Mystic Ct

[jewels]

joelies guster @anyone else I'm forgetting from this area, my friends and I are renting a house in Groton, CT (near Mystic) for the kids' spring break (late March - early April).  6 kids ranging from 4 - 7 who all get along fabulously.  We are all different degrees of cautious, but all agree on no indoor dining or major indoor activities.  We mostly plan to hang out around the house which has lots of property and cook and drink and relax.  But want some fun excursions for the kids.

I haven't been to the area in about 15 years.  I found this place:

naturesartvillage.com/ that seems absolutely perfect.  Mostly outdoors and amazing for the kids.  Both my boys are way into dinosaurs right now.  Have you been? Any other cool recommendations for that time of year within a 30 minute drive or so?

[nam2013]

jewels not from there of course, and it has been a long time 8+ years ago, but we visited this museum and had fun, al lot of is outdoors.

www.mysticseaport.org

We also visited this, but the tracks are mainly indoors (plus it’s small) not sure if you want to do that.

www.dinosaurstatepark.org

Eta that place you mentioned looks amazingly fun!

[jewels]

Thanks nam2013 ! I'm amused that the first person to comment is the person that lives the farthest

And yeah we probably wouldn't be comfortable with a mostly indoors place. 

[nam2013]

Feb 24, 2021 12:05:20 GMT -6 jewels said:

Thanks nam2013 ! I'm amused that the first person to comment is the person that lives the farthest

And yeah we probably wouldn't be comfortable with a mostly indoors place. 

Hahahaha true, we spend 3 months total in New England during the summer and did allllll the tourist stuff so I feel like I’m in the know 😂.

[joelies]

jewels - I do seem to remember that quite a bit of the aquarium is outdoors, if you're up for it. It's not huge or particularly spacious but that's about all I think about when I think of Mystic. Well, that and pizza.

[tgrimes]

Feb 24, 2021 13:20:08 GMT -6 joelies said:

jewels - I do seem to remember that quite a bit of the aquarium is outdoors, if you're up for it. It's not huge or particularly spacious but that's about all I think about when I think of Mystic. Well, that and pizza.

I loved that movie as a kid.

[jewels]

Feb 24, 2021 13:57:16 GMT -6 tgrimes said:

Feb 24, 2021 13:20:08 GMT -6 joelies said:

jewels - I do seem to remember that quite a bit of the aquarium is outdoors, if you're up for it. It's not huge or particularly spacious but that's about all I think about when I think of Mystic. Well, that and pizza.

I loved that movie as a kid.

I still do.  

[guster]

I have friends that just went it the aquarium today and it was practically empty. Maybe a early morning run there?

[tgrimes]

Feb 24, 2021 14:36:26 GMT -6 jewels said:

Feb 24, 2021 13:57:16 GMT -6 tgrimes said:

I loved that movie as a kid.

I still do.  

I haven’t watched in forever. I’ll add it to the list.

[kim22]

I do love that aquarium and maybe a month from now you will feel better about going if they are limiting people. There is also the seaport where I remember the kids climbing on a ship (I think it was small but close to the aquarium). DH and I went before kids for a long weekend and did the casino then we took the kids for a day when T was a baby.

[Cher]

We did Mystic Aquarium a couple of weeks ago. We did early morning on the weekend. Outside was fine because you could distance and what not. I was not comfortable inside at all. It was just a small space and there was really nowhere to go. Plus people not wearing masks correctly, little kids without masks, etc. we did the whole thing in about an hour. I was kind of disappointed with it, tbh.

[jewels]

Feb 25, 2021 6:38:39 GMT -6 Cher said:

We did Mystic Aquarium a couple of weeks ago. We did early morning on the weekend. Outside was fine because you could distance and what not. I was not comfortable inside at all. It was just a small space and there was really nowhere to go. Plus people not wearing masks correctly, little kids without masks, etc. we did the whole thing in about an hour. I was kind of disappointed with it, tbh.

good to know.  I feel like maybe we'll do the dinosaur place and nope out of the aquarium then.  None of us are really comfortable with that scenario.  

I am hoping that the weather will be nice enough to eat outside.  Mostly we just want to eat and drink, while letting the kids do some fun stuff in between.  

[jewels]

Bumping this thread to ask Cher and anyone else familiar - we are no longer going to Mystic (Air B&B lady cancelled our res). We found a gorgeous giant house in East Hampton.

I know you spend a bunch of time out there... any good ideas for the off season? Most of what I've seen is closed now. We leave Saturday. 3 Families - all like to eat and drink. Looking for mostly outside stuff. 6 kids ages 4-7.

[Cher]

Sure! With the caveat that I’m not sure what’s open...

Love Clubhouse. Great minigolf, games and food.

Wolffer vineyard. So kid friendly. They can run around while you eat/drink.

Children’s Museum in Bridgehampton.

Bostwicks Chowder House is a favorite. Even for takeout, which we did all of last summer.

Rowdy Hall is a great kid friendly pub.

Shelter Island is awesome. Take the ferry over. Ride bikes, get ice cream, go to sunset beach.

Navy Beach is an awesome beachfront restaurant with games for kids.

Go into Sag Harbor, go to the toy shop and get burgers at LT Burger.

Tate’s Bake Shop in South. Levain in East. Candy Kitchen in Bridge. All super kid friendly awesome treat places.

Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead.

There are a ton of playgrounds and markets on the side of the road.

Lots of waterfront hangouts in Montauk.

Enjoy! One of my favorite places.

[jewels]

Thanks Cher! We booked a ladies only outing for the wolffer vineyard but maybe we should change that to family only and do something else for the moms day out alone.

I’ll check out all these places tomorrow to see what’s open! I am honestly just so excited to be somewhere that is not my house!!

[Cher]

Mar 23, 2021 18:42:40 GMT -6 jewels said:

Thanks Cher! We booked a ladies only outing for the wolffer vineyard but maybe we should change that to family only and do something else for the moms day out alone.

I’ll check out all these places tomorrow to see what’s open! I am honestly just so excited to be somewhere that is not my house!!

You could do a spa day at Gurneys for the moms. Wolffer is very kid-friendly.