Mystic Seaport Museum

Back blip for yesterday:

If there is one thing the Americans do well it’s museums, and Mystic Seaport was no exception. The museum is an eclectic collection of maritime memorabilia embedded within a working ship restoration facility.

We started off with a guided tour of the shipyard. The shipyard is a commercial operation, restoring old, wooden vessels to sailing standard for anyone with the money to pay for the work. It seems that it’s mostly uber-rich benefactors that cough up although occasionally the money comes from the state. It was interesting to learn about the traditional processes, although our guide did admit that power tools are now used. 

We carried on our tour with visits to the sail and rigging loft,  the oyster shack, the whale boat exhibition and we especially enjoyed the rope making building where we watched a party of school children make a length of rope from strands of hemp. 

We went on board the exquisitely restored Charles Morgan Whaleship and admired the handiwork of the restorers. Apparently the ship sailed the oceans for many months after it was first restored but now the insurance to do so again is so high that the ship remains in dock. 

The main photograph was taken in the ship carver’s shop. There was a magnificent display of figure heads as well as a model showing how the process is accomplished. 

After we had spent more than four hours wandering the museum we drove over to Stonington to have a late lunch in the restaurant where we had drinks the day before. The food was good and I had my first crab cakes of the holiday.  Even though we were waiting for the arrival of Hurricane Lee the weather was quite pleasant. There was a definite breeze but still some sunshine and we turned our faces skyward as we ate our lunch.