The Mystic Seaport Museum is the largest maritime museum in the United States. I have personally never been to Colonial Williamsburg (Virginia) or Old Sturbridge Village (Massachusetts), but I was told it's like both of those areas but with historic ships and a maritime village. We didn't research the museum at all before going (totally unlike us) and just went on a whim because we like history and it came recommended by Mike's parents who had visited before.
The Mystic Seaport Museum can be divided into four sections to see - the shipyard, the maritime village, historic ships, and the exhibits & galleries. The museum is open daily from 9-5 during summer hours and I'm convinced you could spend your entire day here and still not see everything. We had no idea how huge this place is!
The Shipyard:
The Shipyard is a working area where the Seaport staff are actively restoring boats and buildings. While we were visiting they were finishing up restoration work on the Plymouth Plantation's "Mayflower II" - the only replica of the Mayflower the pilgrims sailed in almost 400 years ago! It was set to launch the weekend after our visit, so it was cool to see it nearly complete.
The Maritime Village:
The Martime Village is a collection of buildings from all across New England. Many were relocated from nearby Mystic, but many come from as far away as Maine! You can wander through original old sail shops, a rope-making shed, blacksmith shop, a grocery and more. If the building has a flag on display outside, it means there is a real in-character actor working the building!
There's also a replica of Nantucket's Brandt Point Lighthouse that doubles as a theater! It plays different videos on lighthouses inside.
The blue & yellow flag means this house had an actor inside. She was making and baking an apple pie over a fire - yum!
Historic Ships:
The seaport has dozens of boats, but only four are also listed as National Historic Landmark vessels. This is the L.A. Dunton, a retired fishing Schooner (see above on the right & below).
This is the Sabino, a steamboat that still operates multiple times a day! For an additional price you can take a cruise up and down the Mystic River and bask in all her steamy glory.
This boat is the Emma C. Berry, an original fishing sloop that was first launched and built in Mystic in 1866. She is one of the last remaining of her kind.
Next was the Charles W. Morgan, an American whaling ship built in 1841. It made 35 voyages in her lifetime, the last being in 2014 after a full restoration by the seaport. The longest voyage she made was five years!
The last boat was the Fire Fighter, which I should note is not normally at the Seaport. It was visiting/docked at the seaport for a few days while we were there. This boat was used in NYC until 2010 when it was decommissioned. It was a valuable aid used in the days following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.
Exhibits & Galleries:
There are incredible exhibits throughout the entire seaport, some looked recently updated but a few looked a little outdated. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed wandering through them and learning all sorts of things about boats, whaling, and the history of Mystic. The small-scale model of Mystic at the turn of the century (above) was one of our favorites.
We also really enjoyed the exhibit of whaling in the Thomas Greenman Building.
Overall, we ended up spending almost seven hours at the Seaport - practically the whole day! There are multiple places to eat in the Seaport, but if you want to save money you can also bring in your own food. We recommend taking the optional 30-minute boat ride around Mystic on the Liberty boat for an additional $4. It was nice to sit for a bit, see the Seaport from the water, and hear some more history on the museum. Tickets to the seaport are reasonably priced and are actually good for a second visit within three days. Perfect for seeing the few exhibits you just didn't get to on your first day! If you're visiting Connecticut, you can't go wrong with a visit to the Mystic Seaport Museum.
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