It was time to check out of our charming room at the Whaler’s Inn. We thought we might pop back into the Seaport or the Aquarium (the tickets are good for two days, FYI) but neither of us were up for it. I still wanted to have some oysters at some point, but it was only about eleven o’clock, so we decided to take a stroll and think for a bit.
Seaside View
Mystic is home to a rather notable Draw Bridge.
The Mystic River Bascule Bridge
This is a very busy bridge, opening every hour on the forty minute mark and on demand. We watched that thing go up and down at least three times in our brief walk about. This is a “bascule” bridge, meaning it is raised and lowered using motors and counter weights. Let me tell you, these weights are horrifyingly large, weighing 230 tons each!
Dude, I wouldn’t stand under there!
Sail boat passing through.
Yet another angle.
We ducked into a few shops looking for souvenirs for our trusted dog sitters (my mom and daughter). We scored some tea for my girl here. On a side note, we were recognized by a gentleman who was at our show the night before! Pretty cool, I must say.
This place smelled pretty dang good.
Interesting, but nothing for mom here.
It was right about here that I got a brilliant idea. How about visiting a winery? I quickly looked up Jonathan Edwards Vineyard to discover it was only about 30 minutes away in North Stonington. Boom! We have a plan.
Buh bye, Mystic!
I had heard of Jonathan Edwards Winery before. It is a bit confusing because of the singer/song writer of the same name. In the past I had thought, because he was local to New England, that he might be the vintner, but that’s just a coincidence. They have a summer concert series on the property and none other than Jonathan Edwards was listed on the roster adding to the confusion when we arrived. But no, he still doesn’t own the vineyard he just plays there. Got all that?
Perfect New England Style Farmhouse. Home of the Jonathan Edwards Winery.
Beautiful stacked stone walls and patio.
There’s a gazillion bees on this plant.
Charming grapevine forged railings.
Can’t get more inviting than that.
We bellied up to the tasting bar and chose the “Classic Tasting of 7 Wines” for
$15.00.
One of the seven.
Next, we took our last tasting with us for a tour of the grounds.
Yeah, I think this was a good choice.
Our guide was Jeannie. She was such a lovely lady with a passion for wine and this vineyard in particular. She was a volunteer for the annual harvests and decided that this would be her perfect “retirement job”. She was very knowledgeable, but was constantly humbling herself saying she wished she knew more or conveyed the flavors better. Not so! She made a wonderful host.
Stunning.
Roses at the end of the rows were used as an indicator of the health of the vines at one time. Now, it’s more of a tradition.
Looks like they’re off to a great start!
Such Potential!
Next, we made our way to the barrel room. This winery is quite unique in the way that not only do they grow their own grapes, they also import them from Napa California. This is truly a bi-coastal winery. The story of the origins of the vineyard as well has the history of the farm itself is really rich. I encourage you to make a trip here for sure, but in the meantime, take a look at the website where there’s some great video with the whole back story.
Roll ’em out!
NOT the singer.
Next, we had a nice bonus tasting. One of the vintners was just tapping a very young Gewürztraminer. I don’t know how to pronounce it either.
He was telling us all about it.
A nice toast with our lovely guide. Cheers!
As much as I wanted to have lunch at the S&P Oyster Company (which was directly across from our inn the whole time), we would be back tracking if we headed to Mystic. We decided instead to stop in Providence, which is only an hour from home. Dedicated readers may recall that we had visited Federal Hill in Providence earlier this year. We had a stellar dinner there, but I really wanted to stop back in the summer to see the outdoor courtyards in full bloom!
Eccolo!
I looked up where we would find oysters on Federal Hill. The Providence Oyster Bar seemed like a no brainer. The good news is that they we serving one dollar oysters today! The bad news is that this wasn’t happening for another hour.
Half price appetizers and dollar oysters…in an hour.
We were LITERALLY starving at this point so we came up with a plan. We would have one full price appetizer and a glass of wine, then take a stroll around town until the magic hour. This ain’t our first rodeo.
We decided on a Crab Cake. This was a very different preparation.
Jumbo Lump Crab Cake
Citrus tarragon aioli, tasso ham and mushroom hash
Usually crab cakes are paired with a lightly dressed salad or something of the sort. This ham and mushroom hash was very savory and you would think it would over power the crab, but it just worked so well together. The citrus tarragon aioli added just the right amount of brightness too. This was a nice, hearty choice to tide us over. Delicious!
Now, to kill some time before oysters! When we visited last, we enjoyed our after dinner cappuccino and tiramisu at Costantino’s Venda Bar. This is a part of a larger complex that also includes a full service restaurant and a marketplace. I was hoping to find something for mom here!
Constantino’s
Glorious!
These look amazing, and I hate olives! Pardon my language.
Humina, humina
I found a fetching olive oil carafe for mom here. I forgot to take a photo. She liked it just fine, right Mom? Now on to the oysters!
24 oysters = 24 dollars. Score!
A perfectly serviceable Caesar Salad.
Silky Clam Chowder.
Even at half price this Lobster Roll was no good. It was really dry and mealy. It seemed like it was mostly the leg meat. Can’t win ’em all.
Lackluster Lobster Roll.
Time to head back home. No rest for the weary, though. We had another show to put on. Ok, we did have a nap. Amazingly, we had enough energy after our gig to catch the last set of another musician friend. Time for second dinner!
Cut, print, it’s a wrap!
Looks like we now have even more reasons to come back to Mystic besides our un-redeemed Foxwoods gift certificate. Until next time!