Living so close to Washington DC has many advantages. My favorite advantage, you ask? The availability of ways to leave DC 🤪 with Amtrak as my preferred way to run away. So in early spring, before all the tourists swarm, we planned a long weekend train ride to Mystic, CT. While off-season travel can mean iffy weather, it also means better hotel rates and shorter lines for food. Saving money and saving time? Sign me up.
The Amtrak times in and out of Mystic, CT didn’t align with our schedule so we chose the station prior, New London, CT. Ubering to Mystic was quick and easy, but slightly problematic on our return to New London on an early weekday morning. It worked out, but I sweated when there was no availability when we wanted to depart.
Where We Stayed in Mystic
The Whaler’s Inn
Easily the largest hotel room I’ve ever booked! If I knew I wouldn’t hurt myself, I would have cartwheeled in the room. A twist of fate or travelers’ luck, we scored the corner room on the second floor with 180-degree views of the Mystic River. From one window, we could see out over the river with a birds-eye view of the Bascule Bridge. From the other window, we had views of the S&P Oyster Bar patio and down Holmes Street. Since we visited off-season, the bridge wasn’t being raised but book a room in Hoxie House during peak season for an ideal viewing spot above the crowds.
On a particularly chilly day, I finished Olga Dies Dreaming in the oversized chair, while my other half napped. But the real deal sealer was the bed. I LOVE staying in hotels and the bed can really kill a restful weekend. With the Tuft & Needle mattress, I can report that we both slept soundly.
Other room perks: the air-jet soaking tub big enough for a full-sized adult, the rain shower head with the most exceptional water pressure, and a cozy gas fireplace that took off the early spring evening chill.
A stay also comes with a $15 food credit per person per day for use at the restaurant, The Shipwright’s Daughter, complimentary coffee in the lobby, and fresh cookies. Y’all, the fresh cookies…so tasty!
Other in-town hotel options:
- Spicer Mansion
- Steamboat Inn
Where We Ate in Mystic
Mystic Depot Roasters
The Whaler’s Inn has free coffee and a coffee maker in the room, but I love an iced latte so I tend to visit local coffee shops when I travel.
And wouldn’t you know, the Mystic Amtrak station was very close to our hotel so after we put our stuff in the room, we got to exploring. Discovering that it doubled as a coffee shop and place to grab breakfast and lunch, we’d found our first breakfast stop.
Returning the next morning, a handful of locals were chatting in a corner while others were reading the paper with their coffee. It’s always a good sign when locals are at places we find. I ordered a pancake that was the size of my head and an iced oat milk latte. My other half ordered the sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich with a drip coffee. His breakfast sandwich smelled so good I kinda wished I had ordered that. My pancake was piping hot and tasted just like early morning flapjacks after late nights out in college. He enjoyed his coffee and mine was … ok.
Young Buns Doughnuts
While sugar isn’t my go-to breakfast option, a good donut shop in a location I may not return to easily…makes it a no-brainer to me. Vacations are for making decisions you might not normally make. And for me, that 100% describes my food choices on vacation.
In my pre-research of food in Mystic, I found Young Buns and couldn’t wait to see what the seasonal specials would be while we visited. We lucked out during our off-season visit with a morning of heavy fog, a 90% chance of rain, and no line! Score! Instagram pictures definitely made me prepared to wait so we chose our morning accordingly.
From their March seasonal flavors, we chose Irish stout cake, mint chocolate, and fluffernutter.
- Irish stout: chocolate cake doughnut soaked in Guinness, topped with Irish cream glaze, milk jam whipped cream, milk jam drizzle, and a chocolate shamrock
- Mint chocolate: green yeast leavened brioche ring topped with mint chocolate frosting and mint chips
- Fluffernutter: yeast doughnut filled with house made marshmallow cream and peanut buttercream and topped with vanilla glaze and peanuts
In hindsight, we should have ordered the doughnut holes because then we could have tried all of the seasonal flavors versus just a select option. My stomach made my choice (I had to have a full mint chocolate) before my brain could say otherwise. Live and learn.
Other coffee & breakfast options:
- Rise
- Lamplighter Trading Company
Bank & Bridge Brewery
Where do my fellow millennials hang out in Mystic? Having walked past this obviously old bank several times, it was always busy. Busy is usually a good indicator to me that the food is good and it wasn’t wrong.
Having had a bit of a heavy lunch and plans for tacos and margs for dinner, we were in search of a sandwich that we could split. Coming up empty-handed, I scanned the QR code outside and saw fish and chips on the menu. I’d classify fish and chips as light even though it’s fried. Paired with a pint of Downeast Hard Cider, it clearly hit the spot.
Abbott’s Outpost
Can you visit a coastal location and not have seafood? Having fond memories of lobster from a truck in Newport, Rhode Island, we hoped to find a similar place. Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough was definitely that place. But like so many places in the off-season, it was closed til May. Sigh.
But yeah for Google telling us that Abbott’s opened an outpost in 2021 and hallelujah we got our fresh lobster rolls. Albeit in town and not by the sea/ocean. And we ate them so fast, there’s no photo proof we were there.
The Shipwright’s Daughter
After a little over six hours on a train, it was an easy choice to grab dinner at the hotel restaurant. I’m glad the hotel sent me an email asking us if we’d like reservations before arrival; this is the one dining location that even during the off-season was very busy.
Being the adventurous food eater while on vacation, I chose mussel toast as my appetizer; sourdough focaccia topped with smoky and spicy mussels, garlic aioli, and herbs. Mmmm, would order again. I know many people don’t consider mussels as adventurous but it was only a few years back, I never would have considered it.
Not so adventurous was my casarecce sausage ragu. I love a hearty ragu and this was absurdly delicious. My other half had the Painted Hills beef strip sirloin with king trumpet mushroom, pomme frites, and blistered shishito peppers. The carnivore he is, he enjoyed the beef but loved the mushroom. For dessert, we chose a creme puff that literally melted in our mouths.
Taquerio
An old gas station turned taco shop? WHAT?! Genius! With the menu posted on the trunk of an old orange Volkswagen Beetle, it was a definite mental note that we’d return for lunch or dinner.
I order the fried avocado, fried cod, and pollo verde tacos. My other half cheated and chose pollo verde as well plus the gringo (ground beef in a hard shell) and al pastor. Closed with a churro because why not! I could eat here every night til I die, it was so good.
So is Mystic, CT worth visiting? It has our vote! We loved our off-season visit! And while Mystic is infamous for that little known movie involving America’s favorite sweetheart and my favorite food, pizza, Mystic has so much more to offer. Definitely, a foodie town that I can’t wait to revisit.
