New England – Fall 2010 – Day 13: Lee to Newport via Mystic

We breakfasted in the Indian restaurant and the covered patio next to the outside pool. The breakfast area was too congested with food and equipment before the guests were added to the mix. Shortly after, but unconnected to, our arrival the power in the area went off and a circuit breaker had to be reset. This had the strange affect of breaking the timer on the waffle iron – by now we were highly experienced in dealing with waffle makers. We read the instructions, sprayed the iron with oil when required and always turned the device at the start. The ping usually announced when the waffle was ready but now no ping. We managed but it was enough to throw off several of our fellow guests.
There were two groups of travellers who we found ourselves fascinated by. They were a couple of about our age and a younger, somewhat overweight, couple with two very loud children. Our prejudices were such that we expected to find ourselves more aligned with the older couple but it didn’t finish up that way. The younger wife occupied the waffle maker feeding her noisy children while her husband disappeared, supporting our prejudice as stated. However the older husband was quite loud in his criticism of nearly everything and particularly his waffle which was only a mess because he had not followed the instructions. When he dropped something down himself we had the spectacle of his wife wiping him down as if he were a child, meanwhile the younger mother was sitting with her young children when the girl spilled her juice. The father was absent but in fact was in the cooking area timing the waffles for other guests using his mobile phone. The young boy shot off to get paper napkins and deal with the spillage. The grumpy couple continued to annoy us but we sort of agreed with them when the younger family deserted their messy table. Wrong again; they were only greeting some family members who were part of a surprise meeting concocted by the wives of the party. They returned to the table while the “timer” husband went to ask the reception desk about the charge to their visitors to have breakfast. Again I was backing the wrong horse; there were notices around trying to ensure all breakfast food was consumed in the eating area so I assumed they would charge any outsiders but the hotel were gracious and invited the visitors to eat for free. After breakfast the younger family cleared their table while the grumpy older couple left their mess to be cleared.
After breakfast we needed to move on promptly as we had several plans for our journey. Having loaded the car I returned to the hotel reception to check out, as usual no money changed hands but I did realise for the first time that our room on the car park side of the block was inferior to the lake side rooms with their balconies overlooking the lake.
Close to our route we had noted the Old Sturbridge Village, which is a living museum located in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, which re-creates life in rural New England during the 1790s through 1830s. It is the largest living museum in New England, covering more than 200 acres. We decided to look in on it, and if it was cheap, we would spend a maximum of an hour there. We came off the freeway and found it easily but it was expensive, over $20 each, which we reckon would have been good value for a day long stay but not for the short time we could allocate. We tried to rejoin the freeway but this time we encountered large lines for the toll booths. These were made worse by there only being one booth which accepted cash. Our mood was not improved by our battle to hold position in the line with cars leaving to risk the automated tolls and more vehicles forcing their way in!
Our spirits quickly picked up as we cleared the toll area and set off for Mystic.
We needed to hit Mystic for two reasons, we had all enjoyed the film Mystic Pizza and it was our best chance to add another state to our list, Connecticut.
We were totally charmed by Mystic; we parked in a residential area and walked back towards the centre of town which was the other side of the Mystic River, a draw bridge was due to be raised when we remembered that we had not locked the car, I returned to rectify this while Julia took possession of the camera and captured the bridge opening.
We found Mystic Pizza, but we already knew that the film was made elsewhere, and took photos. There was a big line to eat there but we did not have that in mind. We ate home made ice-cream next to the bridge and wandered the sea port area, I had reclaimed the camera by now or we would have only six photos to show for our visit. Julia struggles with the digital concept and still seems to think as if we had limited film.
Reluctantly we moved on to Newport and once again the satnav did us proud. We arrived at the last Best Western of this tour, the Mainstay.
At reception there was an English guest reporting on her dissatisfaction about pretty much everything concerning her stay, not a good omen, but we found the hotel great. The staff was helpful and everything was as it should be. Having settled into our room and enjoyed our tea, the travel kettle never let us down; I went out to explore hopefully to return with milk. Within easy walking distance, even for me still struggling with a sore back, I found an estate with a Wal-Mart and a 99 restaurant which we knew nothing about. I returned with milk, cookies and a new watch. Ageing is a daunting prospect but preferable to the alternative. I now have to buy big faced digital watches in order to read them without my glasses, fortunately they all seem to have similar set-up menus, because the first one I bought had a big face with big numerals but instructions with tiny printing that I couldn’t read even with my glasses! At school there were no such problems, unable to text on a new phone I would throw it to a pupil and they would have the skill masted in seconds and me taught in minutes.
On my victorious return to the hotel we decided to eat there. The food was excellent, stuffed scrod and cold beer filled us. There was a military feel to the bar/restaurant area because of the nearby submarine base but there was no rowdiness and we found it easy to get a good night’s sleep.