Next up was a fun suggestion by Uncle Terry - Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. We had a little drive ahead of us so we only made one stop at this border.
I never saw a sign for Connecticut and by lunchtime we were there.
As with all our stops, we really wish we'd had more time here. There was so much to do and see but I knew we would need to get on the road in just a couple hours to make it to Aunt Sue & Uncle Mike's house at a reasonable hour. I had the kids pick a couple things they really wanted to see or do and we hopped around to all of them.
We learned how boats were made and toured a few. What a beautiful day and cool clouds!
We learned what might be going on in a typical year in Mystic Seaport with a scale model of the area. My kids love these things, especially picking out the animals and figuring out what the people are doing.
Then they made boats. This room was so crowded I just had to sit back and watch as they worked on their creations. Ryan was at least accommodating to her crew as she made benches for everyone to sit or sleep on.
Laney was more interested in using as much glue as possible.
Brayden wanted to duplicate one of the example ships. All I could think of was where in the world we were going to keep these for the rest of the trip!
After a quick tour of the chapel and schoolhouse, we headed to the children's museum. They learned about the life of a sailor by sleeping, cooking, and working.
If only Laney had been a little bit taller - Ryan cracked me up in this one!
When we hopped back into the car I programmed the gps which happily told us we'd be in New Jersey in 2 1//2 hours. I figured we might need to add an hour to that with traffic so we'd get in between 5:30 and 6. However (you knew there would be one of those), at about 45 minutes away we came to a complete stop before the George Washington bridge. We crawled for about 30 minutes and the kids started to get antsy so I decided to exit the highway and make my way through the city.
My people watchers were so entertained! We drove through The Bronx and right down the middle of Manhattan. A Friday afternoon at 5pm was definitely not the most efficient time to do that, but to see the awe in their faces as they looked around the middle of Time Square was priceless. It wasn't dark yet so they didn't get the full effect of the lights, but they sat there looking around with mouths dropped open almost the entire way to the Lincoln Tunnel! Ryan is also convinced she saw the real Batman. Of course not just someone dressed up making a quick income off the tourists - I didn't tell her that though.
Within another 40 minutes we finally made it! Uncle Mike had a beer or 4 already waiting for me! The cousins were playing together as if they'd always known each other. Frozen was a big topic of conversation and Samantha, Laney & Ryan played tricks on Brayden while Natalie trailed behind trying to keep up!
It was so nice to get to socialize and meet people I'd only heard about. We were even surprised by 2 bags full of Trader Joe's snacks for our trip - thank you Joanne! After Aunt Sue cooked us dinner, the kids played and played like they would never run out of energy! It might have something to do with the ice pops and cupcakes they were being fed!
Brayden loved to hear stories about when Grandpa lived in this house. He couldn't believe all the Clarke kids slept in our bedroom back then!
After the kids went to bed, we chatted for awhile then I crashed as well. How luxurious it felt to sleep in a real bed!
Quote of the day: "Brrrrraaaayyyy-deennnnnnnn, come find uuuussssssss!" The call of young cousins is magnetic!
Day 28 - Time crunch and Times Square
Tell Brayden we all still wonder how we fit 6 kids, our parents and my grandmother in that house all at one time. I guess it's because we were all smaller (and much slimmer) then. Hope Mike and Joanne didn't tell any of Grandpa's secrets he'll have to deny ever really happen. Glad you got a chance to see the neighborhood and original Clarke family home.
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