May 13, 2013: Day 4 – East Bound and Down

Above is today’s trip map created using my Trimble Outdoors Navigator iPhone app.
Click the link above for a bigger map.

We checked out of our hotel, which was across from the Mystic Aquarium and the shopping area called Olde Mystick Village, which has lots of nice little shops. One we enjoyed the past two years was a bakery and cheese shop called The Bleu Squid. They have very good cupcakes and for those who want to forego the cake, and get right to the good stuff, frosting shots! They didn’t have any this visit, as they ran out of cups, but here’s a photo from a previous visit:

Frosting shots - who needs the cake?

We hadn’t eaten yet, so we decided to share a grilled cheese sandwich. They have alot of good varieties, not standard issue grilled cheese. We opted for the cheddar chicken grilled cheese, which was extra sharp Cheddar cheese with grilled chicken breast and sauteed apples on multi grain bread. VERY good! We followed it with a cupcake each for dessert, Pat going with vanilla and I selected salted caramel:

Salted Caramel Cupcake at Bleu Squid - Mystic, Connecticut

We continued to peruse the shops here, there is a nice variety for everyone, and many dining choices as well. The grounds are kept really nice, it has an old village feel to it, hence the name, Olde Mystick Village. There is also a tourist office at one end to assist with any area tourism questions or information travelers may have.

Old Mystic Village - Mystic, Connecticut

We went downtown to check out the shops, in case more were opened during the day. We had fun checking out Mystical Toys, a shop I used to take my daughter when she was little. Hard to believe I’m here shopping for my grandson now.

It was a gorgeous day – here’s a view looking up the Mystic River from Main Street:

Mystic River - Mystic, Connecticut

After finishing up here, we decided to head to New Haven. To my delight, Pat suggested visiting New York City (as long as we would take the train!). When I lived in Connecticut, I hung out in New York most weekends, and since moving, have tried to visit as often as I could. I didn’t make it to New York last year, so I was thrilled to go. I had even thought about it a few days ago, but before the change in plans, we wouldn’t have had time. I certainly wouldn’t have suggested it to Pat.

So, since we would take the train and it was a weekday, I thought New Haven would be a good choice to take the train, since it has more parking than most of the other smaller stations along the line, which fill up quickly with commuters. I got a Priceline in downtown New Haven for a really good deal – $208 for two nights at the Omni Hotel New Haven. We checked in, then took a quick walk around a few blocks surrounding the hotel.

There was a Radio Shack open around the corner, and I was thinking about previous trips to new York where my phone’s battery would quickly deplete. I always carried an extra battery, but of course, the iPhone’s battery is not user-accessible. So I checked out some battery charging/power solutions, and decided to get the Enercell 3000mAh Portable Power Bank to help keep us connected with plenty of power for our iPhones.

We looked around at a few restaurants for dinner before choosing a place called the Shake Shack, just around the corner from the hotel. We ordered our food to go, and brought it back to the hotel.

Dinner from Shake Shack - New Haven, Connecticut

After dinner, we headed to bed to rest up for our big day in the Big Apple.

Pat & Jennifer

Today’s Photographs

Below is a slideshow of all of today’s photos. Click any photo to stop the slideshow and view the photos on my Flickr site.

[flickrslideshow acct_name=”roadtripmemories” id=”72157633538899434″ width=”600″]

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One Response to May 13, 2013: Day 4 – East Bound and Down

  1. Pingback: Road Trip Memories » May 10-19, 2013: Overview-East Bound and Down

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