The weather had been miserable all week but the weekend was showing as being sunny and dry so we held out until Friday morning before we booked a hotel – after our wet weekend in Washington we didn’t fancy going away again in the rain! We got a great deal on a Hampton Inn in Shelton at just over $220 for 2 nights – and this was about a 2.5 hour drive away which didn’t feel too bad for a Friday night.

Stu got home from work at 5pm and we were out the door by 6pm and on our way! Surprisingly the traffic around NY was ok and there were no major hold ups and we had some lovely views of the NY skyline.

Unfortunately we ended up on a road with no restaurants/service stations so by 8.30pm we were very hungry! We were within 15 minutes of the hotel and google maps showed there was a Cheesecake factory nearby – how convenient – so that is where we headed. Stu had his favourite BBQ burger whilst I opted for the Cajun chicken strips, mashed potatoes and corn salsa (aiming to try something new each time we visit). They were lovely but the portion was huge – could have fed all 4 of us had the kids been with us!

^{Our food at the Cheesecake Factory}

Made it to the hotel for about 9.30pm and chilled for the evening. It wasn’t my favourite Hampton Inn, the downstairs area was manic with a large party making quite a bit of noise, but the room was perfect.

We were up quite early on Saturday and despite some issues sorting out my plane seats on our half term AA flight with the kids, we were out the door and on our way to Mystic by 9.30am. Just outside of Mystic there was a view point off the road which we pulled into, to admire the view (it wasn’t that good) but we found our first Connecticut geo-cache!

We drove into the town – our first stop of the day was the Mystic Seaport Museum. As it is still the winter season, part of the museum was closed but this meant the tickets were slightly discounted. We wandered round the Turner exhibit for a few minutes and then headed outside to see the whale boat. It was actually really cool – you could stand on deck and go downstairs to see where the crew would have lived.

We then went round the whaling museum which was brilliant. Again, this is going to be one of those places we are going to have to return to with the kids.

^{Inside the museum}

We didn’t stay at the Seaport for long and decided to go for a wander and have a look around the area. We followed the road along the river and ended up in the town. Mystic is a gorgeous town with old buildings and some great cafes and restaurants. We found a restaurant called The Mariner and it looked inviting for lunch.

As we sat down the waitress told us that the lobster roll had been voted best in Mystic so Stu ordered it and I opted for the fried fish sandwich with tartar sauce. The food was amazing – it is honestly one of the nicest places we have eaten in and would definitely recommend.

^{Really good food at The Mariner, Mystic.}

We had wanted to visit the aquarium but thought we should probably wait until the kids are with us, so we planned a route back to the hotel driving along the coast and doing lots of stops along the way.

Our first stop was Ocean Beach Park. There was a huge carpark and a massive resort which was closed due to it being winter – I imagine it would be fantastic in the summer. We had a short stroll along the beach and there were quite a few people with metal detectors searching for treasure.

^{Ocean Beach Park}

Our next stop was Rocky Neck State Park. Again, this was another fab beach. We stopped for about half an hour to take some photos and find a geo-cache which was hidden in a wooden wall.

I wanted to find some lighthouses and so far we had been pretty unsuccessful, so for our last stop of the day we ventured to Lighthouse Point Park – we thought with a name like that there must be a lighthouse. And there was. We arrived just before the sun started to set so we were able to get some pretty good photos. We had a wander but the temperature had fallen to just above freezing so we couldn’t stay out for too long!

^{Lighthouse Point Park}

After our lovely lunch we didn’t fancy a huge tea so ordered some food from the Chipotle next to the hotel. This was another first for me and I had a chicken Taco which was really good – another place I will be revisiting!

On Sunday we were not in any rush to get home and didn’t have a plan so thought we would just drive slowly down the coastline to New Jersey and see what we found.

Google maps showed there was a lighthouse at Bridgeport which was about 20 minutes from the hotel so we thought that would be a good place to start. The lighthouse (Fayerweather Island Light) was out to sea and you could reach it by walking along a path made from rocks and boulders. We ventured about halfway along so we could take some nice photos before turning back.

We then headed down to Cove Island where we stopped for 30 minutes or so and found a couple of Geo-caches. This was another brilliant little park with great views out to sea and some walking paths.

^{Cove Island}

It was approaching lunch so we needed a final stop where we could have a walk and get some food. On the map we saw a town called Greenwich (and liked the sound of it as we love Greenwich in London) so that is where we headed. Greenwich Point Park was definitely my favourite park of the day. We probably walked for about an hour, found a geo-cache in a holly forest and had a ‘photo off’ of a bridge! The beaches were made of seashells and there were views of the New York Skyline!

^{Greenwich Point State Park}

After our walk which pushed us above our 10,000 steps we visited the old town and ordered lunch at The Beach House Cafe. This was another fantastic place to eat – we had really lucked out with our restaurant choices this weekend. Stu ordered chicken tacos and I had the fish and chips and it was lovely.

^{The Beach House Cafe}