NYC 2025 – Into The Mystic

“I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float
Into the Mystic” – Van Morrison

Day three of our New York City adventure began as we bid adieu to Cuttyhunk in light rain and calm seas.

For 60 miles we ran right along the southern edge of severe thunderstorms that were sweeping from Connecticut to Maine. The seas were calm the whole way and the rain never amounted to anything serious.

We first visited Mystic in 2024 with Jake and Peggy. I recall being confused about the best way to enter the river from the north and just followed my old track inside Ram Island.

We slowed when we passed the NO WAKE marker, but some anonymous “Karen” started screaming at us on Channel 16. I told him I was going 5 knots, and he spewed back more gibberish. I asked him who he was, and he vanished like smoke.

I thought Mystic was a friendly place!

I will enter south of Ram Island next time.

River of Draw Bridges

We stayed at Fort Rachel in 2024 and we were familiar with the railroad bridge,

It’s not a problem – unless an Amtrak is screaming through, the bridge is open.

But we did not return to Fort Rachel.

After my 2024 report, a follower wrote:

“Next time head up to the Seaport and dock there. You can walk or take a great dingy ride to downtown, free admission to the Seaport with dockage, plenty more to see”.

You may not know this, but I listen to all of you and when you suggest something, I generally try it!

So I booked the Mystic Seaport Museum Marina.

Mystic Seaport Museum Marina

SPOILER ALERT: I didn’t really like the Mystic Seaport Museum Marina!

The first problem was the Mystic Highway Draw Bridge. We found ourselves staring at the drawbridge at 12:15. I called the bridge on Channel 13 and they said “We open at 12:40”.

This was not good – me and the crew were getting “Hangry” and the river was narrow and the current was strong.

I asked the bridge operator if we could tie up at the bulkhead to our west and he said “Yeah, they probably won’t complain”.

So we killed 25 minutes waiting for the bridge to open – oh joy!

Once we got through, it was almost another mile to the marina. It literally took us an hour to get from Fort Rachel to the Mystic Seaport Museum Marina!

The good news was that it was a beautiful Marina. Far too remote for the single night we were there, but still beautiful.

Mrs. Horne is concerned about our health and declared that we would all begin walking two miles a day.

The restaurants were all about a mile south, so off we trudged 😂

The Shipwrights Daughter

It was Sunday, so we decided to find a Brunch with a few lunch options. Yelp says the #1 restaurant in Mystic is the Shipwright’s Daughter.

We had booked a reservation on Opentable, but grabbed three stools at the bar instead.

I toyed with ordering the Eggs Benedict – because it sat on homemade biscuits. I also considered the Egg Sandwich – because it came with a homemade sausage patty.

I decided to try something unique and almost ordered four deviled eggs and a biscuit, but in the end decided to go with the fried oysters and a single deviled egg.

As soon as it arrived I knew I had underordered (4 oysters and a half an egg wouldn’t be enough for even me).

I immediately added a biscuit.

Every bite was mouth-watering, but if I was doing it over, I probably would have skipped the oysters (although they were great) and gone with four deviled eggs.

Peter and Mrs. Horne both ordered the Egg Sandwich and loved it – especially the sausage.

Mystic Seaport Muesem

After lunch, we headed back to the Seaport Museum.

It is a massive campus that includes a hotel and a fine dining restaurant.

We entered from the south and the first thing I noticed were all the gift and souvenir stores. It was just starting to rain, so we jumped under a big tent hosting The Seaglass Festival.

It turned out that it was really just a flea market selling jewelry and various art knick-knacks made of seaglass.

The rain stopped and we headed north.

The next thing we noticed was a man dressed up in 1800s garb and stores that looked like they came from that era.

We toured the “Druggists and Chemists” shop…

It was interesting, but it took all of five minutes!

Our final stop was the main Museum. It’s a beautiful building with dramatic exhibits.

We spent a few hours at the Nantucket Whaling Museum in June and we couldn’t help but notice that despite its immense size, it actually had fewer exhibits.

The main wall featured a 50’ long piece of art that looked like a scrimshaw whale.

I got close and discovered it was actually an exhaustive collection of political cartoons.

Sadly, they all portrayed one political viewpoint so we left.

All-in-all, the muesem was a disappointment.

Andiamo

With all the drawbridge delays, we didn’t eat lunch until 2:00 and we decided to push dinner back.

I had made dinner reservations at the Mariner for 6:15. I tried to push it to 7:00, but it wasn’t available. After a little research, I discovered a highly rated Italian spot called Andiamo.

We took an Uber and although we booked the “Comfort” class, it was clearly the basic “X”. I realized that the last three Uber Comforts had all been rather basic. Next time I’m going to try an X Class and see what we get.

The look, feel, and particularly the lighting in Andiamo all screamed Old School.

The decor was fine, but softer lights would do wonders!

As you may know, I judge restaurants on their Bread Service.

Andiamo’s was excellent and exactly what I’d expect in an authentic Italian restaurant. The bread is hot and crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. The herb olive oil was also delicious.

Mrs. Horne had the Caesar with extra anchovies.

I had heard that the portions were huge – very old school, so we decided to order two and share,

Both pasta dishes were excellent, but the bolognese may have been the best I’ve ever eaten. The whipped ricotta was the secret ingredient that jumped off the plate.

We timed our departure around the 10:40 opening of the Highway Bridge.

It was already hot in Mystic, but beautiful on Long Island Sound as we made the 30-mile run to Essex.

We had a very favorable current and flew at 31 MPH with an 80% engine load (2100/RPMs).

We will definitely return to Mystic, but we’ll book Fort Rachel. The Seaport Museum Marina is very nice, but not worth the time it takes to get there. I’m sure some of you might enjoy the Museum, but we were disappointed.

Next Up: Essex