Mystic, Connecticut – Kosher Vacation
Introduction
Mystic, Connecticut is an old boating/fishing town which was smartly converted into a vacation destination and ‘saved’. You could find things to do there for a few days. There’s no kosher food or minyanim to speak of … it is, however, a great place to stop and find a fun activity on your way between New York and New England (Mass, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut…). Having done this a few times, I’ve now been to the seaport, aquarium, and ropes course so it’s time for Mystic to get it’s own article.
Previous articles have mentioned Mystic as well: Eastern Long Island, Cape Cod, and Newport, RI.
The Aquarium
It’s nice – not too big, not too small. It’s … an aquarium, you know? It’s a good stop along the way for about an hour and a half.
The Ropes Course
Hidden in the woods, they give you a three hour window to go on five different courses in the trees. They vary in difficulty and are quite … difficult. The real hard ones require to climb poles and such things which are a great deterrent especially if you can’t get up the pole. Each course ends in a small zip line (don’t go here if you’re looking for just good zip lines) and you’re secured in from your harness to the ropes in two different ways. No one there (us or others) seemed to use the full three hours they give you. Again, it’s a nice place to stop on the way and breakup a long trip.
The Seaport.
Take look at my earlier article where Mystic Seaport is described in detail.
Bonus: Kosher Indian Food in Stamford, Connecticut – Navaratna
In our family we just call the place “Vindalu” which is the name of an Indian dish, being unable to remember the name of the restaurant. Anyway, the restaurants designed or the masses that go kosher are often my favorites. This restaurant insists on cooking proper and actual Indian food by Indians who grew up in India (as opposed to Americans faking foreign food, or worse, sushi places staffed by Philippinoos which is quite common)
The restaurant is completely vegetarian and getting a hecshur probably wasn’t too difficult here. The menu is divided into sections by the region of India where the food comes from (India is bigger and more diverse than I think most Americans think it is). You probably won’t know what most of the menu says or what you’re ordering … doesn’t matter. Just order a wide variety of things and be happy. They cook everything fresh when you order which is great – the food quality is great. The wait, however, can be long … that’s the tradeoff.
Also check out Claire’s Corner Copia in New Haven – I wrote about that here.
Stamford is also nicely on the way between the New York / New Jersey area and New England. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I’ve ever actually “vacationed” in Connecticut … just driven through a lot. What’s to do in Connecticut?
New London, which is about 15 minutes away, has a shul with a website that states that they have daily minyanim. When we went there 12 years ago, they were a couple short, but that seemed to be an aberration.
Good to know. Thanks.