We always enjoy our young guests and try to keep a list of fun and affordable family activities to do in the Mystic, CT area. The kids  are great and while I enjoy the beach, I cannot spend 8 hours a day in the sun with them. At the same time, I do not want to run up a huge bill entertaining my loveable grandchildren. With this in mind, below is a list of summer activities which I found to be both affordable and enjoyable – and local to the Mystic, CT area.  While not a comprehensive list or in any particular order,  it may give you an idea of other places to search online after you have already visited the Mystic Aquarium and Seaport. 
 
What we did (read more by clicking below)

What we did:

• Sailing Camp – Shennecossett Yacht Club Sailing School – Cost was $130 – Hours were 9-2 Mon-Thur.  CAMP WAS EXCELLENT!  Bill and his staff did a great job! Not only was the camp affordable, but my 10 year old  loved it!  If you think you want to do this, then check their website as each week is a different level. Highly recommend.https://www.syc-ct.com/yachting/sailing-school/ 
• Mystic Luxury Cinnemas has $2 movies on Wednesday during their Family Summer Film Series.  The theater has lounge seats, is clean and convenient.  Highly recommend. As a side note, the first daily show all seats are $6 to any of the movies. https://www.mysticluxurycinemas.com/
• Ray of Light Farm has $15 pony rides on Thursday through Saturday 11-2PM.  As this farm is a rescue farm, we saw plenty of farm animals, llamas, miniature ponies and more.  It was an enjoyable ride to the farm and had we had more time I would have combined the trip with the Hadlym ferry across the Connecticut River and a visit to Gillette Caste. My 5 year old loved the pony ride which was in an indoor arena and lasted just long enough. Highly recommend this if you have any little one that loves ponies. https://www.rayoflightfarm.org/

 
What we thought about doing but didn’t as we were having too much fun at the beach:

• Project Oceanology – for when you want to get out on the water – Trips Run Sunday 12-2:30 and Tuesday1-3:30 ($35A/$25C)  https://www.oceanology.org/cruises 
• Scotts Yankee Farmer – pick your own fruit-- http://www.scottsyankeefarmer.net/
• Whale Watching – Family Special on Tuesdays and Friday at 1:30. http://francesfleet.com/whales.html This is out of Point Judith and their best whale watch deal is the Family Special on Tuesday and Friday.
• Ocean Beach in New London has a lot going on during the summer.  On Monday, the rides are half price after 4PM and parking is free. Wednesday has a Magic Show at 7pm https://ocean-beach-park.com/
• Waterford Speedbowl has a Wednesday special called Wacky Wednesday for families. For anybody that has an interest in racing, this might make for a fun family event. https://www.speedbowlct.com/schedule/wild-and-wacky-wednesday-schedule/
• Mystic River Park has free concerts every Tuesday at 7pm
• Mystic Seaport has family sailing for $15 a boat on Wednesday.  This is a great deal as it includes the boat rental and life jackets for everyone. https://www.mysticseaport.org/learn/sailing/community-sailing/

 
Head across the Border to Rhode Island for the unique and different kid friendly activities

• Check out the vehicles at Classic Car Cruise Nights in Misquamicut on Tuesday starting at 5:30PM  https://westerlylife.com/free-classic-car-cruise-nights-at-the-beach/.
• Misquamicutt Drive In is $15 a car Thursday-Saturday at 9PM which can be a fun evening event.
• The Rhode Island Balloonfest on the URI grounds was something I wanted to go to but the weather just did not want to cooperate.  This is definitely on my bucket list for next year.
• Frost Observatory is the place to be to learn about the night sky.  On Friday and Saturday nights at 7PM, guests can look through telescopes and ask questions of our local astronomers. https://frostydrew.org/observatory/

 
Another option is the local library this summer. Libraries are a great source for FREE kids entertainment.  Not only are the programs short but they rank high on my “easy peezy” scale.  Our area has 4 libraries within a short ride – the Mystic/Noank Library; the Stonington Free Library; Westerly Library; and Groton Library.  A quick look at their websites and I discovered many activities including meeting live animals such as the  Animals! Animals! (Ages 4-12) event at the Westerly Library.  Traveling south I found a costumed performance at the Waterford Library of Meet the Gillettes where performers answered the question of who were the Gillettes and what were their connection to Sherlock Holmes. Again, had my children been older, I would have paired this event with a trip across the Connecticut Ferry on the Hadlyme Ferry (the oldest operating ferry since 1684 in Connecticut) and a tour of Gillette Castle ending with a picnic lunch on the surrounding grounds of the beautiful Gillette Castle State Park.
 
I hope you and your family have a wonderful summer. As you know every summer has its own story -- I hope yours is a good one this year!

​As Mystic, CT is located between New York City and Boston, one question I was recently asked was how to get from our Sandy Toes Beach House to New York City or Boston easily.  As we are within 1.5 miles of the Mystic Amtrak train station and our beach house is located about 100 miles between both major cities; I decided now might be a good time to investigate the different train and driving options available from Mystic, CT to New York City and Boston. Read more by clicking below.

​New York City is approximately 135 miles south of Mystic, CT and assuming no traffic or roadwork conditions, can be supposedly reached by car in 2 ½ hours. In my opinion, this will never happen unless you plan to drive during the wee morning or night time hours when most people are asleep. Instead my typical experiences have been a very tedious 4 hour bumper to bumper ride. As such, I do not recommend driving to NYC and instead my preferred way of getting in and out of NYC is by train. 

​By car, BOSTON  is approximately 90 miles to the north of Mystic, CT and is within a 2 hour ride of our Sandy Toes Beach House depending on traffic and road work conditions. Often, when I drive to Boston for the day, I navigate to a major tourist attraction with access to the Boston “T” as parking is typically available and access to the “T” lets me travel throughout the city without the hassle of a car.  For example, if I park at the New England Aquarium, I can catch the Blue Line there and I have easy access to the Orange or Green Lines. (click here for Boston Subway Map)

Trains are another great option to easily travel in and out of Boston and New York and, in my opinion, is definitely the best travel option to New York City.

AMTRAK TRAIN choices to NYC include Amtrak from Mystic or New London, CT  to New York’s Penn Station. Other trains to NYC are the commuter trains – Shoreline East and Metro North – from New London and New Haven, CT to New York’s Grand Central Station.  An Amtrak train ticket from the Mystic or New London train station to Penn Station will cost anywhere from $40 to $100 each way depending on if refundable or if business class. Plan for at least 2 ½ hours travel time on the train.

​BOSTON Amtrak trains from Mystic or New London train station to Boston will cost anywhere from $26 to $70 each way depending on refund options and if business class. Plan for at least 1 ½ hours travel time on the train. While the Mystic station is convenient and under 2 miles away from the beach house, nearby New London offers almost double the number of scheduled trains to Boston. Another alternative might be to catch an Amtrak train to Boston from Westerly, RI instead of New London, CT as either location is nearby to our Sandy Toes Beach House in Mystic, CT. (CLICK HERE FOR AMTRAK SCHEDULES)

​COMMUTER TRAINS are another train option for NYC.  The commuter Shoreline East train runs from New London and connects with Metro North in New Haven to Grand Central in NYC.  The cost from New London is $34 each way.  As I like a flexible schedule when going into NYC, I will drive the hour to New Haven where I can catch a Metro North train anytime into Grand Central.  From New Haven, a ticket will cost $17 to $29 to Grand Central each way. If traveling as a group, a 10 trip ticket on Metro North might be a good option as it drops the ticket price down to $14 each way and can be used for multiple individuals. A 10 trip ticket is also available for the Shoreline East.
 
For Boston, there is no commuter train from Mystic or New London, CT and the train option is Amtrak only.
 
Hopefully, the above information can help you plan your solo or family day trip from our Sandy Toes Beach  House in Mystic, CT to NYC or Boston. Safe Travels!

​Crabbing has been a favorite activity in our house for years as any child over the age of 4 can easily master and enjoy catching crabs while staying dry on the dock. Better still, extra crab setups can be quickly made for unexpected guests allowing everyone to join in the fun.  

​Our technique is to use a weighted clothespin to hold the bait while we lower the clothespin from the dock into the water.  The weight holds the baited clothespin on the sea floor where the crabs are located. Once the crab climbs onto the clothespin to get to the bait, we slowly pull the crab line out.  If we pull to fast, the crab falls off.  If we pull to slow, the crab jumps off.  Once brought to the surface, crabs are placed in a bucket of seawater for us to “ooh” and “aye” over size, color, etc..  At some point, the crabs are safely released only to be caught again later. 

We have found that crabbing is most successful on sunny days off a dock that does not have a strong water current. Below is what you will need. 

​Material List: Twine, a Wooden Clothespin, something to act as a Weight, a Bucket and Bait.
 
The length of the Twine will depend on how deep the water is and distance from the dock.  Be sure to plan for extra “line” so that the child has room to hold the end but not so much that the twine becomes a trip hazard.  In our photo, the twine is approximately 7 feet long. The twine can be anything that you have around the house – Green garden twine, etc.  In this photo, we used old venetian blind string.
 
For the Clothespin, we prefer to use a wooden clothespin as we can easily tie the twine and weight to it.  The clothespin is a key component as it will be used to hold the bait.
 
The Weight can be anything.   In this photo we used a fishing sinker but we have tied on bolt nuts before.  The amount of weight depends on the amount of current as you want the clothespin to sit on the ocean floor and not drift above it in the current. You can certainly use multiple items to give your clothespin the weight needed.
 
As for Bait, it has been our experience that crabs are attracted by smell. A freshly opened clam works best and is an instant attraction. The same is true for mussels.  However, in our case, without clams or mussels, we have instead used leftover chicken wing bones and hotdogs. The chicken bone does not need to be big, but it should have a little leftover meat on it.  Similarly, you do not need a whole hotdog but rather just a small slice.  Remember, these items are just being held by the clothespin so think accordingly. NEVER EVER USE SPOILED or ROTTEN FOOD and be sure to leave the dock as clean when done.
 
Last is the Sand Bucket to hold your favorite crabs.  It is amazing that some children will prefer the larger crabs while others will prefer the smaller as they are “cute”.  Some children will count how many they have in their bucket while others will simply enjoy watching the crabs.  We typically will bring more than one sand bucket on our crabbing adventure.  

​This fun activity can make for great summertime memories. Years later children that are now young adults will often mention to me “Remember when we went crabbing at your place”.  Yes, I do and we still have 6 sets of crabbing “gear” waiting for their children to visit on a sunny summer day. 

​One other thing to note is how to hold a crab. According to google, put your thumb and one finger either side of the crab’s shell, just below the base of the pincer legs. When you have a good grip ‘under the armpits’, you can pick the crab up without being pinched.  I personally, just prefer to hold them from the back.  I think either way should work fine.

​Last year I had a guest unexpectedly cancel her trip and call me last minute to let me know that although she had paid all her monies she would not be arriving as scheduled.  As she had purchased trip insurance she was not concerned as to whether or not I would find a replacement guest as she knew her expenses would be covered by insurance and she was simply letting me know that the house would be vacant. 

While several companies offer trip insurance/cancellation coverage, a common factor is that it should be purchased within 15 days of your initial vacation deposit in order to obtain the most coverage options.  Additionally, it appears that the best pricing will be directly from the insurance company itself rather then with a middle provider. As with most items, it is important to read the insurance certificate to best understand your coverage. I found I was able to see the Certificate of Insurance Coverage as part of the the quoting process with the individual insurance company. 

Two excellent sites to compare trip cancellation insurance policies are Insure My Trip and Square Mouth.  Having used both of them to obtain a listing of quotes, I felt that Square Mouth was easier to use but this is just a personal preference as both sites work well for comparing different policies.  For example, a quote from AIG for a family of 4 with 2 children under 18 and Mom/Dad age 40 and 50 respectively totaled 7% of the total rental amount and includes a host of covered items including trip cancellations due to loss of employment, illness, weather related events, etc. (Click to enlarge Sample Certificate Below)  

Trip cancellation insurance starts as a basic package and includes many travel related services including medical coverage.  From the basic package, you can add additionally coverages such as adventure sports coverage or international medical coverage. Both Insure My Trip and Square Mouth have filters to allow you find the insurance program that best fits your needs. Help on how to use the site filters can be found here. 

​While trip cancellation insurance may not be necessary for everyone or for every trip, there may be instances when the option of added coverage can give you piece of mind as you plan your family’s vacation several months in advance.  

The winter skies are beautiful this time of year with the sunsets being especially colorful.  Fun things to do in Jan. and Feb. include Pancakes With Penguins at the Mystic Aquarium. The Mystic Seaport hosts Winter's Aweigh in Feb. with events and activities including a winter working dogs demonstration.  See Newfoundlands, Saint Bernards, Malamutes and more. During Winter's Aweigh, kids have free admission to the Seaport!

Where is Lyddy Island you ask? Lyddy Island is just in front of our beach house and is visible from Latimer Point.  Not only does Lyddy Island provide us with some landscape interest but now it seems to be a favorite spot for some of our local seal population.

It certainly was a wonderful surprise to look out on the island and see them! Over the past several weeks, I have discovered that they keep a very varied schedule.  My best guess is that the seals are most likely to be seen when the tide is low and there is plenty of sunlight.
 
For those of you looking to get closer to the seals, I recommend checking out the Save The Bay Tours in Westerly, RI – A quick 20 minute ride from our house.  These tours run from October into late December depending on weather conditions.  For more information about the seal tours, these Westerly Sun articles Save the Bay Tours Return and Nature and History Bundled Into a Winter Cruise can give you additional insight. My advice is to be sure to bundle up and have a nice set of binoculars handy!
 
In the meantime, I will enjoy the seals on Lyddy Island – for however long that they stay.