The “Breck Marshall”

Travelled the short distance from Ashaway to Mystic to visit the Mystic Seaport Museum. And what a fantastic place it is. Much like Beamish or Blists Hill in the UK or the Zuider Zee museum in The Netherlands in concept, Seaport focuses on the rich sailing and seagoing history along the Mystic River.

We had a trip out on the “Breck Marshall” a 1980s replica of the traditional shell fishing boat which were known as “Cats”, very shallow of draught they were ideal for shallow estuaries such as the Mystic River.

Also in the museum was “Mayflower II” which was undergoing restoration in readiness to commemorate the 400th anniversary next year of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at New Plymouth.

This weekend a “Viking Days” event was help at the museum, complete with re-enactments, a replica longboat and many other Viking related activities including a bit of recitals and songs derived from the various Sagas.

For once, the fog kept away, although it did try to creep over the estuary at one time in the afternoon. After the museum closed we went for a quick walk into “Historic Old Mystic” which was a pretty little place with many attractive buildings on both sides of the river which were the homes of the more prosperous people of the town.