New England Road Trip – Day 7 – Mystic Seaport & Yankee Candles

Libby · 1 Oct 18, 05:26 PM

New England Road Trip – Day 7 – Mystic Seaport & Yankee Candles

I had a chilly night at the HoJo as my side of the bed was right next to the aircon. It was too hot to turn it off so I wrapped myself up in my fleece and slept as best I could.

Despite thin walls and an ill fitting connecting door the other guests were considerate and we didn’t hear a peep from the family next door until after 7am.

We decided to pack the car and then find breakfast. There was a McDonald’s just over the road (DD & I are getting a taste for their pancakes this year, much nicer than the UK offerings at McD’s) We then returned to officially check out of our room.

I must say all the staff there were lovely. The grounds man even took time to offer to take a family photo in the giant Adirondack chair just outside reception.

We had considered leaving the car at the hotel and walking to Mystic Seaport but we felt just as safe driving to the Seaport and leaving it in the parking lot. This would also give us the chance for a quick get away. I’d booked this night’s hotel thinking that we would be visiting the Yankee Candle Village shop in the morning but finding out it doesn’t open until 10am makes tomorrow’s driving a bit late so I’m hoping to get there later this afternoon instead.

The car park was free but the Mystic Seaport itself was quite expensive to visit. Once inside we realised how vast this attraction is and it turned out to be quite good value for money.
It was really hot today.

Our first stop was to see the restoration of the Mayflower II. We had hoped to see this in Plymouth but it isn’t returning until next year. Luckily we had also planned a visit here before we knew about the restoration. Well, it looked as though it was being completely rebuilt. One of the guides told us a lot about how it had been given to Plymouth in the 1950s as a thank you from British to the Americans for their help during the war. The Mayflower II hadn’t been maintained very well and now needs major work to get it ship shape for the 2020 celebrations.

The guides here made the place unlike at Plimoth Plantation where the in character guides made me nervous. They were very knowledgable and entertaining and obviously had a passion for the place.

We went into restored houses and shops as well as onto sailing boats.

I loved the place. We had lunch here too in a café all decked out with ships flags which served simple but tasty food.

After lunch we visited an exhibition about how Vikings came to America.

DD's elephant mascot decided to hide in one of the exhibits (we were allowed to touch this one!)

By early afternoon we had seen enough and felt we still had enough time to get to the Yankee Candle Village before it closed.

It took about 2 hours as there were lots of road works on the way. (Well there were a lot of cones but not much work.) The journey was a mix of speedy, busy roads around towns mixed in with calmer stretches through beautiful countryside.

We got to the shop an hour before it closed (DH though that was more than enough time) DD and I were very excited but didn’t buy too much because so much of it was very heavy. I enjoyed looking around the candles and the Christmas decorations and was amused that there were shopping trolleys to use (oh, to live within driving distance!)

We then retraced our steps for about 15 mins to get to the D-Hotel at Northampton. This hotel more than made up for the HoJo. It really was a gem. There was a restaurant attached and we decided to eat there. As we walked back we heard our first crickets of the trip chirping away.

disney owl · 20 Jan 19, 08:36 PM

would love to visit Yankee Candle Village!

1 Oct 18, 05:26 PM	#1
	1 Oct 18, 05:26 PM Libby Imagineer
Libby Imagineer Join Date: Nov 03	New England Road Trip – Day 7 – Mystic Seaport & Yankee Candles New England Road Trip – Day 7 – Mystic Seaport & Yankee Candles I had a chilly night at the HoJo as my side of the bed was right next to the aircon. It was too hot to turn it off so I wrapped myself up in my fleece and slept as best I could. Despite thin walls and an ill fitting connecting door the other guests were considerate and we didn’t hear a peep from the family next door until after 7am. We decided to pack the car and then find breakfast. There was a McDonald’s just over the road (DD & I are getting a taste for their pancakes this year, much nicer than the UK offerings at McD’s) We then returned to officially check out of our room. I must say all the staff there were lovely. The grounds man even took time to offer to take a family photo in the giant Adirondack chair just outside reception. We had considered leaving the car at the hotel and walking to Mystic Seaport but we felt just as safe driving to the Seaport and leaving it in the parking lot. This would also give us the chance for a quick get away. I’d booked this night’s hotel thinking that we would be visiting the Yankee Candle Village shop in the morning but finding out it doesn’t open until 10am makes tomorrow’s driving a bit late so I’m hoping to get there later this afternoon instead. The car park was free but the Mystic Seaport itself was quite expensive to visit. Once inside we realised how vast this attraction is and it turned out to be quite good value for money. It was really hot today. Our first stop was to see the restoration of the Mayflower II. We had hoped to see this in Plymouth but it isn’t returning until next year. Luckily we had also planned a visit here before we knew about the restoration. Well, it looked as though it was being completely rebuilt. One of the guides told us a lot about how it had been given to Plymouth in the 1950s as a thank you from British to the Americans for their help during the war. The Mayflower II hadn’t been maintained very well and now needs major work to get it ship shape for the 2020 celebrations. The guides here made the place unlike at Plimoth Plantation where the in character guides made me nervous. They were very knowledgable and entertaining and obviously had a passion for the place. We went into restored houses and shops as well as onto sailing boats. I loved the place. We had lunch here too in a café all decked out with ships flags which served simple but tasty food. After lunch we visited an exhibition about how Vikings came to America. DD's elephant mascot decided to hide in one of the exhibits (we were allowed to touch this one!) By early afternoon we had seen enough and felt we still had enough time to get to the Yankee Candle Village before it closed. It took about 2 hours as there were lots of road works on the way. (Well there were a lot of cones but not much work.) The journey was a mix of speedy, busy roads around towns mixed in with calmer stretches through beautiful countryside. We got to the shop an hour before it closed (DH though that was more than enough time) DD and I were very excited but didn’t buy too much because so much of it was very heavy. I enjoyed looking around the candles and the Christmas decorations and was amused that there were shopping trolleys to use (oh, to live within driving distance!) We then retraced our steps for about 15 mins to get to the D-Hotel at Northampton. This hotel more than made up for the HoJo. It really was a gem. There was a restaurant attached and we decided to eat there. As we walked back we heard our first crickets of the trip chirping away. Edited at 04:10 PM.