  We had dinner at Mango’s Pizza.  Pizza, wings, and cheesy bread – it was quite good and between the five of us, we ate every bite.  We then went to Twisters’ ice cream right along the Mystic River.  The ice cream was good, but the view was Amazing!  We sat at a picnic table along the river watching the boats and the setting sun.  Ryan and Abby each had a turn with the camera, and we took some fun pictures by the water before returning to the hotel.  After some late nights, we were glad to get the girls in bed at a decent hour.  Ryan and Coleson had some bonding time on the fitness center treadmills, and now we’re all going to call it an early night.  We’ve got big plans tomorrow!  Aunt Betty, a ferry, and bike riding, here we come!    

[PS, this is how you sugarcoat a day for a blogpost.  While it was an overall good day - any day on vacation is better then a work/school day - it was also a bit of a tired, grumpy day for most of us.  The kids each had their own fair share of whines and there were a couple of potty training accidents.  Mommy's really glad for a normal bedtime tonight.  And also wishing for a margarita.]