Mystic Seaport

There are places in this country I've wanted to see for a long time. Yellowstone National Park was one. Finally went there last summer. Mystic Seaport was another. I live near enough to take a trip there but never got there. Cross it off. I spent 2 days in the seaport touring old boats and watching demonstrations. This square rigger is not the oldest but quite impressive. One demonstration was a "man overboard" drill in which the lifeboat was lowered and rowed to the "dummy overboard".
The Seaport had a music festival going on and there were groups singing and playing all over the grounds almost all day long. Most groups had a seafaring theme to their music.
Next picture is the Captain's Quarters on a large whaling ship. Very impressive I would say.






Below is the Whaling ship itself which is out of the water for restoration. I climbed the stairs and toured the ship. The Seaport plans to take it on a tour of New England in 2012 and is training some of the staff to sail it by sending them on the Coast Guard Academy's SV Eagle. The person who described the tour to me told me that the city of New Bedford has threatened to close the hurricane gates after so they can keep the ship.