DAY 2 - SATURDAY 8th SEPTEMBER 2007

Woke to a beautiful day in Groton. Our first port of call (quite literally a port) was Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. After the previous long day we were all very tired but decided to get up early anyway to make the most of the first day of our great adventure. Breakfast at the Econolodge was not exactly a culinary experience but it filled the proverbial hole - after which we were charged with a modicum of energy.

Mystic Seaport is a fantastic day out and for those who have not been before we would recommend it highly. It is essentially (apologies to those who already know this) a museum of the United States and the Sea. There are tall ships you can go aboard and reconstructions of 19th century houses and shops.

Throughout the day there are demonstrations, which involve people much braver than us climbing up the masts of tall ships and also demonstrating the trades of the day. Jack and Emily got to work in the local printers where they learnt about type-setting the old fashioned way. It was interesting to hear how some of the phrases in common use come from this profession, such as upper case and lower case (these were the boxes the type letters were stored in), "putting to bed" (which is setting the final type set onto the printer bed) and "creating a good impression" (getting a good quality print from the printing machine). Jack and Emily both got to have a go at printing a notice. There is also working blacksmith there who was demonstrating making a decorative leaf, which he later rubbed with a brass brush and gave to us as to carry on our journey. We offered Jack up as an apprentice - as they would have done in times past. It seemed a good way to get him off our hands until the age of 21 - but we didn't have time for the indenture papers to be written up.

After a good day at the Seaport we went into downtown Mystic, which we found to be a delightful place - helped by the warm balmy weather. Our first stop was the Drawbridge Icecream store - so named as it is next to a huge drawbridge. We left with the usual mixture of sticky fingers and faces, and drops of brown tell-tale stains on the clothes. Whilst there were plenty of eating houses available we decided to take advantage of the Tasting Festival that was taking place on one of the local streets. Armed with $40 of vouchers we pigged out on Thai chicken, corn on the cob and some delicious little tartlets. The day was rounded off with a trip around the town. Fortunately most shops were closed but it was still difficult to stop Karen and Emily going into a few stores. The selection was limited to an Army Surplus store, an upscale clothing shop and a couple of gift stores. We also saw the Mystic Pizza store - made famous by a "coming of age" comedy film starring Julia Roberts. By the way store is Mystic was too small so they actually used a warehouse to create a set in Stonnington, CT. Our finale to the day was a mad moment in one of the aforementioned gift stores.

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