Mystic Connecticut, Day 1

I am moving some posts from my first blog, which was just as easy to post in but I could not figure out how to let people follow it nor could I link it on my website to this blog so the posts are not chronological, nor did I travel multiple trips at the same time. That may be fun for some people but I like to immerse myself in one location at a time. Here is post one of my sister's and my trip to Mystic Connecticut. Ha, I learned to spell Connecticut without spell check.

We left Livingston at 3:30 am on December 19, 2019 to get to the airport in Houston on time. We got there at 5, expecting few people to be there. The place was packed. The security line was surprisingly long, but they added a dog to sniff people going through so we didn't have to take off shoes, removes liquids or food from our bags, or take off belts. We only had to separate out large electronics and take off our jackets. It was like a race though. The security guards lined us up two by two. When they said go, we had to walk without stopping parallel to our partner from one gate to the conveyor belt that x-rayed our carry-ons. I was one of those odd people who cracked jokes that no one laughed at. They were very efficient. We got through security in about 30 minutes and had plenty of time to relax at our crowded gate and people watch before we boarded. Flying was predictably crowded, but not stressful. We got to Providence Rhode Island via Charlotte North Carolina. There was icy snow on roofs and on the ground, but most of the roads were clear. We got to the rental cars via a very long motorized sidewalk, called a skyway and got to see a lot of city views on the way to the rental cars while walking on the moving sidewalks.  We did the paperwork for the car they had ready and walked out into the parking garage to get it. I took a breath and started choking. Don't breathe deep when it is 17 degrees. My gosh it was cold. We scurried to the car, got in and started it. My sister let it warm up while she got acquainted with the controls and we pulled up our route on GPS. On the way out, the security officer checked our contract and our car. I hope he had a heater in his booth. The drive through Providence and on the highway was amazing. I was taking pictures and video and watching the GPS while Tammy was watching traffic, driving, and pointing left and right..."Look at that, Oh wow."

We got to our hotel, which was Day's Inn and Suites. We were a bit concerned because it wasn't in the best maintained condition, But the man at the desk was friendly and efficient and the room was pretty clean and didn't stink.  The hotel has proven to be just right for our stay so we did extend our room for our entire stay. It was clean, quiet, a perfect location for us, and very cost effective. The heater was noisy, but warm, the beds were comfortable, but the hotel did not seem to have any maintenance staff. No real repairs had been done for a long time.

We googled for a place for dinner, and wound up in downtown Mystic at Mystic Pizza. It is a pizza restaurant right on the main street of Mystic. We found street parking right in front of the restaurant door. (We were early for dinner). Their pizza was delicious. nice and crunchy crust and generous toppings in a restaurant full of memorabilia from the movie. Downtown Mystic was beautiful when the lights came on. Every store was decorated and the entire street was lit. We had to eat rather quickly, because we were due to attend a meet and greet at the Nautilus Museum to get the details of my nephew's submarine homecoming the following day. After we got the details of where to park, how cold it would be, security measures, and what we could video and photograph, and most important, the timing, we were able to go to the motel and relax.