Mystic Pizza & Beyond: Seafarer's Trail

Civil War Love Story Portrayed on Valentine's Day

2012-02-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

One couple's devotion to each other and their country in the midst of infidelities, scandals, and ever-present threat of death.

Charles and Nancy McDowell

I carefully unfolded the stiff yellowed paper, incredulous that I was actually touching a letter written during the American Civil War. It was one of 150 letters written between my great-great grandparents that I had discovered in a small wooden box in my mother's attic in Suffern, New York. The note I held in my hand, authored by Private Charles McDowell to his wife Nancy, was written on a small, plain piece of stationery--not at all fancy like some of the others in the batch which bore sketches of the White House and battle engagements. I gently smoothed it flat on the table, afraid I would tear it. The handwriting was strange, the ink somewhat faded, making it difficult to read. And then suddenly I came upon a word I recognized in an instant--Abe! It read, "We have [Secretary of State] Seward down here about every other day, and sometimes he fetches Old Abe with him and [he] looks about like any old farmer."

In addition to the letters was Nancy's obituary, which reads: "MRS. MCDOWELL IS DEAD - SHOOK HANDS WITH LINCOLN. With the death of Mrs. Nancy Wager McDowell...the town of Sodus probably loses the distinction of having a resident who could boast of having shaken hands and talked with the martyred Lincoln… Mr. McDowell was a member of the Ninth New York Heavy Artillery in the Union Army and it was while stationed near Washington that his wife had an opportunity to speak with the President. Mrs. McDowell passed nearly a year in that vicinity and many were the pies she baked for the soldiers stationed at the capital. Typhoid Fever caused her to return to Alton to the home of her parents…" ("The Record," Sodus, Wayne County, N.Y. September 18, 1931)

I took the collection of letters back to my home and began what was to become an exciting ten-year adventure. First I arranged the letters from Charles by date and began to read. Once I grew accustomed to his old-style handwriting and run-on sentences, I felt myself leaving the present and entering his past. I traveled back over 130 years and joined Charles in heart and mind. I felt his loneliness, his boredom, his fear. I laughed when he found a reason to laugh. He and his brother had enlisted despite his Canadian father's pleas to stay out of the war. As the months of his service turned into years, I hurt over his deep longing for his wife and home and for the life and family he left behind in Canada.

In other letters I was shocked to read of the desertions, hangings, amputations, prostitution, and even theft and murder among Union troops. Charles wrote home about the battles he fought with the 2nd CT Heavy Artillery and other regiments who were members of the Sixth Corps.

Next I tackled Nancy’s writing. As her collection of letters drew to an end, I was completely immersed in her anxious thoughts about Charles's welfare. She hoped there hadn't been a "ball made to kill" him. She hoped he wouldn't get too close to the Southern women when he occupied their homes. She longed for him to return to her--even if it was just for a short furlough. She wrote that she would rather be dead than continue to live the way they were.

I pondered the final years of her life spent rocking in her chair looking out the window. She died in that chair beside the window. Perhaps she was awaiting her death so Charles could come for her once more…

The letters, along with my background research are compiled in my book, Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife. And now, for the first time in Connecticut, their love letters are being presented in my play:

Ever True: A Civil War Love Story
Valentine's Day (Feb 14, 2012, 6:30 p.m.)
Through the actual love letters of Private Charles McDowell and his 17-year-old wife, Nancy, you will not only hear of dreams, desertions and disease, but of hangings and the court marshalling of a cow. This dinner theater production of Ever Trueincludes an introduction by the play's author, Lisa Saunders, who will remain after the show to answer any questions. Presented by the Emerson Theater Collaborative at the RiverWalk Restaurant in Mystic, CT, you may purchase your tickets by calling (860) 705-9711. Show tickets are $25 and the dinner, which is paid for at the restaurant on the night of the show, is an additional $30 (plus tax and tip). Seating is limited and tickets will not be sold at the door

Mystic Pizza and Beyond--E-book coming soon!

2011-12-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

I am currently working on an e-book about the secrets behind the haunts and homes of Mystic's famous sea voyagers. I like to write what interests readers. Does the following interest you, or do you have another direction to suggest? Would you like to review a Mystic area restaurant or winery? If so, contact me at saundersbooks@aol.com

Mystic Pizza and Beyond: Walking the Seafarer's Trail

by

Lisa Saunders

Introduction

Mystic Pizza and Beyond: Walking the Seafarer’s Trail

Forced to relocate to Mystic, CT, writer Lisa Saunders must leave family and her “real” job to begin a new life with her husband in what National Geographic calls one of America’s “Best Adventure Towns.” Because the picturesque village along Mystic River attracts explorers who traverse the oceans, Lisa decides to build a new life by becoming an explorer herself. Her first goal: lose weight and meet as many locals as she can, living or dead, by taking long walks with her beagle/basset hound past the haunts and homes of Mystic’s legendary sea voyagers, including the discoverers of the RMS Titanic and Antarctica; the legendary aviatrix, Amelia Earhart; and new friend, Kate, who gave birth to her daughter on a self-built schooner and rowed to shore to weigh her on a lobster scale. Her second goal? Find a friend with a boat!

Living only blocks from Mystic Pizza, the restaurant that inspired the movie, “Mystic Pizza,” Lisa sets out daily with her hound to walk stretches of what she terms “The Mystic Seafarer’s Trail.” Although she doesn’t lose weight because she stops along the way for ice-cream, fried clams strips, and of course, pizza, she does, through conversations with locals, uncover the secrets behind what she crowns “The 7 Wonders of Mystic”; becomes embroiled in a controversy with the locals over the“8th Wonder”; and discovers that she too has family secrets buried in Mystic—that just down the street from her lived a distant cousin, Captain Charles Sisson, whose failed attempt to find gold leads to the tragic death of his childhood friend, and later, his wife dies mysteriously at sea. When she visits Captain Sisson's grave, she is in for an even bigger surprise.

The book also includes restaurant and winery reviews by locals, those who truly reflect the very soul of New England.

About Mystic, CT:

Mystic, which straddles both sides of the Mystic River, is located half-way between New York City and Boston, just north of the Long Island Sound. It has welcomed such notable honeymooners as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and is home to Mystic Seaport, a 19th century maritime village and museum that exhibits tall ships such as the oldest whaleship in the world, the Charles W. Morgan, which has appeared in several films; Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, where the discoverer of the grave of the R.M.S. Titanic, Dr. Robert Ballard, keeps his home office; Olde Mistick Village, a colonial style shopping center where Gloria, the cranky, arthritic goose has been reigning over the duck pond for decades; and the famed Mystic drawbridge, featured in “Mystic Pizza” starring Julia Roberts and debuting Matt Damon, whose only line, "Mom, do you want my green stuff?" was said while eating lobster.

“The Mystic Seafarer’s Trail” also includes what Lisa calls “The Hanging Gardens of Enders Island” at the St. Edmund’s Retreat Center, where relics such as the withered arm of Saint Edmund, who preached for the Sixth Crusade, are displayed. The trail continues eastward to Stonington, where the where vastly out-gunned citizens fought off an attack by the British in the War of 1812; and westward to Groton, the home of the first nuclear sub, USS Nautilus, which proved once and for all that that there was no land under the North Pole by punching through the ice; and Fort Griswold, where Benedict Arnold’s treachery lead to the massacre of his former countrymen.

About Lisa Saunders:
Lisa Saunders lives in Mystic, CT, with her husband, Jim, and beagle/basset hound, Bailey. The author of several books, she is a speaker, blogger, and a consulting writer/publicist. Her books and plays include: Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, featuring excerpts of her great-great grandparents’ Civil War love letters; Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator, a children’s novel based on Lisa’s summers as a chubby kid on her grandparents’ farm; Anything But A Dog!, the true story of how a big, homeless canine found his way to her disabled daughter’s couch; and The Mystic Seafarer’s Trail, which reveals the secrets behind the haunts and homes of Mystic’s legendary sea voyagers. A Cornell University graduate and winner of the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations Gold Medallion, Lisa helps authors and organizations promote their work through her free e-books, How to Get Published and How to Promote Your Business (or yourself). A former employment recruiter, Lisa shares job seeking tips in her free e-book, How to Get a Job. See her work and availability for speaking at: http://www.authorlisasaunders.com/

Merry Christmas From Mystic!

2011-11-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

Santa arrives to Mystic by tugboat

We have now completed our first full year of living in Mystic. We agree with our friend Pam who visited last Christmas time: “You live in a Hallmark movie!”

Mystic's Hallmark Christmas movie begins with Santa coming to town by tugboat, followed by a lighted boat parade; children drop letters to Santa into the special village mailbox marked “North Pole” and are answered by the Mystic Chamber of Commerce (last year’s letters included children asking for jobs for their daddies); the Downtown Mystic Christmas Stroll includes carolers in top hats and ballerinas dancing the Nutcracker in shops serving hot apple cider and cookies; then the community comes out for a sing-along around a large British anchor from the War of 1812 at Mystic Seaport, the museum where I’ve been working part-time as a historical interpreter.

Last summer, I worked at Mystic Seaport in the candle dipping shop, where people paid five dollars to dip candles that looked nothing like the slender, colored candles on the poster out front. Most looked like goat teats in need of milking, others like drippy bells, some fell off the wicks entirely because the tourists made them too big, and other candles just wouldn’t thicken because they didn’t believe me that you have to dip the wick quickly in and out of the hot wax so you don’t melt off the wax already hardened on the wick. Other than making sure the tourists didn’t burn their hands in the hot wax, I had to comfort them about how their candles looked when finished. I’d say, “There is no such thing as a bad candle here. They are all special, just like people. Some are just more ‘special’ than others.” I thought of all those misshapen candles during the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. I bet many were brought out of hiding when their families ran out of their sleek, store-bought candles during the six days we had no power.

With “real” jobs scarce around here, I’ve had several part-time ones. I worked for the local weekly paper writing articles that included the mystery of the large influx of harp seals off our shores this year (normally Harbor seals winter here) and got to march in front of the newspaper’s float in the Irish Parade, where I dislocated the Mystic Strongman’s back when he lifted me as a stunt; I worked for a wedding photographer (Mystic is a prime wedding site), where I helped film online commercials—my favorite being one about a dog-walker who featured our beagle/basset hound, Bailey; and I worked once as a T.V. commercial production assistant, where I not only told actors where to find the bathroom, but was used as a dancing extra in a casino commercial that aired during the “Wheel of Fortune” T.V show. Thinking that maybe my next career should be movie star, I tried to get a part as an extra in the recent Meryl Streep/Tommie Lee Jones movie filmed in our area. At the casting call, I fibbed about how much I weighed on the sign-in form thinking I could get down to that weight by the time shooting began. I didn’t get a part, but on the last morning of shooting, I strolled through the set with our hound hoping a director would see how well we represented the local background. No luck there.

Then, I started to write an e-book called, “Getting Thin and Famous Along the Mystic Seafarer’s Trail,” a walking trail I designed to go past the haunts and homes of famous sea captains, but I had to stop walking the 20 miles because I gained too much weight stopping along the way for fried clams strips and ice-cream.

Currently, I help a family get ready for school (I get there at 6 a.m.!), write for Rockland Community College and work for Mystic Seaport. Because together these jobs equal full-time employment, I’m taking a break looking for an office job, much to the disappointment of my friends who enjoyed hearing my humiliating interviewing experiences. The latest fad is to ask candidates “behavioral” questions and I’m not always sure how to “behave.” When called in for jury duty last month in New London, I couldn’t even get picked by a scary-looking criminal and his lawyer after my courtroom interview.

My new hobby is kayaking. My friend Cindy owns three kayaks and regularly takes her friends for a paddle. Having found that fighting against an outgoing tide can be tricky, I text Jim where we intend to embark in case we get swept out to sea. My friend Jules and her fiancé Neal (who works at the nearby Naval submarine base) just bought a sailboat and promised to take Jim and I along on overnight trips. I feel especially qualified for these adventures because I just learned how to tie a bowline knot, one that Sherlock Holmes always attributes to sailors. Last week, Jules and Neal gave their first official sailing plans to our friend Kate, asking her to call the Coast Guard if she didn’t hear from them by a certain time. Neal let us know that it would be very humiliating for a Navy guy to be rescued by the Coast Guard, which also has a base nearby.

The publisher of my book, “Anything But a Dog,” has made it into an e-book available on Amazon (where the first chapter is free at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GRAE0I ) and my play, “Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife,” is being produced in Mystic for a dinner theater on Valentine’s Day by the Emerson Theater group.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Kayaking in Mystic

2011-10-03T06:24:00.000-07:00

Here I am at Beebee Cove, near where I live, in the hat my husband says makes me look like I'm out rhino hunting.

Although I am still hoping for a friend with a "real" boat, I am lucky to have found my friend, Cindy, who has three kayaks and offers to take me out regularly. I float around with a lot of swans and seaguls and here at Beebee Cove, according to Ann Kuehner, the photographer, we saw "osprey, cormorant and great white egret – the last is the tall, skinny white shore bird. The cormorants are often found on logs or other things projecting up out of the water. It was probably the crested cormorant – there are several different ones, but that is the most likely. If you see a small white skinny bird, that is also an egret – likely a cattle egret."

When Cindy takes me to spots where there is a danger of being swept out to sea, I usually just text Jim the location so he'll know where to begin looking if I'm not home.

Hurrican Irene Causes Dirty Hair, But Mystic Pizza Going Strong

2011-08-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

No serious flooding here in Mystic (we got the wind more than the rain). Many trees/limbs down. We were lucky--our brook didn't cause a flood in our home or street (according to the neighbors, it did one year when the drain it flows into hadn't been continually cleared). I went out during the storm all morning long to keep the drain free of debris, wearing knee-high rubber boots so I could step into the stream and rip away vines, branches, etc. Perhaps stupidly, I walked Bailey during the storm and kept storm drains clear in the streets as well. I single-handedly saved Mystic from flooding--but since I was out alone, no one but Bailey knows!

Although I was a little scared watching the wind tear through the tall trees that surround our property (our windows are filthy now from being pelted with rain and dirt/leaves), I felt a lot safer than when Elizabeth and I were trapped in a train during Hurricane Floyd. Other than worrying how I was going to keep her head above the rising water and what she was going to eat since she could only swallow pureed food, we endured the terror of the NY woman screaming that the snack car had run of biscottis! That story was in my book, Anything But a Dog!, which the publisher just converted to an e-book in case you know anyone who might like to read the first chapter for free by clicking on the book’s image on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GRAE0I

Our oven is electric and we don't have a gas grill, so I have been boiling water in a tea kettle over a little flame. Traffic lights are out around here, so getting around is a little tricky!

The good news is that Mystic Pizza has a generator so we did have a hot meal on Sunday--with the rest of Mystic!

My daughter Jackie and her husband Paul's hurricane story in the D.C. was in preparation of it. Jackie had to compete with others in the nation's capitol for the last remaining flashlight--a toy Lego Man that shines light from his feet. Hunting everywhere for batteries, she finally found a kind store owner who broke up packages of them (and didn't overcharge) and asked each person who came up to his counter, "Now how many do you really need to get through the storm?" Jackie, sounding very much like the old lady in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life," in the run on the bank scene, said "Two, please." The shop keeper couldn't believe that she fought her way through the crowds to get to that counter just to ask for two. I think of that when I'm tempted to camp out all day long at Starbucks so I can keep my laptop/cell phone charged and keep you all informed. I really should only take up an outlet at Starbucks for two hours max to the writing work I'm required to do for my clients.

Today, 8/30/11-- Day Three With No Power:

We are still hearing of the flooding in NJ/NY from Hurricane Irene and you perhaps are hearing how CT is having trouble getting power back on because of a shortage of linemen. We are still being told to count on "a week or more without power." My cell phone only works intermittently because if cell tower outages.

According to an announement from the governor, CT Light and Power "was still searching for available crews as far away as Seattle or British Columbia." So if you need a job, become a lineman!

I am back in Starbucks in Groton--the one is Mystic does have power, but it's smaller and doesn't have as many outlets. The people sitting around me drinking coffee and charging their laptops/cell phones look like they've been camping. Many are on well water so don't have any water at all. Others, like me, have water, but can't stand putting their heads under cold water. I still have shampoo on my scalp from the one and only time I tried that--I just couldn't remain under the water long enough to get all the soap out.

The night sky never looked better from our house. With a new moon and no lights from town, the stars are spectacular. Occasionally we see a faint glow in a driveway--a TV powered by the car battery. Family members gather in their car for their evening entertainment (and some are cooking with hotplates powered by their car battery). Jim and I curl up in bed with my Starbuck's charged laptop to watch our DVDs. Last night we finished the movie, The Mothman, because the night before that, my laptop ran out of power just at the climax (it's a scary movie about a creature who warns people of impending doom).

Yesterday I bought a folding stove at the Army Navy Store. It sits over a canned flame and takes forever to cook anything. Because I was working until 6:45 p.m., Jim had to start dinner by frying up some of our rapidly defrosting meat--in this case, turkey burgers. I took one bite and couldn't eat anymore--it tasted slimy from the frying pan (Jim thinks the flame made it taste funny, but I don't see how). Suggesting we just give it to Bailey, Jim was upset and said something like, "I slaved all night over this luke-warm flame and you're giving your meat to the dog?"

What I really wanted was good movie popcorn for dinner, so after giving my turkey burgers to Bailey, I talked Jim into seeing a movie at Olde Mistick Village Theater. It was comforting to sit with the other dirty heads in Mystic eating warm popcorn.

Although Olde Mistick Village, a colonial style outdoor shopping center, has power, downtown Mystic and the Mystic Seaport Museum do not. That means all of those businesses are missing out on the height of tourist season (except for Mystic Pizza with its generator still going strong). The drawbridge doesn't go up either, so boats are trapped. The Weather Channel was at the drawbridge Saturday, the day before the hurricane, to show all the boats that dock there during hurricanes. The mouth if Mystic River is protected from the storms over Long Island Sound by Fisher's Island--which is why the area was historically a major ship building district before iron clads became popular after the Civil War (it was impractical to ship iron to Mystic so ship-building gradually died out).

Anyway, Jim and I were in walking around Mystic when the Weather Channel camera crews came so I tried to look casual in front of the yachts and tall ships they were filming in case they wanted to interview me. One camera man moved his camera to get me out of his line of sight. I heard Mystic River was featured on national news, but I doubt I made it into the background. Maybe I'll get lucky and hear soon that I made it in as an extra in the Merryl Streep movie soon to be filmed here.

I bought a spray at the Hair Cuttery that is supposed to make your hair look like it's been washed. It's called something like "Dirty Little Secret." If you want to know whether it keeps my dirty little hair secret a secret, just check back on my blog at http://mysticpizzaseafarer.blogspot.com/2011/08/hurrican-irene-causes-dirty-hair-but.html

Lisa

Day 5—No power: Dirty Hair Tackled by Government

Tuesday, Aug 31, 2011

Still no power, hot water, or working oven. The good news: we’re gathering nightly with our marginally showered friends by candle light to grill our rotting meat and slurp our soggy, previously frozen fruit (originally purchased for smoothies), calling it fruit compote.

Possible as a result of businesses complaining to the government that tourists won’t come back to Mystic if its residents looked filthy, we were ordered to take advantage of free showers. I’m not kidding, this was the newspaper headline: “Groton Respite Center Wants Region To Take Showers.”

Although I am learning how to take a cold shower without going into shock (by doing back bends in the stall so only my head goes under the spray), I’m dying to try one of those cold, lack-of privacy showers offered in a trailer just to have something new to write about—we’ll see.

Well, I must get going on my freelance writing work (the kind that actually pays) before I get kicked out of Starbucks for charging up my laptop/cell phone too long while sipping one cup of coffee all day. Right now I’m surrounded by some grumpy men who are complaining about our lack of lineman to get the power back on. Yesterday the radio played the old song,“The Wichita Lineman.” The mayor got on the air and told us to give “thumbs up” signs to all the bucket trucks that go by. I heard someone with a chain saw at 2 a.m. this morning working on getting the downed trees cleared. Maybe our power will be back on soon!

If only I were Amish or hardened campers like some of our friends—then this would be so much easier!

Seafarer’s Trail to Enders Island

2011-08-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

by Lisa Saunders (see video)

My hound Bailey and I just trekked eight miles round trip to “The Hanging Garden of Enders Island” on my quest to get "Thin and Famous" along my Seafarer’s Trail.

Before leaving the house I thought I should register with New England Actors in case they put out a call for extras for the next major movie being shot in Mystic. Oh no—they want you to list your weight! I decided I would first lose some pounds walking the trail. Or should I aim for getting “Fat and Famous” instead?

With a bottle of water, cell phone and wallet in my knapsack, Bailey and I left our house near the Mystic-Noank Library and headed toward downtown Mystic. Along the way, we passed the usual crowd getting photographed under the Mystic Pizza sign and crossed over the Mystic drawbridge to Mystic River Park, where we saw the usual lunch-time dog-walking gang sitting together on a park bench.

The dog on your right is blind and gets to ride in a little cart.

Then Bailey pulled me toward his favorite people in Mystic, Riverdog Kayak Rental owners, Suzanne and Pete, and their lazy greyhound Jordon.

After pampering Bailey (see video) and hearing of my quest to get thin and famous along my route, Pete suggested: “Maybe you can get famous by getting lost and having a search and rescue team go out looking for you.”

Hmmm. I wasn’t that desperate to get famous, but it did remind me that another way to get known in Mystic was for Bailey to discover a body along the Seafarer’s Trail (he already discovered a body in a New York park, but that’s another story). We would be sure to look for one among the dock pilings along our route.

Heading North on Rte 1, I came across the Denison Burying Ground, a family plot dating back to 1698. The Denisons were among the first settlers in the Mystic area. Always looking for an interesting dead person to meet, Bailey and I walked among the stones. Suddenly, I saw a headstone that possibly explains why so many spots around here are named after the Denisons—because there were so many Denisons! This grave marker told of Jane, the widow of Mr. George Denison, who died in 1829 -- “At the time of her death, her children and their descendents were 350.”

From here, I couldn’t help but see the roadside restaurant, Sea Swirl, overlooking Pequotsepos Cove. It was an awfully long walk to Enders Island…Bailey rested while I “fortified” myself with fried clams.

The two-mile trip south on Masons Island Road revealed no dead bodies unless you count how I almost became one. On three separate occasions, a dog was off leash and came charging toward us, and there was hardly any shoulder to walk on, making us a target for cars. I gave a panting Bailey all our water, leaving me a bit parched—it never occurred to me that I could perish from thirst along this route.

It was all worth it, however, when we got to Enders Island and St. Edmund’s Retreat Center, which keeps an intriguing stone and flower garden, and displays relics such as the withered arm of Saint Edmund, who preached for the Sixth Crusade. I visited the three-sided seaside chapel open to Fisher’s Island Sound. It shelters an altar where people leave their hand-written prayers—some are so personal and moving, you feel you are standing on holy ground.

After rocking in a chair in a gazebo overlooking the Sound while Bailey slept at my feet, it was time to go home. Although we didn’t get discovered yet, we still have a lot more of the Mystic Seafarer’s Trail to cover. Stay tuned to read about our walk to Noank where Amelia Earhart got married (see video), and where my seafaring friend Kate gave birth to her daughter on a schooner and rowed her to shore the following morning to have her weighed on a lobster scale at Ford's Lobsters (they removed the lobsters first).(see video)

Getting Thin and Famous Along Mystic's Seafarers Trail

2011-08-03T03:32:00.000-07:00

Bailey and I embark on the Mystic Seafarers Trail

Face it—famous people have an easier time getting work, published or promoting their cause. If you’re thin on top of it, then you can live longer to enjoy it!

After 50 years of dieting (I was a fat kid too), I have to concede that my old classmate was right when she answered my question at a high school reunion on how she stayed so thin: “You can’t eat anything and you have to exercise all of the time.”

And the secret to becoming famous? Now that truly is a secret! Not being athletic or otherwise talented, I have often resorted to the antics of Lucy Ricardo when trying to sneak into Ricky’s nightclub act. In one "I Love Lucy" episode, however, she got Ricky to agree to feature her if she could squeeze into the small costume of a performer who had quit. Lucy starved, exercised and steamed herself down to that size. Could that be the answer for me?

To find out, I’m about to launch my latest strategy for getting thin and famous—but it will be a lot more fun than Lucy's weight loss regimen! I will walk and write about the Mystic Seafarers Trail—a path I designed to include “The 7 Wonders of Mystic.” It will begin where Amelia Earhart got married in Noank and include Mystic Pizza; the haunts and homes of famous sea captains and their vessels, including the oldest whaleship in the world, the Charles W. Morgan, featured in several films and where stowaways, amputations, floggings, and burials at sea took place; Mystic drawbridge; Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, where the discoverer of the grave of the R.M.S. Titanic, Dr. Robert Ballard, keeps his home office; and Olde Mistick Village, where Gloria, the cranky, arthritic goose has been reigning over the duck pond for decades. The trail moves south to what I call “The Hanging Gardens of Enders Island” located at the St. Edmund’s Retreat Center, where relics such as the withered arm of Saint Edmund, who preached for the Sixth Crusade, are displayed. Then eastward to Stonington, where the discoverer of Antarctica lived and where vastly out-gunned citizens fought off an attack by the British in the War of 1812.

I will not walk this 10-mile trail all in one day. This trip will involve daily treks back and forth from my home or car. My sidekick in this venture will be my faithful walking companion, my beagle/basset hound, Bailey— a true publicity hound who is already famous. He’s been featured in print and online newspapers, and in a commercial (he is the handsome dog to your left).

When I’m done covering my initial planned route, if I’m still not as thin and famous as my hound, I’ll lengthen the Seafarer’s Trail further west to the hidden tunnel at Fort Griswold in Groton, where traitor Benedict Arnold led British forces to victory during the burning of New London, and further east to include a beer tasting at the Cottrell Brewing Co. in Pawcatuck. Perhaps I will also walk north to the wineries buried in the countryside.

Why do I have all of this time to leisurely journey through Mystic Country? When Jim was transferred here last year from New York, I left a job that I loved in campus communication at a college and began working as a freelance publicist and writer, giving me ample, perhaps too ample, time to walk my hound down several side streets to delve into the back stories of the area. Seeing how much fun I’m having, many have asked me, “When are you going to get a real job?”

Good question—so I have set a deadline. If I’m not thin and famous by September, enough to be cast as an extra in the next major motion picture due to be filmed here (starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell), then I will focus my energies into getting a "real" job—and leave the uncovering of Mystic’s secrets to someone else!

Have any tips?

If you have tips on how to get thin and famous, or want to see a particular point of interest covered on my trail, please share them in "Comments" below. To read earlier attempts, some successful, at getting thin and famous (well, at least published), read earlier posts on my blog, “How to Get Thin and Famous” at: http://howtogetthinandfamous.blogspot.com/

The Hounds of Mysticville

2011-07-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

The dogs of Mystic add charm to our seaport—and my beagle/basset hound loves to add his to the mix. Every afternoon Bailey pulls me toward downtown Mystic hoping for pats from the tourists and treats from the usual shop keepers, such as Riverdog Kayak Rental owners, Suzanne and Pete, who sit under a tent on Cottrell Street with their kayaks and their lazy greyhound, Jordon.

Jordon, a former racer now serving as the Riverdog Kayak mascot, doesn’t mind sharing his treats with Bailey and the other dogs who stop by to say “Hello,” but he does draw the line at sharing his bed, which takes up half the tent. Although Jordon is only interested in meeting other greyhounds, such as Nick who was recently adopted by Patch blogger Nicole, he does at least understand Bailey, who is also a “rescued” dog—like many of the dogs trotting proudly beside their owners in Mystic.

My husband, Jim, and I are Bailey’s third owners. Our oldest daughter, Jackie, saw Bailey’s soulful, houndish face on Craiglist, and thought he was just the dog to cheer us. She spotted Bailey online mere hours after we had to put down our first family dog, Riley.

Jim and I had never considered owning any dog, especially since our youngest daughter, Elizabeth, was disabled and required a lot of care. Our saga into the dog world began as it does for most parents:
"Mom, can I have a dog?" Jackie asked when she wassix years old.

I cringed. The dreaded day was here - all kids inevitably ask for one. And why wouldn't they? Movie dogs like Lassie drag you from burning buildings and keep you warm when you're lost in a blizzard.

"No, you can't have a dog," I said, bracing myself for the age-old argument.

"Why not?" she demanded. "I promise I'll take care of it!"

Sure, I thought, knowing like all mothers that I'd be the one walking it in the pouring rain. "The truth is," I said, "we just can't risk a dog around your sister." Elizabeth, three at the time, was quadriplegic from cerebral palsy and I worried she would be unable to defend herself from a dog that might playfully nip at her.

Jackie's continued cries for a dog inspired a promise: "Jackie," I said, "I do want you to have a dog, but only if it'smeant to be. So...if God brings one to our door, then you can have it.” That was how I got my childhood beagle, Donald Dog—he just showed up at our door one day. If that happened again, I would call it “a sign” that the dog was meant to be for both Jackie and Elizabeth.

Six years and several dysfunctional, alternative pets later, Jackie hadn’t given up hope that a dog would show up at our door. At the age of 12, during Christmas vacation, she told us that if one ever did show up, she would name it Riley after the dog in the movie, "Homeward Bound II."

Unbelievably, a few weeks after this discussion, a big, brown female puppy, shivering cold, wet and dirty, tried to jump into our car as we were leaving the house to go out with friends. Although her condition and an aluminum dish in a nearby snow bank indicated she was probably a dumped, unwelcome Christmas present, I ran "found" ads, put up posters, and called the police. No luck—Jim and I would have to honor our pledge to Jackie.

Jackie wouldn't name the puppy Riley because she only knew male dogs by that name, so she called her Gabrielle--Gabby for short. Although Gabby was cute and friendly in public, at home, she was a terror. Not only did she urinate all over our new wall to wall carpets and chew on everything, she was a nipper. She playfully attacked all passing ankles and grabbed Elizabeth's feet dangling over the couch with her razor sharp teeth. I worried about Elizabeth’s safety constantly--yet how could I break my promise to Jackie? Perhaps she'd agree to upgrade the dog for an older, calmer one?

Moments after that solution occurred to me, Jackie started screaming from the laundry room, "Dad, get Gabby off me! She's attacking my feet again."

That's it. Without saying a word, I picked up the phone and dialed a local animal shelter. "Help! The puppy we took in a month ago is driving us crazy. Can you find her another home?"

"Puppies are easy; I can find her a home within a week."

"Do you have an older, calmer dog? I have a handicapped child, so I really must be certain."

"As a matter of fact, I have a big, fat, lazy male Lab-mix, who wants nothing more than to lie on a couch all day. He's not only a couch potato, he's the whole sack of potatoes!"

"Perfect! What's his name?"

"Riley."

"Riley! You're kidding me! Hold on to him. We'll be right in!"

Jackie felt sad on the trip to the shelter with Gabby on her lap, yet awed by the name of the dog we would be bringing home. "Mom, that's got to be a sign."

She was right. And it was a good sign. Not only did Gabby find a good home within the week, but I realized immediately that Riley was the perfect companion for both of our daughters.

As soon as he got settled into our house, I patted the couch next to Elizabeth, letting him know he was welcome to join her--and he did just that. Though they couldn't have been more different on the outside--he a 100-pound, black bear of a dog, and she a pale, 40 pounds--they had a lot in common. Like Elizabeth, Riley was considered a misfit because he couldn't do much. He didn't know how to fetch, play with a toy or chew on a rawhide, but he did know how to jump on the couch and keep Elizabeth warm without stepping on her. And Jackie finally had a dog to pet, hug, and take on hiking trips. It became my pleasure to walk our carpet-friendly couch potato--even in the pouring rain!

To see photos of my girls with their dog, Riley, and an excerpt of my memoir, Anything But a Dog!, which includes CMV (cytomegalovirus) prevention tips, visit my website at: www.authorlisasaunders.com

Reaching Out From Beyond the Grave?

2011-06-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

When I moved here last summer, I assumed my husband and I had left all family behind in New York, including the grave of our little daughter, Elizabeth. But some very bizarre trips back in time uncovered quite the opposite.

I first became intrigued by Mystic’s dead while researching the “back stories” for my article, "The 7 Wonders of Mystic.” Deciding that the Memorial Arch of Elm Grove Cemetery was a “Wonder,” I drove past the markers of the 13,000 souls buried there, many on the “Who’s Who” list of 19th century ship builders and sea captains, and looked for one to highlight. I became intrigued by a tall obelisk along the Mystic River depicting the steamship, City of Waco. The grave marker tells how Captain Thomas E. Wolfe died piloting her when it caught fire off the port of Galveston in 1875. Articles in the New York Times gave an account of Wolfe’s command of a vessel during the Civil War that transported supplies from New York to New Orleans until his capture by the Confederate navy. His boat burned, he was taken prisoner, but made a daring escape with some companions over a year later. After the war, he became a pilot for the State of Texas until his steamship exploded in flames and sank, killing all on board. His body was recovered and shipped back to Mystic.

With “The 7 Wonders” article finished, and a vote for the 8th Wonder conducted by Patch, I was curious to learn about the potential “Wonders” suggested by the public. I began by purchasing a copy of the Mystic River Historical Society’s walking tour booklet, Curbstones, Clapboards and Cupolas. Reading about the historic homes and former residents of West Mystic Avenue, which now extends to Allyn St. where I live, I was intrigued when I read, "Contractor Allyn built #12 for his brother-in-law (who could not make payments). Captain Charles Sisson bought the house in 1858 after an unsuccessful search for gold in California.” Could that Sisson be a long-ago relative of mine?

I contacted David Sisson, my cousin who has done extensive research on the Sisson line. Yes, Captain Charles Sisson was my cousin--and he had lived only 10 houses down from me! Captain Charles Sisson and I are fourth cousins five times removed, both descending from Thomas and Jane (Freeman) Sisson.

Not only were we cousins, which was enough to thrill me, but after his wife Ann died at sea in 1876, he married the widow of Captain Thomas E. Wolfe—the Civil War hero in my "Wonders” article! It turns out that Charles and Captain Wolfe were boyhood friends who searched for the California gold together—and married sisters! I couldn’t wait to visit the graves of Captain Charles Sisson and his first wife Ann at nearby Lower Mystic Cemetery, because I wouldn’t just be visiting interesting people, I’d be visiting family.

Their grave markers were not difficult to find in this small cemetery on Route 1. Charles’s tall stone, engraved with a sailing ship, declares: “The voyage is ended.” Ann’s marker is similar, but was placed in memory of her because she was buried at sea—with the stone giving the coordinates. When I saw a small grave marker nearby, I felt this must be the reason I was led here. On it was the name of their 10-month-old daughter. Engraved with “Our Little Ida,” I felt I was given a place to grieve for my own daughter, whose marker is engraved, “Our Little Girl.”

Taking my husband, Jim, there the following weekend, I thought I was going to show him where I had some dead relatives. Standing in front of their markers, we saw another couple walking around looking at stones. “Excuse me,” the man yelled over to us, “Would you happen to know if there are any Sissons buried here?”

Stunned, I yelled back, “Yes there are—and we're standing in front of them! I’m related to them!”

The man replied, “My name is Matthew Sisson.” A captain in the Coast Guard, Matthew told me he wasn’t sure if he was related to Captain Charles Sisson, but he couldn’t wait for me to find out. He mentioned that his Sisson family was coming from as far away as California to attend his upcoming Change of Command Ceremony in June. He just happened to stop at this little cemetery on the off-chance he would find some Sissons there.

Another flurry of e-mails to my cousin David Sisson revealed that Captain Matthew J.Sisson and I are distant cousins too!*

On Thursday, June 23, I went to Matthew’s Change of Command Ceremony at Fort Trumbull State Park in New London—and met a lot more cousins!

End Note:
If Captain Charles Sisson is still working from beyond the grave to reveal more Mystic secrets, such as that he and his friend Captain Wolfe did find gold in California, buried it somewhere, and want me to know where it is, I plan to look for clues at the Collections Research Center at Mystic Seaport, where Sisson's captain’s logs are reportedly stored among other important documents. Perhaps I will find out more about Captains Sisson's and Wolfe's treacherous trip back from California, which claimed the life of their third companion (who is buried near Captain Sisson). I will also look further into the circumstances of Wolfe's death in the steamship explosion because the inquest included some disturbing eye-witness accounts.

Another cousin of mine, genealogist Carol Sisson Regehr, was given Captain Sisson's family bible from Col. John Sisson, who received it as a gift from a friend who found it in a resale shop. Carol then donated the bible to the Mystic Seaport Museum. Through that and the captain's logs I hope to find out why Sisson's first wife, Ann, died at sea at the age of 45 on the ship, Jeremiah Thompson.

Captain Charles Sisson’s home on 12 West Mystic Ave, Mystic, which looks very much the same today, can be seen at: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dasisson/richard/images/7dda06.jpg

The information available on the Ancestry.com site (which includes a photo of Captain Sisson’s Bible) at http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dasisson/richard/aqwg114.htm#32218,
states: “Charles was shipmaster of the Bridgewater, Jeremiah Thompson, and Thomas Dana… Charles married (1) Ann E. SAWYER...She died 12 May 1876 at sea on ship "Jeremiah Thompson.”

According to the Mystic River Historical Society’s walking tour booklet, Curbstones, Clapboards and Cupolas, Sisson "commanded the clipper ships Elizabeth F. Willetts and Mary Sutton." Eight volumes of his journals from 1863-1882 are said to be in the G. W. Blunt White Library at the Mystic Seaport Museum.

Attention Sisson family members and/or descendents: To learn more about Sisson genealogy, visit:http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dasisson/, where you can do family searches, learn about current genealogy projects, and the next bi-annual Sisson Gathering in Albany, NY, in 2012 (the purpose of these gatherings is to learn about ongoing Sisson research in the U.S. and England). To participate in Sisson-related conversions, join the Sisson listserve by registering at: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dasisson/research.htm

*My cousin David Sisson said that Matthew Sisson and I share ancestry back to Richard and Mary Sisson, an immigrant couple who were in Rhode Island (and later Plymouth Colony) by 1650. I descend from Richard and Mary's oldest son George, and Matthew Sisson descends from their son James.

The 7 Wonders of Mystic: Mystic Pizza and Beyond!

2011-06-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

When most people think of the tiny seacoast village of Mystic, Connecticut, they think of the movie, “Mystic Pizza,” starring Julia Roberts and debuting Matt Damon. Yet when they visit this maritime community located half-way between New York and Boston they find a lot more than pizza!

Included in National Geographic’s 100 “America’s Best Adventure Town,” this historic shipbuilding district has welcomed such notable honeymooners as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and currently attracts tourists from all over the world. Aside from the picturesque Mystic River lined with the Greek revival homes of noted sea captains, and Mystic Seaport’s 19th century village, exhibits and ships, visitors also come to experience the quaint shops, nationally reviewed restaurants, and the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, where the discoverer of the grave of the R.M.S. Titanic, keeps his home office.

Like the ancient Greek historians who compiled "The Seven Wonders of the World," I too, with the help of locals, compiled a list of seven, awe-inspiring “must-sees” in Mystic. I decided that for a site to make it onto the “Wonders” list, it should be man-made, free to view from land or boat (some do charge admission to enter),open in all seasons; and be located in Mystic. All are within a two-mile walk or bike ride from the Mystic Train Depot.

1. Mystic River Drawbridge

If you’re strolling across the bridge in historic downtown Mystic happily licking your ice-cream cone and suddenly have ringing in your ears, don’t be alarmed--everyone else is hearing it too.

But you must act fast because the bridge is about to lift. Once the bridge operator, who is watching you from a little house perched above, sees that you are safely to one side, he will pull the whistle cord signaling to the mariners on the river below that the bridge is ready to rise.

Watching the historic 1922 bridge lifted by massive, overhead concrete counterweights is thrilling to pedestrians as well as to the bridge operators, called tenders, who man the bridge house 24 hours a day (yes, there is a bathroom).

Bridge tender Bruce Sullivan, known around Mystic as “Sully," said, “I have the best view to watch all kinds of vessels go through-- schooners, clippers, sloops, tugboats.” He was particularly excited to watch the maiden voyage of the Amistad replica, built at Mystic Seaport. ”I’ve seen the yachts of Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood and Phil Donahue.” How does he know those were celebrity yachts? “Because they stood on their decks and waved up to me!”

This National Historic Landmark is itself a celebrity and was prominently featured in the movie, “Mystic Pizza.” Sully got to meet Julia Roberts and crew during the filming in 1987.

Bridge tender Rod Coleman was especially thrilled to meet former President Jimmy Carter who shook his hand and personally thanked him for keeping the bridge down during the tightly- timed schedule created by Secret Service for Carter’s motorcade. Carter and former first lady Rosalynn were staying in Mystic for the 2004 christening of the Navy submarine, Jimmy Carter, in nearby Groton, CT.

Located on Route 1, the Mystic River Drawbridge replaced a steel swing bridge. A prior wooden bridge used oxen to turn the span and another bridge posted the sign, “WALK YOUR HORSES,” to keep vibrations to a minimum. Before the first bridge was built in 1819, people crossed the river by ferry.

For more information, contact the Mystic River Historical Society: mystichistory.org, 860-536-4779.

2. Charles W. Morgan -- last wooden whaleship in the world

A mammoth wooden boat on dry land—has someone heard it’s time to build another ark? Currently towering above the homes along the Mystic River, at the corner of Isham and Bay Streets, is the last wooden whaleship in the world, the Charles W. Morgan.

Presently undergoing restoration at Mystic Seaport, this oldest American commercial ship has sailed more leagues of ocean than any other American whaleship in history, witnessing floggings; stowaways; drownings; desertions; amputations; burials at sea; and men who disappeared over the horizon forever in a “Nantucket sleigh ride”—the high-speed whaleboat ride sometimes given by a harpooned whale.

Despite the restoration process, paying visitors can climb a staircase to board this lone surviving wooden representation of America’s first international industry—one the colonists learned from Native American Indians and where a man of color could earn the same wage as a white man.

Visitors to the Morgan will not only see the industry side of whaling, like the brick furnace used to process the blubber into oil, but they will also see the personal side, such as the captain’s cabin that includes a private “head” (toilet to the sea), sitting room, and a gimbal (always level) bed installed by a captain so his wife could sleep comfortably, despite the pitch of the sea.

When you touch the Morgan, launched during the height of the whaling industry in 1841, you are not only touching a vessel that has survived typhoons, hurricanes, crushing ice, stirrings of a mutiny, and an attack by Pacific Islanders, you are also touching a movie star! Featured in several films, including Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad,” with Morgan Freeman seen below decks, the Charles W. Morgan can be viewed in her original role as a whaling ship in a 1922 film playing inside Mystic Seaport.

When actor William Hurt climbed aboard the Morgan to prepare for his role as Captain Ahab in the T.V. mini-series, “Moby Dick,” he sat on a sailor’s bunk with Mystic Seaport staff members and talked for an hour about what life aboard a whaleship must have been like. “This is the only place in the world where he could have done that,” said Matthew Stackpole, a member of the Morgan Restoration Project team.

The Morgan arrived at Mystic Seaport, the nation’s leading 19-acre maritime museum, in 1941. Since then, approximately 20 million visitors have crossed her decks.

Mystic Seaport depicts life in a 19^th century seafaring village and includes hands-on exhibits for children.

More information: mysticseaport.org, 860-572-0711.

3. Mystic Pizza Restaurant Sign

How does an ordinary lighted restaurant sign, “Mystic Pizza: A Slice of Heaven,” rate as a Mystic wonder? Because visitors still flock to this symbol of the 1988 romantic comedy, "Mystic Pizza," starring Julia Roberts and debuting Matt Damon (his only line,"Mom, do you want my green stuff?" was said while eating lobster).

The Zelepos family, owners of Mystic Pizza, state, “Incredibly, our little pizza shop caught the eye of screenwriter Amy Jones, who was summering in the area. Ms. Jones chose Mystic Pizza as the focus and setting for her story of the lives and loves of three young waitresses.” The movie depicts life in a small fishing village and was filmed in Mystic and the surrounding communities.

The locals will never forget the day that Hollywood came to town—just ask Mystic shopkeepers, waiters, and tour guides what it was like to accommodate the 80-member film crew. Most have a story to tell—how the bridge operator needed to raise the drawbridge on cue; how local fishermen advised actors on stringing bait; or how they have a friend who moved into a hotel while a scene was shot in her home. Local racing sailor Katie Bradford says, “I’m friends with the guy, Skip, who was actually steering the boat in the Mystic River scene, but he had to do it lying on his back so an actor would appear steering.” Katie also tells how another friend became a local celebrity simply because the back of his head made it into the movie!

More than 20 years after the movie’s release, film production companies still can’t get enough of Mystic Pizza. Restaurant co-owner John Zelepos recently received a call from California asking if his restaurant and family would star in a reality T.V. show.

If you’ve never seen the film, given a “two thumbs up” from popular movie critics Siskel and Ebert, you will have your chance by peering into the restaurant where it plays continuously on three screens. “It’s on mute--otherwise, we’d go nuts!” confided one waitress. The restaurant sells souvenirs (and pizza, of course) and proudly displays movie photos, posters and newspaper clippings featuring the restaurant. The waitresses even have a little fun by dressing up a mannequin as Daisy, the Julia Roberts character in the film, and changing her hair accessories to match the colors of the season.

For more information about Mystic Pizza restaurant, visit mysticpizza.com or call (860) 536-3737. To see which scenes were filmed where, follow the movie trail map available at: http://www.mysticchamber.org/doc/1/Mystic%20Pizza%20Movie%20Trail%20-%20Web.pdf

4. The “Hanging Gardens” of Enders Island

Out of a widow’s loneliness sprang a stone landscape so intriguing, it should be referred to as the “Hanging Gardens” of Enders Island. But you must stroll through slowly if you hope to appreciate the absurdity of a brass bird spigot beside a cat statue, or the whimsy of a heart-shaped stone path.

The driving force behind this maze of rock hedges and archways was Alys E. Enders, widow of Dr. Thomas B. Enders, son of the president of Aetna Life Insurance Company. Having outlived Thomas by many years, Alys found a way to ensure companionship on her 11-acre island estate.

“She was always adding onto her mansion and gardens just to keep the workers from leaving the grounds!” says Jeffrey Anderson, Executive Director of St. Edmunds Retreat, the Catholic oasis that now occupies the island. Alys donated her estate to the Catholic Church upon her death in 1954.

Worried you might not be welcome—especially if you’re not Catholic? The website states: “Not a Catholic? Not a problem…all are welcomed to enjoy the peaceful natural beauty of our island.”

And peace you will surely find as you listen to the waves of Fishers Island Sound slap against the rocky shore and stroll past tiled pools, fountains, and Alys’s former tea house, the three-sided “Seaside Chapel” that protects an altar covered with hand-written prayers, funeral cards of missed loved ones, and unlit cigarettes cast off by repentant smokers. On the concrete floor are Alys’s initials, A.E.E., presumably engraved by her in 1951.

The island’s mansion and chapel, which displays relics, including the actual arm of Saint Edmund who preached for the Sixth Crusade in 1228, are used for twelve step recovery programs, spiritual development retreats, sacred art workshops and daily mass. Jams and jellies (some with names like "Fire and Brimstone" Hot Pepper Jelly), made from fruit grown on the island, are available in the gift shop.

Although you must travel the private roads of Masons Island to reach Enders Island, you are allowed to pass through this gated community if St. Edmund’s Retreat is your destination.

For more information about St. Edmunds Retreat, visit endersisland.com or call 860-536-0565.

5. Elm Grove Cemetery Memorial Arch

The “Pearly Gates?” Not exactly-- these gates are made of iron, but the colossal arch to the Elm Grove Cemetery does beckon you in. Afraid to cross through the Memorial Arch to the “other” side? Well, if you’re a bride, you’ll actually be sent there!

Located along the Mystic River, one hotel representative said of the cemetery, “It is the most valuable real estate in Mystic-- too bad the people there can’t enjoy it! But we do recommend it for wedding photography because it is so very beautiful.”

The founders of this “garden cemetery,” designed in the shape of an elm tree, intended the public to stroll leisurely along the river to view statues of women in flowing robes, angels, marble benches, mausoleums, and an elegant duck pond--with some very strange looking ducks! According to James Davis, superintendent of the cemetery, there are White Pekings, Muschovies, Kyugas, Blue Swiss, and Mallards.

More than 13,000 souls, many on Mystic’ss“Who’ssWho” list of century ship builders and sea captains, have been laid to rest there. If you’re in the mood to read, bring your tissues because one old grave marker tells how a two-year-old daughter, Matilda, drowned on New Year’s Day in 1858; and an obelisk depicting the steamship, City of Waco, tells how Captain Thomas E. Wolfe died piloting her when it caught fire off the port of Galveston in 1875. During the Civil War, Wolfe had commanded a vessel that transported supplies from New York to New Orleans until his capture by the Confederate navy. His boat burned, he was taken prisoner but made a daring escape with some companions more than a year later. After the war, he became a pilot for the State of Texas until his steamship exploded in flames and sank, killing all onboard. Wolfe’s body was recovered and shipped by steamboat to Mystic. Wolfe’s widow, Frances, married widower Captain Charles Sisson in 1878.*

“Another captain from Mystic who is buried at Elm Grove is Joseph Warren Holmes who has the distinction of rounding Cape Horn safely 84 times as a sailing ship master. This is a record that still stands,” says Bill Peterson, Mystic historian.

The Mystic citizens were so supportive of the new Elm Grove Cemetery, formally dedicated in 1854, that some dug up their dead relatives and replanted them there. But they were outraged in the 1890s when the widow of a prominent shipbuilder, Charles Henry Mallory, donated funds in her husband’s memory for the erection of the Memorial Arch entryway because it meant the removal of two elms to accommodate its massive span. Despite the public outcry, however, against a manmade object replacing “Nature’s grand handiwork,” the trees came down, stone cutters were imported from Italy, and the Memorial Arch was completed with the verse, “He Gives His Beloved Sleep,” engraved across the back. Perhaps the citizens learned to appreciate the Memorial Arch after the Hurricane of 1938—for it survived, but half of the cemetery’s trees did not. More information: elmgrovecemetery.org, (860) 536-7834.

6. Mystic Aquarium’s Ocean Planet Pavilion

Strolling through Olde Mistick Village, a colonial, New England style shopping center, you will travel back in time as you nibble your homemade fudge. Then suddenly, you are shocked into another world when you catch sight of a massive, blue crown-like structure rising out of the back parking lot.

Although you might wonder if you are about to come face to face with King Neptune, what you are actually seeing is the outside structure of Mystic Aquarium’s Challenge of the Deep exhibition, where its creator, the discoverer of the grave of the R.M.S. Titanic, Dr. Robert Ballard, keeps his home office.

Your reaction to this nautical sighting is exactly what famed international architect, Cesar Pelli, was going for. He states, “The sculptural form of the building is focused inward, invoking the sense of mystery to be discovered in the depths of the ocean below.” Pelli has designed some of the world’s most recognizable structures, including the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, formerly the world's tallest buildings; and Canary Wharf Tower in London, Britain’s tallest building.

Challenge of the Deep is attached to Mystic Aquarium, where Pelli also designed the glass entryway canopy. Reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty’s crown, it’s called the Ocean Planet Pavilion. Pelli’s goal here is to transform the visitor into an explorer. He states: “In this aquarium, the visitors have entered a new environment-- they have left behind our known world.”

But don’t worry, when you cross under the glass canopy to enter this “unknown world,” you will not be alone. Seagulls perched on the canopy tips welcome you in and smaller birds flit among the rafters above. Erin Merz of Mystic Aquarium, says, “We happily invite birds to nest in the Ocean Planet Pavilion and do not remove them. Most of the birds are sparrows.”

Mystic Aquarium has one of the nation’s largest outdoor tanks for beluga whales, and paying visitors are given the opportunity to actually touch them, as well as the penguins, sharks, and sting rays. Included in the visit is Challenge of the Deep, which highlights underwater film footage of the discovery of the R.M.S. Titanic, and equipment used for deep-sea exploration, such as the submersible, Turtle, which is the sister submersible of Alvin, the vehicle that provided the first glimpse of the Titanic.

For more information about Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, visit mysticaquarium.org or call 860-572-5955.

7. Mystic Depot--model for American Flyer’s toy train station

Whether you arrive by train or are driving by the Mystic Depot, you may wonder, “Haven’t I seen this train station before?”

Yes, you may have—and you may have even played with a miniature version of it. Constructed in 1905, the Mystic Train Depot served as the inspiration for American Flyer’s “talking” toy train stations, which were made in the mid 1900s. Now a collector’s item, the toy model bearing the name “Mystic” can be viewed and even touched at Mystic Depot. When you press the button on the model, you’ll hear a far-a-way, long- ago train whistle and a conductor announce in a crackly voice, “All aboard…New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and all points west. Aboard!”

The real depot now serves Amtrak's Northeast Regional train, which brings visitors from New York City and Boston, and as the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce’s Welcome Center & Cyber Cafe, where visitors will find free maps, travel brochures, computers with Internet access, and friendly advice.

The Welcome Center volunteers can tell you where to find hiking trails, launchings sites for your kayaks, and views of “tall ships.” The Welcome Center also sells discount tickets to Mystic Seaport and to the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration; distributes free paperbacks donated by the Friends of the Mystic & Noank Library; and provides free bike rentals (deposit required).

College student Dave Cloutier volunteers at the center simply because he loves Mystic. He especially enjoys stopping in Mystic’s historic downtown to “grab a coffee and chat with the people around me.” Well-read, he delights in sharing his little-known secrets with others. “I love seeing the look on visitors’ faces when they discover something neat about Mystic.” If you like storm stories, he can tell you all about what happened to the area during the Hurricane of 1938.

“The 7 Wonders of Mystic” are all located within two miles of Mystic Depot. Accommodations are available within walking distance of the Mystic Depot and some hotels will retrieve guests with prior notice. For more information about touring Mystic, including other locations for free bike rentals and a list of attractions, restaurants, accommodations, and events, visit: mysticchamber.org, or call 860-572-1102.

The “7 Wonders” Controversy

Not all locals agreed with me on which sites deserved to be among the top seven wonders, so Patch.com gave the community a chance to vote for the “8^th Wonder.”

Contenders for the 8th Wonder Title:

8. Gloria the Goose at Olde Mistick Village--the regal yet cranky, arthritic goose that has been reigning over the duck pond since the mid-1980s. Olde Mistick Village, a colonial, New England style shopping center, includes a Visitor Information Center (with shopping discount coupons), movie theater and playhouse. Info: oldemistickvillage.com, (860) 536-4941. It also serves as the Mystic bus stop for Peter Pan Bus Lines, bringing visitors from New York City and Boston.

9. Mystic River Railroad Bridge--the massive swing bridge opens for boats and closes for trains. Easily viewed from the Fort Rachel area, it’s fun to watch!

10. Mystic River Park—visitors can stroll its boardwalk along the Mystic River, rest on benches and watch boats go through the Mystic Drawbridge, fish, or just find a temporary place to tie up their dinghy or kayak. The park also serves as a gathering place for outdoor concerts, movies, festivals, and other town events—like when Santa comes to town on a tugboat! Watch my beagle/basset hound stroll along the boardwalk on MysticShops.TV (he’s the handsome dog on your left) at: http://mysticshops.tv/shari-pet-sitting/

11. Denison Homestead Museum--built in 1717, this home has been continuously owned for three centuries by the same family. You get a real sense of Mystic’s personal history when you see a Revolutionary War cloak discovered in the attic now hanging in a bedroom closet, and the charm of little Annie B. Denison who etched her name on a ground floor window pane with a diamond ring in 1873. Info: denisonhomestead.org, 860-536-9248

12. “Captain’s Row”-- the 19th century Greek revival homes along Mystic River (one former owner built coffins in the basement, another housed the Underground Railroad, and one broke sailing records). Mystic River Historical Society’s Mystic Riverside walking adventure map is available at: www.mystichistory.org/MRHSTourGravelnobg_72dpi.pdf

13. Mystic River’s Art Trail -- my term for the several art galleries from the Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport to the Mystic Arts Center on Water Street. Info: mysticseaport.org, (860) 572-5388 and mysticarts.org, 860-536-7601. The Mystic Arts Center also offers fun evening events such as “Art After Dark”--live art and music on the waterfront patio.

14. Peace Sanctuary — a hiking trail with a great view of the Mystic River beginning on River Road. It is maintained by the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, which, at its main location on Pequotsepos Road, offers eight miles of hiking trails where visitors can search for “bluebirds in the meadow, painted turtles or bullfrogs in the pond, admire our summer wildflower garden or simply enjoy a peaceful walk in the woods.” More info: dpnc.org, (860) 536-1216

15. Mystic & Noank Library -- donated by the prosperous Captain Elihu Spicer who designed every detail before his death, the Neo-Romanesque building includes a second floor vaulted ceiling shaped like a ship’s hull, stained glass windows, a comfy window seat with a breathtaking view of downtown Mystic, oriental carpets and an ongoing group puzzle. Info: mysticnoanklibrary.com, 860-536-7721

Voted “8^th Wonder” of Mystic!

The Mystic & Noank Library was overwhelming voted the 8^th Wonder. Visit this architectural gem to see why—and don’t forget to ask the librarians about their famous former resident, Emily the Library Cat.

###

About Author Lisa Saunders

Feeling she left family behind when relocated with her husband from New York to Mystic, Lisa’s research into Mystic’s rich ship-building history recently led to the discovery that she lives up the street from the former home of a long-ago cousin, Captain Charles Sisson, who married Captain Wolfe’s widow (see 5^th Wonder—Elm Grove Cemetery) after his wife Ann died at sea.

Now Lisa can “visit” family at a nearby cemetery where Captain Charles Sisson, his wife Ann, and their 10-month-old daughter, “Our Little Ida,” have their headstones. Charles’s stone, engraved with a sailing ship, declares: “The voyage is ended.” Sisson bought the house down the street from Lisa after he returned from an unsuccessful search for gold in California in 1858. Read more about Captains Wolfe and Sisson in Lisa’s upcoming book, Seafarer’s Trail: The Haunts and Homes of Mystic’s Famous Sea Voyagers. The book will also include a list of all of Mystic’s restaurants—A to Z.

A writer and publicist, Lisa gives talks on how to get free publicity; how to get a job, the American Civil War, sightseeing in Mystic; how to prevent the #1 birth defects virus, CMV (cytomegalovirus), and the “back story” to her books, which include:

Anything But a Dog!, Lisa’s memoir that recounts the unusual events that brought a homeless, 100-pound dog to the side of her younger daughter, born disabled by CMV. If purchased through the link to the National Congenital CMV Disease Registry and Research Program, a percentage is donated directly to CMV research and parent support. Visit: http://www.unlimitedpublishing.com/cmv/

Shays’ Rebellion: The Hanging of Captain Henry Gale, a short e-book that details the dramatic events surrounding a Revolutionary War veteran (Lisa’s ancestor), sentenced to hang for treason as a result of his leadership role in Shays’ Rebellion.

Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, which also appears as a one-act play, is based on the love letters of Lisa’s great-great grandparents during the American Civil War.

Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator, a children’s novel based on Lisa’s childhood as a chubby city girl with a beagle named Donald Dog. Lisa and Donald Dog visit her grandparents’ farm in upstate New York where they find outhouses, charging cows and ornery horses. Includes grandma’s recipes and is a great read-aloud for schools and families.

Lisa’s free e-books, How to Get Published; How to Get a Job; and The 7 Wonders of Mystic--Mystic Pizza and Beyond! are available by clicking on their titles.

A Cornell University graduate, Lisa is available to speak to your group anywhere in the world and to give tours of Mystic, CT. To see her availability as a workshop presenter, visit Lisa at www.authorlisasaunders.com or e-mail her at saundersbooks@aol.com.

How to Get Cast in a Mystic Film

2011-06-20T05:42:00.000-07:00

Didn't get a part as an extra in the movie, Mystic Pizza, staring Julia Roberts? Weren’t asked to be a zombie in the recent movie filmed at the Ramada Hotel--despite strolling back and forth in front of the hotel hoping the director would say, “Now there goes a real zombie?”

Don't despair, there are ways of getting into the upcoming movies rumored to be shot here next--or at least to be considered for a part as an extra in a commercial.

Just as I was pondering how I, a plump 50-year-old freelance writer, could get a small role in a film, I received an e-mail from my new friend Kristin of Mystv Studios, the local production company that makes commercials and the travel show, "Mystic Coast Connection," which plays continuously in 4,000 area hotels (their website states: "Get in Bed with Your Customers”).

Anyway, Kristin’s e-mail that may have launched me from obscurity, said, "I was wondering if you'd be interested in helping out on a commercial shoot on June 14 at the Newport Grand Casino. You and I would be PAs, so we’ll be fetching and holding light screens, checking off the shot list, and various other unglamorous things. It might be fun and I know it would be more fun for me if you were there!”

I had no idea what a PA was, and was only being asked because I might be “fun,” but I certainly wasn’t going to reject this chance to squeeze my image somewhere into this film!

Scheming how I could go from PA to film star (or at least film “extra”), I watched taped reruns of “I Love Lucy” to study Lucy's sneaky antics that landed her small roles in Ricky’s shows. Having a terrible sense of style, I wondered what I should wear to catch the director’s eye (my husband, Jim, usually arranges my outfit when I need to look decent). Just as I was e-mailing Jim to remind him to lay out something appropriate, I received another e-mail from Kristin: "You might be asked to be 'peanuts,' meaning filler for the commercial, so make sure your husband dresses you." There was hope I’d get in this commercial—and without any devious plotting!

On Tuesday morning, the day of the shoot, I began learning a whole new industry (such as P.A. means Production Assistant) —and that almost anyone can get into a film as an extra (or a “peanut”)—even me! And if a person has some talent, they can get paying roles as a “principal” or a “secondary” in practical films such as training videos (one actress at the shoot was using her down time to practice a five-page monologue for her upcoming role as an organ transplant recipient in an educational film).

I was told just before the shoot that a “grip” had been hired, so I wouldn’t be needed to hold and carry film equipment. Still wanting to look important, I brought my own clipboard—and it worked! Looking like a person in authority, the actors came to me with important questions that ranged from “Where is the bathroom?” to “Do you think my scene will be shot soon?” One woman, an extra, wanted to leave for a while so she could hang out in the smoking area. I reminded her that the slot machine scene, which required extras, was scheduled soon, but she replied, “Someone else told me it wouldn’t be for an hour or so.” Sure enough, right after she left, I got word it was time for the extras to leave for their scene. I offered to fill her spot (it’s a dog eat dog world out there), but was told I was needed where I was.

How was I was ever going to get my chance to play an extra? I told the cameraman and the directors more than once that I was willing to fill out a scene. No response. Kristin told me not to despair—they might still need me to heap food on my plate in the buffet scene or to dance in the nightclub scene. Since I didn’t want to admit I was a terrible, uncoordinated dancer just in case that was my only shot, I stressed that I was very good at eating—that I would be just perfect for the buffet scene. Not to brag, but I did win first place in a New Jersey pie eating contest—twice!

I was not requested for the buffet scene, but was asked to laugh in the comedy club scene (the camera man neglected to film us when the director elicited genuine laughter with a joke--so we had to laugh afterwards on the count of three). Despite my reservations, I was also needed on the dance floor of the nightclub scene. But I'm not sure you’ll see much of me in this commercial, which is due to be aired during the T.V. show, Wheel of Fortune, and several other places, because I was told by the director, “Now you dance in the back—look as though you are still trying to ‘find your way.’”

I guess that’s true—I am still trying to find “my way” to get into “the act,” but I did learn some valuable tips from the other actors, whose backgrounds included full-time acting professionals, a tradesman trying to earn a little extra money, casino goers who received an e-mail about the upcoming commercial, and retired individuals who read the audition notice in their local paper.

To learn about upcoming auditions in the Mystic area, read local online and print newspapers and sign up to receive audition notices by clicking the "Like" button on the Mystv Studios’ Facebook page and by registering with talent agencies, such as New England Actors.

If you audition for a part, bring a headshot and a resume.

What to wear if you just show up at a shoot: If you haven’t been told what to wear, a costume designer out of New York, Terry Thiry, suggests that women wear “a plain, neutral dress and bring accessories—a couple pairs of shoes, scarf, jewelry, jacket, and sunglasses. For a man, a pair of pants, button down shirt, dressier casual shirt (like a polo shirt), jacket, tie, and sunglasses.”

Good luck!

Lisa Saunders

P.S. The casino commercial is out! If you watch it several times, you might see me dancing in the background wearing a print skirt and a solid shirt. Will I be plucked from obscurity? If you like a challenge, see if you can find me at: http://www.youtube.com/user/mystvstudios#p/search/0/IXGNM47AmvI

P.S.S. If you would like to see my other "How To" advice, which ranges from "How To Get a Job" to "How to Promote Your Business," visit my "How To" Workshops blog at: http://howtoworkshops.blogspot.com/

How to Boat "Mystic Style"

2011-06-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

by Lisa Saunders

I have never been accused of having style. But I do know how to get on a boat—especially since moving to Mystic. But I never bring the right accessories! Knowing what to wear and bring takes experience. Having been a landlubber until recently, I’m learning the hard way.

My first boat ride in Mystic was on the Sabino, the last wooden coal-fired steamboat still in operation (you can actually watch the coal being shoveled into the furnace the entire trip). It was a cool, breezy day and the ride wasn't too long—so there really wasn’t anything I needed to bring to feel comfortable.

My second trip on the Sabino, however, was a 90-minute evening excursion on a Saturday night with my husband, Jim. This time, I realized I should have brought a full-fledged picnic to enjoy the trip Mystic-style. I looked on in envy as passengers took out bottles of wine, plastic cups, cheese, crackers, and all sorts of delights from their wicker baskets. And there sat Jim and I, with a lousy jar of almonds and some bottled water we pulled from our ratty, old knapsack.

The following March, we took a seal watch cruise from the University of Connecticut's Avery Point Campus in Groton with Project Oceanology (we spotted about 200 seals lying on rocks in Fisher's Island Sound). This time, Jim and I were wet and cold because we disregarded the warning that we might get soaked if we rode on the bow of the re-outfitted offshore lobster boat. At least my feet stayed dry because I wore my thick, water-proof shoes, but poor Jim wore his leather ones (making me think of the stow-a-way sailor on Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic expedition who had his toes amputated because he only had leather boots to wear).

In May, when we booked an evening sail on the schooner, Argia, I vowed things would be different. We would dress properly and bring some elegant snacks and drinks to enjoy. This time, we packed a bottle of wine along with our almonds and bottled water in our old knapsack. We even remembered to bring pretty, blue plastic cups in keeping with the color of the waters we were about to sail.

Well, I knew right away we underpacked when I saw a party of six adults pull out real wine glasses with their bottles of wine. Suddenly, my blue plastic cups seemed so cheesy—so inadequate on this tall, seaworthy sailboat. And when the adults broke out a tray of shrimp cocktail from their large, Mary Poppins-style picnic bag, that was too much. I tried to make friends with them so they’d share their shrimp with me, but they didn't warm up to my advances. Another family with young children also had the better of us. I couldn’t help being envious when they lifted one cheesy pizza slice after another from their Mystic Pizza take-out boxes. They didn't share with us either. Thankfully, the Argia provided cheese and crackers and fruit, so I ate a lot of that, loudly declaring things like, “Yummy!” so the others would think I preferred the Argia’s food to theirs.

My other mistake was that I was underdressed—it got very cold that foggy evening on the Mystic River and the Sound. The Argia did, however, provide blankets. The males on the voyage were too macho to wrap one around themselves, so they shivered like real men or went below decks.

Last weekend, we took another boat ride down the Mystic River—but this time, on a much smaller boat. Operated by Mystic River Tours, we felt completely pampered lounging on their 21-foot electric launch, complete with cup holders and comfy, padded benches. Since it would only be a 40-minute trip, I didn’t pack anything, especially since there was a canopy to keep the rain off. I didn’t even miss having shrimp cocktail because Captain Rick Nestler kept us thoroughly entertained with stories of life along the River, such as why Fort Rachel of the War of 1812 was named after Rachel (it was rumored she provided comfort to the men in more ways than one). This boat can be found at Steamboat Wharf, next to the Mystic River Drawbridge.

Most of my boating time now will be spent on my friend Cindy’s extra kayak. I had always wanted a friend with a boat—but had envisioned the kind where I wouldn’t have to do anything except sit and enjoy the view. At least there is little to pack in preparation for our paddling trips because there simply isn’t room. Since my visor tends to blow off my head when kayaking the Mystic River, I doubt I will even bother packing that anymore.

More info on the boats I’ve ridden:

Argia: 860-536-0416

Cindy’s Kayak: You will have to get to know Cindy in order for her to invite you, but there are places in Mystic where you can rent a kayak, such as Riverdog Kayak Rental. To learn how to launch yourself in a kayak, Cindy teaches you how in my video of her at: http://www.youtube.com/user/LisaSaundersCom?feature=mhee#p/u/5/oQDOq9eiLsw

Project Oceanology: (860) 445-9007, (800) 364-8472.There was a Patch.com reporter on our seal watch trip, so if you want to see some cold, salty spray, seals, and the back of Jim's head, watch this: http://montville-ct.patch.com/articles/project-oceanology-seal-cruise-with-video-3#video-5155164

Riverdog Kayak Rental at Seaport Marine: 860-333-3198 (Co-owner, Suzanne Simpson, says she and her husband named their business after their sleepy greyhound you'll see with them under their tent. They offer my dog, Bailey, a treat when we stroll by. Maybe they'll give your dog one too!)

Sabino: 860.572.5351

Gloria the Goose Survives to See Another Christmas at Olde Mistick Village

2011-06-07T03:58:00.000-07:00

Despite the name of the shop, The Gray Goose Cookery, it does not specialize in cooking geese—instead, this gourmet kitchen store was instrumental in saving Gloria, the regal yet cranky, arthritic goose residing at Olde Mistick Village.

“Earlier this year, an employee of The Gray Goose Cookery told us that Gloria was ailing,” says Christine Robertson, Office Manager of Olde Mistick Village. “She looked a little sluggish to them. She wasn’t her normal, feisty self.”

Gloria first came to Village in the mid 1980s when her owner could no longer care for her. Knowing the Village maintained duck ponds for their shoppers to enjoy, her owner thought Gloria could live out her life among the ducks who were permanent residents there. A goose in captivity can live up to 40 years.

When the Village office learned that Gloria wasn’t feeling well, they called in a vet. “These birds are part of our family, and Gloria is the reigning bird. We call her Queen Gloria because she is very bossy and hisses when displeased—but she is very protective of her subjects—especially the swan we once had named Gracie. They were good friends and if a duck or person got too close to the swan, Gloria would warn them off with a hiss.”

The vet, who doesn’t know for sure if Gloria is a female, discovered that she had an infection. So every day, the maintenance man in charge of feeding the birds caught Gloria and held her close to his chest so Robertson could give her an injection. “She started feeling better after the first day, so catching her for the rest of the treatment was almost impossible!” Gloria recovered completely, and despite her arthritis and a slight limp, is still reigning as queen in the main duck pond.

And what happens if age and arthritis eventually get the better of Gloria? “We have a duck pond near the maintenance barn that we call the ‘Geriatric Ward.’ That is where we retire all the birds who are too old or feeble to defend themselves from an aggressive duck.”

Spring is a particularly busy time at the Village because of mating season. Ducks fly in to raise their ducklings then fly off again. Many, however, live at the Village year-round. “Why would they want to leave?” asks Robertson. “They have everything they need here.” They are fed five, 50-pound bags of duck food per week by the maintenance crew and the public can feed them duck pellets purchased from the Franklin’s General Store at the Village.

For more information about Olde Mistick Village, visit oldemistickvillage.com or call (860) 536-4941.

(Note: This first appeared in the Mystic River Press on December 16, 2010.)

Gloria was sick again in 2011--incurring a $3,000 vet bill! Visit the Gray Goose Cookery if you would like to donate to her care.

How To Have a Party in Mystic

2011-06-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Reader,

Jim and I just hosted our first Memorial Day Weekend party since moving to Mystic from New York last summer. None of our new neighbors came—are they are still recovering from my "eye-opening" debut last August when I first moved in?

We bought a house within walking distance of downtown Mystic so I would have a fun place to walk our beagle/basset hound, Bailey. At the start of my first stroll downtown, a woman pulled over in her van, and said, "Excuse me."

Expecting her to ask for directions to Mystic Pizza or some other tourist attraction, I wasn't prepared for what she really wanted to know: "Do you realize the back of your skirt is tucked into your underwear?"

Is that why the neighbors still shoo their children indoors whenever Bailey and I walk by?

Anyway, I wanted our first full summer in Mystic to begin just as it had in previous years—with us inviting everyone we know to a Memorial Day Weekend party at the last moment possible. I dread the work of preparing the house and yard for a party, so I figure it’s best to invite folks within a day or two of the event—that way they won’t expect too much because they'll know I barely had time to prepare.

Although all of my neighbors said they already had plans and couldn’t come (is my first dog-walking outfit still burned in their memory?), we were able to rustle up some new friends who were willing to come: Jim’s co-workers who had never met me (and were therefore unafraid of my wardrobe); Bambi (yes, that is her legal name), who felt compelled to rescue me from my lost and lonely state when we first met at the Department of Motor Vehicles last summer; and a few others who were happy not to have to prepare their own home for a shindig.

Watching Jim clean off our backyard patio with the leaf blower, I thought how lucky our guests were that I had learned from a party in our New York home that leaf blowers were for cleaning outside, not inside.

Our dog before Bailey was Riley, a 100-pound black lab-mix with long hair. Preparing for a “Girl’s Night In” party for my high school friends one evening, I realized I just wasn’t going to have time to vacuum up Riley’s kinky, black hair rolling across the floor and wrapped around chair legs. Everything else was in order. The food was laid out, delicate wine glasses face up, ready to be filled, and water mixed with cinnamon was bubbling on the stove to disguise the doggy smells. What happened next is an excerpt from my memoir, Anything But a Dog!:

"Suddenly I had a brilliant idea! Our leaf blower could blast all the hair to one corner of the house in seconds! Then I could quickly gather it up. Energized by this innovative thought, I flung open the mudroom door that led directly into the garage. Beholding the machine that would clean my house in an instant, I wondered why no one else had ever thought of this before!

"Collecting the leaf blower with its long, orange outdoor electrical cord, I dragged the contraption through the mudroom. Plugging it into a kitchen socket, I pondered a second career for myself—move over Martha Stewart! Adjusting the nozzle toward the floor, I flipped on the switch. The machine sprang to life with a loud resounding woosh. And poof! The dog hair vanished. But not where I wanted it to go! It wasn’t racing tidily toward one corner of the house. Instead, fluffs of it flew high into the air. It landed on ceiling cobwebs and clung to them. Black hair also settled on top of the salsa, hummus, and tortilla chips and gently drifted into the wine glasses. Not exactly what I had planned!

"I wiped as much of the hair off the table and counter surfaces as I could before my guests arrived. Just as I was blowing the hair off the food and out of the wine glasses, the doorbell rang. Once my friends were all seated, and had eaten their fill, I entertained them with the account of my leaf blower disaster. It felt great to make them laugh. I decided, however, that in order to keep the giggles going, it would be best not to burden them with the fact that I’d turned on the blower after their food and wine glasses were already laid out..."

Perhaps you, Dear Reader, may find yourself invited to our party next year. Knowing what you know now, do you dare come?

P.S. My memoir, Anything But a Dog!, is available on Amazon and in downtown Mystic at the Green Marble Coffee House, 8 Steamboat Wharf, Mystic CT 06355, (860) 572-0012

Sailed a schooner and dined with whales

2011-05-28T05:15:00.000-07:00

5/27/11
Dear Friends and Family,

Last Saturday evening, we went sailing on a big schooner called the "Argia." It was kind of exciting and (and perhaps dangerous?) because of the fog. The captain let the kids on the boat ride blow the fog horn frequently as we could hardly see the other ships heading our way. We could only barely make out a few lighthouses hidden in the mist along the shore. When we got close to some wharfs with restaurants on them, kids ran alongside us and waved. Naturally I had fun waving back and yelling "Ahoy there!"

I tried to make friends with a party of six adults on board so they would share their shrimp cocktail with me, but they didn't warm up to my advances. Jim and I only brought nuts and some oranges so we had to be happy with that. One family with children brought boxes of Mystic Pizza take-out, but they didn't share with us either.

Last night my friend Cindy and I went to a monthly event held at the Mystic Aquarium (where the discoverer of the Titanic grave keeps his home office) called, "Cocktails with the Whales." It was great fun meeting new gals while dining alongside the whale pool. One beluga whale kept swimming near us to show us his belly.

Sailing on Argia: www.argiamystic.com, 860-536-0416
Cocktails with the Whales: http://www.mysticaquarium.org,
(Thursday evenings – April 15, May 13 and 27, June 10 and 24, July 8 and 22 and August 19 – from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Call (860) 572-5955 ext. 336 to make a reservation. Attendees must be 21 or older.)

Seal Watch (letter dated Sunday, March 6, 2011)

2011-05-28T04:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

Jim and I went on a seal watch cruise yesterday from Avery Point. We saw more than 200 seals lying on the rocks off Fisher's Island from a re-outfitted offshore lobster boat. The seals just lay on the rocks and barely moved, but it was fun watching a gaggle of young girls on the boat celebrating a birthday, some pimply boys excited to record on a handout the number of seals we saw, where, time and temperature, etc., and some others who just sat there looking seaside. The seas were rough, cold and exciting!

Later we dried off in front of the fire at the Daniel Packer Inne where we sat next to a female prison guard who told us some fun escape stories (like an excapee in an orange prison outfit asking a convenience store owner for money to make a phone call), and a bridge engineer who had a lot to say about our country's infrastructure and the Yankees.

There happened to be a Patch reporter on our seal watch trip. If you want to catch a glimse of the back of Jim's head or my voice in the background, see our journey at: http://montville-ct.patch.com/articles/project-oceanology-seal-cruise-with-video-3#video-5155164
(I commented on the bottom of the article.)

Love,
Lisa

My First Christmas Letter from Mystic (Dec '10)

2011-05-28T04:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Last Christmas I never thought I’d be writing to you from New England! I used to love that old movie, “Christmas in Connecticut,” starring Barbara Stanwyck, and now I’m living that movie—minus the cow. Instead, life here revolves around sailboats and the restaurant, Mystic Pizza, which served as the inspiration for the movie, “Mystic Pizza,” starring Julia Roberts and debuting Matt Damon (his only line,"Mom, do you want my green stuff?" was said while eating lobster). Jim and I live two blocks from the restaurant and the Mystic River drawbridge that was featured in the movie.

In case you don’t know why we moved here, it wasn’t to eat pizza. When Pfizer bought Wyeth last year, they laid off Jim’s entire department. Right before it was time for Jim’s last day, Pfizer asked him if he would work in their Groton, CT, facility. With no other job in sight (unless he was willing to work in China), and our beagle/basset hound willing for a new adventure, Jim said yes. So, we sold our house within the month (April) and bought a house in Mystic—a seacoast village north of the Long Island Sound, located halfway between New York City and Boston.

We had visited Mystic more than four years ago—to get away after Elizabeth died. Although we loved its maritime charm, we vowed we would never go there again because the traffic along I-95 was horrible! Knowing we wouldn’t return, we bought souvenirs from the Mystic Seaport museum’s gift shop (mugs and glasses decorated with sailboats) and took lots of photos of the tall sailboats lining the Mystic River. Returning to Suffern, we hung those photos in our bedroom as a reminder of that lovely weekend—one that would never be repeated.

And now, here we are in Mystic. I don’t know why I never learn that God loves to have fun with me whenever I say “never again.” However, I really love living here. Our house is smaller (no basement), so we don’t have the room to hang those Mystic River photos. But it doesn’t matter because I look at that scenery every day when I walk Bailey into the village. Bailey loves it here too. He meets tourists from all over—many who don’t know what a smelly hound he really is. Several have kissed him on the face and let him lick them on their mouths! I think the travelers must miss their own dogs so they give him all kinds of liberties. Sailing families who stop in Mystic on their route around the world aren’t as enamored with him because they bring along their own canines. Sailing dogs are fun to watch as they proudly stand on the bow while their masters steer the boat under the raised drawbridge.

Needing to quit my job as a publicist for Rockland Community College in Suffern, I am now trying to make it as a freelance publicist, writer, and workshop presenter. I joined the Mystic Chamber of Commerce and am getting to know the businesses here, especially those in the tourist industry. I have just finished an article, “The 7 Wonders of Mystic,” for the Chamber of Commerce. If you want to read why you should come to visit us, just e-mail me at saundersbooks@aol.com and I will send you the article or click on this: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52326

Love,
Lisa
P.S. Santa comes to Mystic by tugboat every year. After he listens to requests from children in Mystic River Park, the village lights the Christmas tree and continues the celebrations with a lighted boat parade. The following week there is a lighted car parade. I’m considering entering my convertible and driving with the top down with Bailey in the backseat wearing his reindeer antlers.

Mystic Restaurants: A-Z

2011-05-28T03:57:00.000-07:00

Many of Mystic’s vast collection of restaurants have been featured and reviewed nationally. The following list encompasses all of Mystic’s restaurants (if I have missed one, please let me know). I also include takeout and delivery places in case you want to picnic along the Mystic River or the Sound. Many have been reviewed by either Cindy Modzelewski, a member of the Mystic Women’s Dinner Club, or me. We are not food critics, but merely women who like to eat!

Ancient Mariner 21 West Main Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-5200
ancientmarinermystic.com
Located in Historic Downtown Mystic with view of the street. Has fireplace and bar. “I found the sailing motif appealing (like oars hanging from the ceiling) while sipping a wine and nibbling a great late lunch.” Cindy

Angie's Pizza & Pier 27 (also delivers)
25 Roosevelt Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-7300
angiespizzapier27.com
“I love this local corner spot as it makes a mid-week stop affordable but special when you are too tired to cook. I like the generous salad with a pizza to share.” Cindy

Anthony J's Bistro
6 Holmes Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-0448
anthonyjsbistro.com
“It is a nice cozy spot as the lighting is conducive to sit close for talking while eating. I thought the salad topped with lobster was delicious.” Cindy

Avanti's Pizza & More 55 Williams Ave., Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-2630

Azu 32 West Main St.,Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-6336
azuct.com
“Went with two other friends and we each got a different salad from the menu to sample each. They were each delicious so I was glad I had ‘sharing buddies.’ Seating was close but still private for our own conversation and it felt like we were at a European café with the large windows open to watch the foot traffic on the downtown sidewalk.” Cindy. Open for breakfast on the weekends.

Bartleby’s Coffee Café 46 W. Main Street, Mystic, CT 06355
860-245-0017
bartlebysmystic.com
“This small comfy corner café has the local newspaper to borrow if you are not watching the foot traffic strolling by downtown." Cindy. Serves tea in a little pot. Menu includes soups and sandwiches. Board games and Internet available.

Big Y Foods 179 Stonington Rd, Mystic CT 06355
860-536-5813
Open 7-11 M-Sat and Sun 7-10. “I hear they have great, reasonably priced sandwiches,” Lisa

Bleu Squid Olde Mistick Village, Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-6343
BleuSquid.com
“I am quite addicted to their ‘Adult Grilled Cheese’ sandwich on sourdough bread. I follow that with their enormous “Frogger,” which is a molasses cookie.” Lisa

Bravo Bravo & Bar Bravo Bravo 20 East Main Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-3228
bravobravoct.com
“Elegant, but still fine for casual wear. Tasty downtown dining with a great view of passer bys. Both my friend and I chose different salads topped with different choices and wouldn’t have changed a thing.” Cindy. “I ordered their salad and it came out looking like a dessert—and it tasted like it too.” Lisa

Captain Daniel Packer Inne
32 Water Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860.536.3555
danielpacker.com
Built in 1758 by Captain Daniel Packer who liked to entertain his guests with tales of his adventures on the high seas. He brought travelers (and their horses and stagecoaches) from New York and Boston across Mystic River on his ferry that operated nearby. Eat in the top floor dining room if you’re in the mood for elegance or in the basement if you are in the mood for a pub. Both floors have a fireplace and offer glimpses of Mystic River through the small, period windows. "You can't order their sweet potato fries if you dine on the top floor (I'll try to get that changed)." Lisa

Cove
Clam Shack, Cafe & Fish Market
20 Old Stonington Rd., Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-0061
http://www.covefish.com/
Open year-round.

Domino's Pizza (take-out and delivery)
242 Greenmanville Lane, Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-8030
dominos.com
Chain pizza place also offers other food. Check for specials.

Equinox Diner 253 Greenmanville Ave, Mystic, CT 06355-1962
(860) 415-4625
equinoxdiner.com
The large, diverse menu includes breakfast all day. "My Eggs Benedict was delicious." Lisa

Five Guys Burgers and Fries
860.572.1500
12 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355
fiveguys.com
“I liked slowing the day’s pace by crunching on as many peanuts as I could while waiting for my Swiss cheese hamburger.” Cindy

Flood Tide 860-536-9604
3 Williams Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
innatmystic.com
Located on the hill at the Inn at Mystic (where Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall stayed on their honeymoon), this restaurant offers a patio with a wide, sweeping view of the Mystic River. Fireplace in the winter with large picture windows.

Friendly’s 247 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
(860) 536-3909
friendlys.com
“It pays to listen to radio ads to know when promotions are happening--it made getting a black raspberry ice cream even tastier when it was free,” Cindy.

Green Marble Coffee House 8 Steamboat Wharf, Mystic CT 06355
(860) 572-0012
You’ll feel like you’re a student at this young person’s hangout. Outdoor seating in an alley off the main thoroughfare in historic downtown Mystic. Internet available.

Go Fish Olde Mistick Village, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-2662
gofishct.com
“The trendy décor and soft lighting was pleasing to our dinner club as we got to know each other. I enjoyed finishing my meal with a cappuccino, which always makes it feel just a tad more special than just having coffee.” Cindy.

Harp and Hound 4 Pearl Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860.572.7778
harpandhound.com
Feels like a real fisherman’s pub. Great Irish menu includes Sheppard’s pie.

Hilton Mystic/Mooring Restaurant
20 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-0731
hiltonmystic.com
“It’s nice that this quaint town also offers a big city feel when your needs require a larger setting without sacrificing intimacy. The seafood entrée was delicious,” Cindy. “I ate there for breakfast and had a great, made-to-order spinach and Swiss cheese omelet,” Lisa.

Jake's Hamburgers 4 Hendel Drive Mystic, CT 06355
860-535-3333
jakeshamburgers.com
“I will be a repeat customer here! I liked having a fast, customized B.L.T. for lunch one day and a tasty cheeseburger dinner another day. It offered a more grown up, quiet feel for fast food, which was very nice. “ Cindy.

John’s9 Cottrell St., Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-6700
“Although it’s not a restaurant, it’s more of a bar with an Irish theme, I wanted to include it because you can play pool there and I’ve had fun at their Wednesday ‘Quiz Nights,’ which they hold as fund-raisers for worthy charities.” Lisa

Kitchen Little 81 1/2 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-2122
kitchenlittle.org
It’s an experience to be squished inside this very, very tiny restaurant and watch the servers walk sideways to squeeze past the tables. There is also outdoor seating right on Mystic River. "The breakfasts are great and I always meet new people there because we all sit so close together." Lisa “Sounds like ‘chicken little’ to me and a good reason to stop in and see what they had to eat. I liked their lobster salad sandwich while I sat in the back of the restaurant and watched the boats on the water.” Cindy.

Latitude 41 Restaurant at Mystic Seaport 105 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-5303
mysticseaport.org
Located right next to Mystic Seaport, it offers outdoor seating with a view of Mystic River, a pub and dining rooms with fireplaces. "My filet mignon was fantastic. One of the dining rooms appears in the movie, 'Mystic Pizza,'" Lisa.

Li's Bake Shop
15 Holmes Street, Mystic, CT 06355
(860) 536-9090 ‎
“Folks, save your calories for this stop! My utmost favorite is the ‘everything cookie’, known as the 'Mystic.' Its ingredients include Kahlua, frangelica, walnuts, pecans, chocolate chips. Well, their mint chocolate brownie is worth every calorie bite too!” Cindy.

Mango's Wood-Fired Pizza Co.
27 Coogan Blvd, Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-0600
mangospizza.com
Offers outdoor seating in season and the comfort of an open brick pizza oven in the winter. “This is a family-friendly stop hiding in Olde Mistick Village. I haven’t gone wrong yet with any of the salads or pizza. Oh, you can get chocolate milk, too,” Cindy.

Margaritas 12 Water Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-4589
margs.com
“I liked sitting on the top floor, overlooking the Factory Square courtyard. Now home to apartments and restaurants, the factory once produced cotton gins until the Civil War caused it to go bankrupt when southern customers couldn’t pay their bills,” Lisa. “This is a fun place to go with a lot of people as they can accommodate larger groups,” Cindy.

McDonald's of Mystic
2 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-9123
mcdonalds.com
“I like their convenient location off I-95 for a quick in/out breakfast,” Cindy.

McQuade’s Marketplace 14 Clara Drive, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-2054
Has a cafeteria with a fireplace and a view of trees. Offers take-out.

Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration
Penguin Café
55 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-5955
mysticaquarium.org
“This is one busy spot and it was refreshing to taste how fresh the salads and sandwiches are,” Cindy.

Mystic Boathouse 8 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355
(860) 572-1180
themysticboathouse.com
American cuisine. “Their sweet potato fries are the best and I loved the view overlooking Olde Mistick Village and the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration,” Lisa.

Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream Inc.
2 West Main Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-7978
mysticdrawbridgeicecream.com
“Can’t beat the view of the Mystic River Drawbridge. Offers soups and salads as well as homemade ice-cream. I stop there often to grab a cone and sit out on the tiny deck to watch the bridge go up and down and the tall ships go past,” Lisa.

Mystic Market East & West E.860.572.79 (92)
EAST: 63 Williams Avenue
WEST: 375 Noank Road, Mystic, CT 06355
mysticmarket.com
“I go there for take-out or to treat myself to some of their gourmet snacks. Each location has a little different personality but the same great food. The time of day usually determines if I take a coffee and biscotti or cookie, or if I get yummy entrées to bring home for dinner,” Cindy.

Mystic Pizza
56 West Main Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-3700
mysticpizza.com
The movie “Mystic Pizza” was inspired by this restaurant. “I am a local, and yes, I like this pizza! Just the right substance to the crust and my husband and I love the sausage and pepperoni pizza. I like their salads too,” Cindy. They deliver after 4 p.m.

Mystic Soup Co. (offers take-out)
32 Williams Ave # 1, Mystic, CT 06355-2900
(860) 245-0382
mysticsoupct.com‎
“It’s hard to select which soup and/or sandwich you want each time you pop in!” Cindy.

Pasta Fresca & Piadina (take-out)
2 Lincoln Ave, Mystic, CT 06355-2867.
(860) 572-1245.
“Cut to the front of the line by calling ahead for your customized take-out grinder (I always ask for extra vinegar. It makes it messy but tasty). No matter the size, it’s always big enough to share.” Cindy. Take-out only.

Peking Tokyo 12 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-9991
pekingtokyomystic.com
Has a gourmet feel to the dishes. Sushi bar.

Pita Spot
45 Williams avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
(860) 415-4656
Lebanese cuisine. “Probably the best hummus I’ve ever had,” Lisa. Outdoor seating available. You may bring your own wine. They also serve an American breakfast.

Pizzetta 7 Water Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-4443
pizzettamystic.com
“My husband and I like their thin crust pizza. Outdoor seating available on the deck or patio with a partial view of the Mystic River,” Lisa.

Prontos (Italian take out also delivers)
27 Broadway Ave., Mystic, CT 06355
860-415-8200
prontogourmetexpress.com
“I really liked their lentil soup. They deliver but do have a few tables, inside and out. You are allowed to bring your own wine,” Lisa.

Puritan & Genesta Natural Foods LLC
2 Holmes Street, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-3537
puritan-genesta.com
An organic grocery store, they also have a small café and offer take-out.

Rice Spice Noodles 4 Roosevelt Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-8488
ricespicenoodles.com
Thai cuisine. “I love this spot so much that I always ask my new friends if they like this kind of food. I always get this shrimp dish with kickin’ spice and their pineapple rice is a tasty different twist on rice. It’s hard to care about the outside world walking by when you want to stab the last shrimp or Japanese eggplant on the plate you are sharing,” Cindy. "I sat outside and had their Pad Thai dish, which includes shrimp, chicken and peanuts--very good!" Lisa

RiverWalk Restaurant
14 Holmes Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-5220
mysticriverwalkrestaurant.com
Outdoor seating available with a partial view of the Mystic River. "I like the hamburgers and my mom liked the clams," Lisa.

S & P Oyster Company 1 Holmes Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-2674
sp-oyster.com
“Enjoy great food on the artfully landscaped patio right next to the Mystic River Drawbridge. Also good river views from both floors within. Although they don’t take reservations, I strongly suggest you call ahead for what they call ‘priority seating’ if you plan to eat there at a popular time of day during the height of the tourist season,” Lisa.

Savin Rock Roasting Company
Located at the Ramada
9 Whitehall Ave, Mystic, CT

Sea Swirl of Mystic 30 Williams Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-3452
SeaSwirlofMystic.com
Outdoor seating beside an inlet. Cindy liked their lobster salad and I liked their fried clam strips. Open seasonally.

Sea View Snack Bar 145 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-0096
Outdoor seating beside the Mystic River. “My husband liked the crab cakes, I enjoyed my hot dog, and my dad loved feeding the seagulls. I plopped a quarter in the standing binocular to spy on the homes across the river,” Lisa. Open seasonally.

Somewhere in Time
3175 Gold Star Highway, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-1985
somewhereintimecafe.com
"A friendly place where locals go. A great, fresh breafast according to my friend who goes there frequently with her husband." Lisa

Starbucks Coffee 12 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-9454
starbucks.com
Located in large stand-alone building across from Olde Mistick Village. “Very pleasant atmosphere with comfy chairs and tables. Many locals meet there to do business or write.” Lisa. Outdoor seating available.

Steak Loft
Olde Mistick Village, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-2661
SteakLoftct.com
“My husband and I ate a good burger in the barn-like bar that bears the names of patrons engraved in the wood over the years,” Lisa. Cindy likes eating in the dining room: “Be sure to carry your plate carefully after visiting the salad bar. The beet salad with mandarin oranges is delicious but dangerously colorful if you drop any on yourself. The baked scallops were very generous and scrumptious. I loved the chocolate mousse cake and the peanut butter pie,” Cindy.

Taste of India (Take-out available.)
35 Williams Ave # 1, Mystic, CT 06355
(860) 536-8485 ‎
atasteofindiamystic.com
Casual indoor or outdoor dining. “Unfamiliar with Indian food, I texted my daughter about what us Mystic Women’s Dinner Club gals should eat. She responded, ‘Get the Chicken Tikka Masala (it has a non-spicy sauce) or the Karachi Biryani (a chicken/vegetable/rice dish with a little kick). She was right—I tried both and plan to order them again the next time I go there,” Lisa.

Ten Clams
27 Coogan Boulevard, Olde Mistick Village, Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-1019
Casual, family-friendly dining. Has an ice-cream window. You can order your entire meal from the window if you don't want to go in. Outadie patio. "The sweet potato fries were great!" Lisa

Thai One On
56 Whitehall Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
860-415-4666
Thai cuisine. “I liked their chicken and vegetable dish they offered at the annual outdoor food festival, ‘A Taste of Mystic,’ next to the Mystic River Park,” Lisa. Cindy had dinner inside their upscale restaurant: “Just when I liked my choice of dinner, another lovely plate was being served at the table next to me. So, I will have to go back and try that next,” Cindy.

The Pizza Grille
39 Whitehall Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-0400

Village Beanery
27 Coogan Blvd # 2C, Mystic CT 06355
(860) 536-1175
“This place is in the right spot for you to stop in as you shop at Olde Mistick Village. It smells Heavenly whether you are sniffing the caffeine or chocolate.” Cindy. "My mom likes to buy their coffee beans to take back with her to New York." Lisa

Voodoo Grill
12 Water Street, Downtown Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-4422
thevoodoogrill.com
“Specializes in Cajun cuisine, but I had the nachos. I enjoyed sitting with my husband on their back patio in the party-like atmosphere of the Factory Square courtyard. Inside, the brick walls give a warm, friendly feeling,” Lisa.

Wokery in Mystic (Chinese Take-out or delivers)
6 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355-2714
(860) 572-7964
“I like the General Tsao’s chicken,” Cindy.

Zhang's Restaurant (Chinese)
12 Water St., Mystic CT 06355
(860) 572-5725
“The Mystic Women’s Dinner Club plans to visit this restaurant soon. We will let you know what we think!” Lisa. Located in Factory Square.