Mysticfied

Another beautiful day on this adventure.  We left Portland about 9:30 and arrived at the Mystic Seaport a little before 1:00.   We finally finished the book we've been listening to for the trip - 11 CDs and about 125 chapters.  Whew, but we highly recommend it.   It was about a fictional president Duncan that Ida wants to elect.

Mystic Seaport is a recreation of a 19th century seafaring village with some historic vessels and an active shipyard that is currently restoring the Mayflower II from Plymouth, Massachusetts.  None of the buildings are recreations  They are real buildings from the era that were transported here from all over New England.  The map below gives you an idea of how the seaport is laid out.

View of Mystic from the Highway

Tugboat at the Entrance to the Seaport

Learning how to load a ship.  She did very well.
Lookout McAuley she may have a new career

The Home Depot of the 19th Century

The Charles W. Morgan
The last wooden whaling boat in the world

Sailing the Morgan

The 19th century whaling industry was one of the most prominent businesses in America. Hundreds of ships setting out from ports, mostly in New England, roamed the globe, bringing back whale oil and other products made from whales.  Oil obtained from a whale’s blubber has been used for both lighting and lubricating purposes, and the bones of the whale were used to make a variety of useful products.   

By the early 1800s, whaling ships from New England were setting out on very long voyages to the Pacific Ocean in search of sperm whales. Some of these voyages could last for years.  A number of seaports in New England supported the whaling industry, but one town, New Bedford, Massachusetts, became known as the world’s center of whaling. Of the more than 700 whaling ships on the world’s oceans in the 1840s, more than 400 called New Bedford their home port. Wealthy whaling captains built large houses in the best neighborhoods, and New Bedford was known as "The City that Lit the World."  

Its amazing that there is only one of these boats left.   See this video of the History of the Charles W. Morgan.

Each of the buildings had an interpreter to tell you about the craft or trade the building provided for the seamen.  This is the cooperage.   The cooperage was a shop where round wooden containers, which we generally call barrels, were manufactured. These casks were an essential element in life both at sea and ashore, and wooden containers made from staves and hoops served many storage purposes. Aboard ship they held provisions, various kinds of cargo and, on certain fishing and whaling vessels, the catch.

Casks intended for spirits, molasses, whale oil, or other liquids had to be tight–that is, water-tight–and the cooper who made these types of containers was a “tight cooper.” Slack casks were used for flour, potatoes, apples, crockery and just about anything else that might have to be shipped from one location to another.  See the cooper in action.






The Mystic Press, assembled to represent a newspaper and job printing shop of the late 19th century, contains the tools and technology of the journeyman printer’s trade.

The terms “uppercase” and “lowercase” originated in printing offices. The two types of letters were kept in separate boxes or cases. The capital letters were kept in the upper case and the minuscule letters were kept in the lower case.












The shipsmith shop was built at the head of Merrill’s Wharf (now Homer’s Wharf) in New Bedford, Massachusetts, by James D. Driggs in 1885. It is the only manufactory of ironwork for the whaling industry known to have survived from the 19th century.

Shipsmiths made harpoons, cutting irons, ship fittings and other things useful to the whaling industry,

Strolling through the village

A beautiful day for sailing

We watched videos about lighthouses

Ships everywhere

Raising the Anchor

This building is part of the active shipyard.  Not too many places can work on these historic vessels so they built their own shipyard.

Ida

After touring the seaport, we checked in and took a dip in the hotel pool before heading out to dinner.  We didn't take pictures at the pool, but I drew a picture of her for you.





For dinner we went to S&P Oyster Company in downtown Mystic.  It sits right on the water on Main Street with great views.  Another good choice as we both enjoyed our meals

S&P Oyster Company

Beautiful gardens of the restaurat.

View from our table

I came for the Halibut

Ida's Meal - Halibut

Dave's Meal
Pan Seared Scallop Pasta

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The Whaler's Inn has been a hotel since 1969.  Its comprised of five different buildings from different eras, but each reflect the character of coastal New England.

Beautiful view of Mystic Harbor

We were fascinated by the drawbridge on Main Street which went up three times while we were in town.  It's a bascule bridge commonly known as a drawbridge that dates back to 1920.  This one has a single leaf that goes up balanced by two huge 230 short ton concrete counterweights.

Apparently the bridge goes up about 2200 times a year and typically once an hour during daylight in the summer.  See our video  of the bridge going down.

Mystic Drawbridge

Drawbridge in the Up Position

Main Street Shops

Main Street in Mystic

From the movie of the same name
Ida has not seen it

Red Sky At Night, Sailors Delight

One more day left.