Top Things to do in Mystic Country
Top Hotels in Mystic Country
- 1. The Whaler's Inn
- 2. Hyatt Place Mystic
- 3. Hyatt Place Mohegan Sun
- 4. Hampton Inn & Suites Mystic
- 5. Hilton Garden Inn Preston Casino Area
- 6. Bellissimo Grande Hotel
- 7. Holiday Inn New London - Mystic Area, an IHG Hotel
- 8. Microtel Inn & Suites By Wyndham Uncasville
- 9. Taber Inn And Suites
- 10. Howard Johnson by Wyndham Mystic
Countries
What to do and see in Mystic Country, Mystic Country: The Best Budget-friendly Things to do
Discover the best top things to do in Mystic Country, United States including Garde Arts Center, Mystic Dark Room, USS Nautilus, Elm Grove Cemetery, Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House, Florence Griswold Museum, Mystic Seaport Museum, Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center, The Submarine Force Museum, Rainmaker Statue.
Restaurants in Mystic Country
1. Garde Arts Center
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 53 reviews
Reviewed By cleejchase1976 - West Hartford, United States
Despite a snow storm, the theater was packed! We went to see The Simon & Garfunkel Story. The show was wonderful, the seats were comfortable, there really isn't a bad seat in the house! The show bulletin was informative and the upcoming offerings includes shows and movies. There is lots of parking available on the side streets, in the library close to the Arts Center. This was our first visit to this venue and I wouldn't hesitate to return! For a wonderful evening out, go to the Garde! You are able to enjoy a beverage in the lobby as well as in the theater.
2. Mystic Dark Room
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 126 reviews
Mystic Dark Room is an intimate show lounge offering unique entertainment experiences, accommodating its guests with all front row seating, allowing all who enter to feel like a VIP. Up a winding staircase, past the iron and brass gates, guests escape into a chic metro-loft atmosphere, ornamented with leather couches, private tables, larger than life concert style sets, lighting and special effects. This year’s line-up includes adult’s only fare with Grab weekend evenings in the fall. In December, Nutcracker Spectacular is the holiday hit that is returning from Foxwood’s Grand Theater to make Mystic its new home, with an extravaganza that’s family oriented and packed with edge of your seat excitement. February shifts gears back to an adult evening line-up with Flash perfect for sharing with a Valentine, and March marks the encore season of The Little Mermaid a Broadway style “dancical” that enchanted children and families last spring. Guests attending Grab or Flash are invited to BYOB, relax and unwind with wine, champagne, ale or brew - or their non-alcoholic beverage of choice. Following all shows, the soirée continues with intriguing interactions between guests and artists - we encourage you to take advantage of the dance floor and light show.
Reviewed By m0llymully - Mystic, United States
I was lucky enough to be able to see this amazing performance twice throughout it’s run, and I enjoyed every second of it. The dancers captivate you right from the get go and I was grinning ear to ear the entire time! The way they interact with the audience makes you feel like you are part of the show and the atmosphere is awesome. The Dark Room is really something else and the dancers are amazing...I cannot recommend it enough!
3. USS Nautilus
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 139 reviews
Reviewed By roselover440
I have taken my grandchildren here and they all enjoyed it very much. It is a treasure that not all residents of CT even know of. Great museum and the self-guided tour of the submarine is very worthwhile and informative.
4. Elm Grove Cemetery
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 21 reviews
Reviewed By 384katiec - Indianapolis, United States
Such a picturesque cemetery! Worth at least a drive through on a nice day to see a bit of history! Beautiful water views as well.
5. Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 28 reviews
A National Historic Landmark located within walking distance to Stonington Borough. This 14-room Victorian Mansion built in 1852 gives visitors a fascinating view into mid-century shipbuilding, international trade, family life, and more. Captain Palmer is credited with sighting Antarctica. Visitors are welcome to stroll the entire property, tour the home, and climb the steps into the cupola for a spectacular view. Only $5 for adults; $3 for kids 17 and under. Open Fridays & Saturdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Reviewed By Seaside447595
The friendly and knowledgeable tour guide will tell you everything about everything in the house filled with history of a Captain who at 21 and on a small boat claims to have found Antarctica and his competitive younger siblings and some of their family who inhabited the house - a couple of nefarious ones too! The tour guide made this tour compelling and interesting for all ages including my two teens. Don’t forget to ask about the spirit who may still inhabit the house. And make sure you take a selfie with the large penguin that greets you by the front door.
6. Florence Griswold Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 245 reviews
A 12-acre museum campus with a historic home museum, a modern art gallery with changing exhibitions, and gardens and river frontage along the delightful Lieutenant River. Visitors enjoy seasonal events including June's GardenFest and October's Wee Faerie Village. Discovery Sundays (April - September) give visitors of all ages the opportunity to take a mini-lesson in landscape painting and create their own masterpiece on the extensive grounds of the Museum. Visitors can enjoy lunch on the veranda at the outdoor Cafe Flo (May-October), and find unique gifts, exhibition catalogs and more at the Museum Shop. The Museum is named for Miss Florence Griswold, who at the turn of the 20th century opened her home as a boardinghouse which quickly became popular with American artists including Childe Hassam and Willard Metcalf. Museum docents share tales of the Lyme Art Colony and this home of American Impressionism. Check FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org for a calendar of events and exhibitions.
Reviewed By kzsull01 - Windsor, United States
My husband and I visited the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut on Thursday, March 11, 2021. We enjoyed both the Special Exhibits and the Florence Griswold House, which are both very impressive and definitely worth seeing. This time we particularly enjoyed touring the Florence Griswold House because of the friendly docent/interpretive staff member at the house who provided great details about the house, including its restoration and its contents, about Florence Griswold and about interesting places to see while we were visiting the area. The information that she provided was quite helpful making the tour seem like a walk back through time. . We have come to the museum and house many times and have always enjoyed both the temporary Special Exhibits and the exhibits from the Permanent Collection, which change on an on-going basis. As always, we found our visit to be quite enjoyable, being informative, interesting and educational. Our current experience viewing the Special Exhibits and house is described in more detail in separate sections below. We recommend the museum and house and we hope that you have the opportunity to enjoy them as much as we have for a very nice mixture of art, history and nature, especially as reflected in the rural landscape paintings of New England. It is definitely worth the visit and we will go back again. All the overviews/write-ups within the museum, the house and other areas of the grounds are well done and nicely explain what is on exhibit. In the spring, the grounds are quite nice to walk around, and are a great place for artists to come and paint as Impressionists artists did in the past. But this was even true at the time of our visit, which was in early March. There are new trails to hike, including a River Walk and a Hedgerow Walk that we have not had the opportunity to explore but will during a future visit. Details about these trails are in the Visitors’ Guide. . Our visit this time took a little over an hour. There was plenty of free parking in the designated parking area. Please refer to the below for further details about our visit. Although there was no orientation film to watch before our visit at this time as there has been in the past, the write-ups in the house as well as the docent/interpretive staff member provided a very good overview from a historical perspective of Florence Griswold, her home and about the Old Lyme Art Colony. We thank the museum for being open during their normal hours throughout the pandemic and for not having reduced hours as many other museums have had. The only issue we had was with the Timed Tickets. The on-line process was a bit complex. Also, we prefer more flexibility in terms of the time we have to arrive at the museum to visit. We got tickets for 10:30 a.m.. We left our house in order to arrive early but due to construction on Route 9 we were delayed for about 25 minutes and arrived in the later part of the 15 minute time slot that the tickets applied to. This was a bit stressful and we would have preferred more flexibility, perhaps having the time range for the tickets apply to a longer period of time. Although we had no issues being admitted into the museum, we did not like the stress of having to arrive at the museum by a specific time because we didn’t want to be late. Special Exhibits: The Special Exhibit: ‘Expanding Horizons; Celebrating 20 Years of the Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB) Collection’ expanded on the museums focus on landscape paintings by American Tonalist and Impressionist artists from the Old Lyme Art Colony to include canonical American portraits, still lifes, figurative compositions, narrative scenes and landscapes painted by Connecticut artists working in other locations. The exhibit interestingly illustrated new methods of research and interpretation and the importance of connecting the narrative lessons of historical works of art with changes that happened in our contemporary world. Hence, the exhibit addressed issues very relevant to current times. New methods and approaches to American Art, including Ecocritical Approaches; Thing Theory; “New Materialism”; new ethical museum practices for structural transparency in museums; and new ways of looking at landscape paintings, identity, and hidden histories in art are all presented in the exhibit with very informative overviews/write-ups and very nicely done corresponding artwork. This exhibit is well done and quite educational. Interesting, intriguing, and thought-provoking concepts were explained within the different sections of the exhibit. Below I mention some of the information that I got from the overviews/write-ups pertaining to each section, to give you an idea of what these concepts are based on my understanding of them, but the write-ups say a lot more than what I mentioned below and should be definitely read if you have the opportunity. Please note that this information is just from the overviews and not from the individual pieces of art. So there is really a lot of information to absorb!!. . ‘Thing Theory’ examines subject-object relationships in art based on the assumption that objects – their materials, construction, physical lives – hold knowledge about human history, culture and nature. Examining works of art based on this theory can take a variety of forms with the goal of a more nuanced understanding of objects within their historical context. Ecocritical Approaches to American Art is interdisciplinary, studying the physical environment and its relationship with other aspects of society and culture. This approach can be applied to historical art and ideas to learn about their environmental significance, both in the past and present. The ‘Revealing Hidden Histories’ Section raises awareness surrounding ethical museum practices and the need for structural transparency in museums. Prior to the HSB Collection the museum had articles primarily created from the largely male Lyme Art Colony. The HBS Collection showcases artwork from more diverse populations in Connecticut, which is a priority of the Museum going forward. New collaborative research has expanded art historical inquiry, allowing the potential for multiple perspectives, interpretations and meanings to surface all within one picture. This section taps on histories of land ownership, labor, food and music that intersect with issues of race. The ‘New Lenses on Landscape’ Section interestingly provides background on how Art History has historically included understanding concepts of place, property and national identity with recent studies focusing on social and environment frameworks. Definitions of “American Art” landscape painting are being expanded to a more global approach reflecting the nuances of artists’ international travels, networks and exchanges, The exhibit shows paintings created abroad that focus on issues of artistic process, public taste and histories of colonialism while the paintings created in Connecticut focus on narratives about land ownership, war, urbanization, and fine art’s intersection with mass culture. The ‘Inquiring into Identity’ Section explains how Identity is a construction shaped by culture, individuals and images created by artists and non-artists. As we become more aware of social disparities, inequalities and injustices, it is useful to look to historical art for the cues, roots and lessons of those narratives. This specific section analyzes identity through considerations of landscape, portraiture and still life to help better understand history, its people and experience and the need for works of art to require contextualization. The Special Exhibit: ‘Centennial of the Lyme Art Association Gallery’ is a very nice tribute to the historical significance of the gallery, and to the role that the original Lyme Art Colony largely male members, Florence Griswold, and women painters, among others, played in the creation of the Lyme Art Association Gallery. Revisiting the origins of this art gallery allows an examination of the economics of art and tourism, local history, the impact of World War I and reactions to modernism, and even censorship as the former artists chose what and who should be represented in this gallery. This gallery definitely has a very interesting history and the exhibit nicely depicts that. What I found of particular interest is the evolving role that women played in the gallery, including that Florence Griswold transitioned from art colony matron to be the L.A.A. first gallery manager!! This exhibit was very interesting and well done. . The Florence Griswold House: We then went to the Florence Griswold House, which was built in beautiful Late Georgian architecture. As mentioned previously, the interpretive staff member/docent within the house was very friendly and provided helpful information about what was on display in the house as well as helpful hints about interesting places to visit in the area. . The multiple rooms in the house on the first floor are well restored to the time period of the Art Colony, nicely depicting what the artists would have experienced during their stay. The rooms include Florence Griswold’s bedroom; the Art Colony parlor; an Art Colony member’s bedroom; the Dining Room; a cupboard room with beautiful dishes; and main entry hallway and staircase with each room very nicely arranged and having an informative write-up about it. The furnishings in the house are from the time period of the Art Colony and are beautiful, but are not all actually authentic to the house. The series of wall and door panels painted by the artists of the colony are very impressive and all well preserved. What we missed, but have seen during previous visits, was the film shown in the room on the right as you enter the hallway to the house which included actual footage of Florence Griswold walking through her gardens while she was living in the house in 1935, when she was eighty-five years old. This film was quite unique and nice to see. The second floor of the house has multiple rooms with Impressionist, Tonalist and miniature paintings and sketches painted by members of the Art Colony, with the art representing a subjective interpretation of nature and the surrounding Lyme landscapes, providing a very nice touch of spring. These paintings have harmonious colors, with delicate effects of light, showing rural life with great sensitivity and personal feeling. There is a room devoted to Florence Griswold and information on the restoration of the house and gardens which was quite interesting. Touring the house is like a walk back through time. All the write-ups within the house are quite educational and nicely explain the art on display and reflect the historic significance of the house and the Art Colony. I particularly liked the write-ups about each room in the house as well as those about the ‘Art Colony of Old Lyme’, including the corresponding picture of its members; the ‘Welcome to Florence Griswold’s Boardinghouse for Artists’; ‘Childe Hassam and the American Impressionists’, ‘Henry Ward Ranger and His Tonalist Circle’; ‘the Painted Sketch’; ‘the Landscape of Lyme’; and ‘Replanting an Old-Fashion Garden’.. We enjoyed this museum. It had a lot to offer and provides a good perspective of what the artists would have experienced during their visits to the Art Colony. Again, we recommend a visit to this museum and definitely will go back again soon, as we have always done in the past. We only wish that we lived closer to this museum! A library pass may be available at your local library for free admission into this museum, a rather nice bonus! This time we used the ‘CT Art Trail’ Passport Booklet.
7. Mystic Seaport Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3,309 reviews
Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation's leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, the Museum is home to four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the Charles W. Morgan, America's oldest commercial ship and the last wooden whaleship in the world. The Museum's grounds cover 19 acres on the Mystic River in Mystic, CT and include a recreated 19th-century coastal village, a working shipyard, formal exhibit halls, and state-of-the-art artifact storage facilities. Mystic Seaport Museum is located one mile south of Exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT.
8. Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 403 reviews
Pequot Museum, located in an ancient cedar forest minutes away from Foxwoods Resort Casino, is the largest Native American museum in the world. REOPENING MAY 19TH!!
Reviewed By GregK1239 - Contoocook, United States
We went here for the first time on our recent trip to Foxwoods. We were all very impressed with the size and scope of the museum. The exhibits were all top quality, and the recreated village is spectacular. I would definitely recommend spending a few hours here if you are in the area.
9. The Submarine Force Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 874 reviews
The home of the world's first nuclear submarine has several other exhibits on the history of submarines.
Reviewed By peterf192 - Groton, United States
I really should have reviewed this site a long time ago. I am a retired submarine sailor. This museum, which includes a chance to tour the USS Nautilus, which was America's first nuclear submarine is a GREAT chance to see and feel a comprehensive example and memorial to the submarines and submarine sailors of rhe U.S. of A.!
10. Rainmaker Statue
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 183 reviews
A 12-foot statue in the Foxwoods Town Square that displays the history of the Pequot tribe.
Reviewed By vacations4u
There are lots of things to see and visit when at Foxwoods and although I miss the show that use to take place at this statue it is certainly beautiful when lit at night. Check it out and see for yourself.
