The Mystic area is well-known for its aquarium, seaport, and quaint village, and downtown. While I love a visit to any of these destinations, today I wanted to share some alternate activities around this area. Whether you’re visiting the area for a few days and want to explore beyond the big tourist destinations or just looking for something new to do in Southeastern Connecticut, this day trip is for you!
We were originally in the area for a Pawcatuck River Labrador Retriever Club event and since it was a long drive (about an hour) from our house, I wanted to fill the day with some new areas to explore. Our first stop was supposed to be a fun playground. I love finding playgrounds that are similar to the ones I grew up going to (the ones with lots of hiding spots and places to explore). Unfortunately, I’m not going to recommend the place we went (Crandall Field in Hopkinton, RI) because although the pictures online looked promising, it was definitely extremely worn down (which again we could deal with), and the biggest problem is that there were bees and wasps all over. My kids are pretty timid around bees in general after a bad experience running into a hidden hive, but even I was nervous with the whole place as there seemed to be nests/hives all over the wooden structures and tire areas. We visited in May 2021, and I did see a news article from 2020 that said the town had received funding to replace the playground, so hopefully soon I can update this! If you know of a great playground in the area message me or comment below so I can share some other ideas for folks looking for that play stop on their adventure.
After giving up on the playground, we went to Manfredi Farms. When we visited the farm, the store was not open, but we went for the animals and were not disappointed! They had $5 bags of feed (bring cash!) which was a pretty good-sized bag and lasted us about 15 minutes of (paced) feeding. They had tubes to send the food down where goats waited with their mouths open. The boys thought this was really fun and the enclosure also had two layers of fence and the ducks and chickens came right up to us in between the fences and the boys could hand feed them. The farm store looks great online and they offer the typical farm stand variety of fruits, vegetables, eggs, etc… so if you need any produce you can pick some up here as well. Upon checking out their Facebook page it looks like last year they had a “pick your own” sunflower field where you could pick as many as you can hold for $10/person, so that’s something to keep in mind as the end of summer nears.
Our third stop was Dutch’s Bakery. I’ve been dairy-free since my youngest son was a month old, so I’m always looking for dairy-free options, and vegan restaurants and bakeries are some of my favorite places to find some really delicious options (I’m pretty tired of ordering a burger with no bun when we dine out). I had a BBQ Bacon Burger, and I am not exaggerating when I say it’s the best burger I’ve had in a veryy long time (and I don’t mean best vegan burger, I mean the best burger in general!). I paired it with a chocolate milkshake that also tasted just as amazing as any dairy shake I’ve had. I was one happy mom with this meal! We also got some cupcakes and cookies and every single thing we ate was incredible and you would never guess they didn’t use any dairy or animal products to make them. I highly recommend you try them! Their location in Pawcatuck is in a neighborhood and there is some street parking as well as a larger lot next to the building (I’m not sure this lot is supposed to be for the bakery, but it was big and mostly unoccupied so that’s what we used).
Our last stop (which we almost didn’t make because all 3 boys fell asleep on the way) was Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center. This nature center is actually just around the corner from Mystic Aquarium, but it was a place I had never heard of. We were drawn to it for their bird rescue sanctuary (owls and hawks), and seeing these birds of prey up close was pretty cool – the boys loved it and so did I. Besides the bird sanctuary, there are a ton of trails, a small pond where we saw ducklings and turtles, and a nature center. We didn’t have time to do the nature center, but it did look pretty neat so we have it on our list to return another time. There were a variety of trails that were pretty easy to manage, and even though I would not rate it extremely “stroller friendly” (there are many roots and rocks), I did somehow get my City Mini stroller into a good amount of the trails because my two-year-old did not wake up when I took him out of the car – he also managed to stay asleep o the bumpy ride while we walked the trails. I would say that a single Bob could probably navigate the trails pretty easily, but most other strollers would be a struggle (I love our Bobs for any and all off-road terrain). Better yet, plan to baby-wear – I did so with my infant in the ergo. Overall, a great trail for small kids with a variety of things to see (pond, boardwalk and wetland area, fields, etc.).
If you decide to explore this area make sure to tag me in your social media posts (@TravelBoundMom on Instagram and @TravelBoundBrieres on Facebook). We love to see what other families are up to!
