[silly_mama2002]

Hi everyone, we are heading to Mystic for a family trip in late August. We read the guides, and it looks like a fun place to visit with kids. But I was wondering whether the locals on this forum can give us some tips as to where to stay and what to do. Our kids are middle/elementary school age. Many thanks in advance. Also, a strange question perhaps, but is there a laundromat in town that is open to the public? We are coming directly from kids' camp and we will have to do some laundry.

[Meglion]

Eat at Kitchen Little, on your way into town. Also, Westerly RI is very close, has a beautiful beach with a carousel and home-made ice cream, and lots of places to stay.

[Stylo]

Don't mean to sound like a jerk, but the laundromat is easily found on Google.

Mistick Village Coin Laundry
27 Coogan Blvd Mystic, CT 06355 (860) 536-9043

On where to stay, what's your budget? You can certainly stay in a historic inn within the town, but it will cost more. I stayed at the Hampton Inn nearby once and it was fine for the price.

What to do: the village and aquarium will easily take up a day. You can also walk around downtown.

How long are you staying?

[silly_mama2002]

We are staying for 5 days. We are not looking for a historic inn, our kids like the standard chain hotels. We want to walk not drive. Do you recommend any of the 6-8 hour cruises? Yup, you are right, I googled a laundromat after I asked! But thanks anyway! Any day trips?

[Stylo]

Yeah, there's lots of day trips from there. If you're ambitious, Newport is a great one. I would even stay there a night or 2. There's tons to see and do there. Mystic can be done in a day, 2 days tops. As mentioned, Westerly/Misquamicut have great beaches. Watch Hill is very beautiful too.

You could also take a ferry to Block Island for the day. Beautiful, historic island with gorgeous natural beaches.

Close to Mystic, Stonington is a really gorgeous little town. You could also go eastward and visit the lower CT River valley, which IMO is one of the most beautiful areas of CT. Attractions there: downtown Chester, downtown Essex, Gillette Castle, Goodspeed Opera, downtown Old Saybrook, Fenwick (the section of Old Saybrook where Katherine Hepburn's house is).

New Haven might be too far for a daytrip, but if you like museums - the Yale Art Gallery and British Art Museum are among the best in the northeast. The Peabody Museum is interesting too, kind of like a mini Museum of Natural Art. There's also guided walking tours of the incredible Yale campus, and tons of great restaurants.

In Mystic itself, The Pita Stop is great for falafel/Middle Eastern style lunch. Oyster Club is the best fine dining in Mystic, Daniel Packer Inne has good food in a very cool historic space. S&P has OK food, but a great view. Abbott's has an amazing view for lunch, just can be busy - I had a bad experience with the food but many rave about it.

Don't bother with Mystic Pizza, just a tourist trap with average pizza. Pizzetta or Mango's is better, but real CT pizza is westward.

[silly_mama2002]

Appreciate the input. You have given me a lot to work with!

[pnknpnts]

The Hilton in Mystic is really nice. My husband sent my friend and i there for Mother's Day. The rooms were very clean (my friend works for a pest control company and she always checks for bugs in hotel rooms before she even puts her bags down!!) they have a restaurant, breakfast, and a bar. The Hilton is right across the street from the aquarium and shopping. There's a great restaurant called "Go Fish" right across the street that has really good sushi, as well as many other things on their menu. I lived in RI when I was a kid (just moved back to new England after 27 yrs) and I remember going to Block Island and narragansett (scarborough beach). I can't wait to take my kids to block island and back to the beach where my mom taught me how to body surf!!!
Have fun!!!