Connecticut is very small. Tiny, in fact. I dare say that from Hartford, you can reach any other place in the State in under an hour. As an example, a trip to the Foxwoods casino resort area was a mere 42 minutes. This is kind of disturbing to somebody like me who is from a State that would take a full day to drive across. I'd imagine it would be even stranger to somebody from Texas.
Anyway, the reason for my trip was to visit the Hard Rock Cafe Foxwoods (#106 on my list), and that's exactly what I did. Overall, it's a nicely appointed cafe with a beautiful vaulted ceiling and nifty stone accents...
Sadly, I worry about the success of this cafe when I arrive at lunch-time to find it mostly empty. And when I look around at the people visiting the casino complex, I know why... the demographic is mostly elderly people. There's walkers, wheelchairs, canes, and the smell of Ben Gay at every turn. Needless to say, these are not the Hard Rock's target audience. The people running the cheap all-you-can-eat buffet, however, have a line a mile long outside of their door. Bummer. If you have your heart set on seeing this one, I wouldn't put it off.
From Foxwoods, I continued onward to the picturesque city of Mystic, Connecticut and the famous Mystic Seaport, where it was hot and muggy...
My plan was to visit both the seaport museum complex and the aquarium. But after I had to pay $17... yes, SEVENTEEN f#@%ING DOLLARS, to get into the museum... I had no desire to dump any more of my hard-earned cash in the city. I still can't get over the fact that they charge such an outrageous amount of money to wander around old buildings and look at a couple of ships. There's no rides or shows or anything else to make it worth it. At MOST, I would have paid $7 for what little you get. If only I had known, I would have skipped this rip-off "attraction" entirely.
After the disappointment at Mystic (such a cool name for a city!), I turn north to Boston. But before you can get to Massachusetts, you have to go through Rhode Island first. And the thing about Rhode Island is that it is very small. Minute. Minuscule. Teeny. Wee. Once I hit the Rhode Island border, it was a mere 32 minutes before I had exited through Providence at the other end. Now THAT'S small. I dunno. Maybe it was more impressive back in the days when people rode in horse and buggies instead of cars blazing along at 80 miles per hour.
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I’ve been to the Mystic Seaport! I mostly remember people dressed in period costumes and a gift shop. Bo-ring.
After reading your blog on visiting the Hard Rock Cafe Foxwoods in Connecticut, I have put it number one on my list of places to go on vacation! You had me when you said “ELDERLY”. The smell of Bengay is just a plus!
80 MPH??? I’d have called the troopers on you if I thought it’d take you longer to get through the state. 😉
You’re kidding me, right? You went to Mystic and didn’t have PIZZA?!?! And here I thought you were a big movie fan. I mean, you went to that cornfield thing and all . . .
I found parts of Mystic interesting… but not SEVENTEEN FREAKIN’ DOLLARS WORTH!!! I mean, COME ON!!
You would like Foxwoods Harold… it would be a nice change of pace from Vegas. 🙂
I may have been going 80mph, but that was tame compared to the rest of the traffic around me. When I see people bombing by at 95mph in a 65mph zone, I have to wonder how expensive that ticket would be!
Argh. “Mystic Pizza” is a total chick-flick, and my one attempt at watching it put me to sleep! You’re right though, I should have stopped to see if the pizza was any good.
I live in ct and have been to the seaport. I agree with you. What a waste of money. Not to mention some of the employee’s were rude.
The employees were certainly nice enough to me… just not $17 worth of nice! 🙂
1. Mystic Seaport is expensive. true. But I liked it the one time I went.
2. Foxwoods is awesome. Even better with the Hard Rock and every time I have gone, there’s been people there! then again, that’s at night.
3. even going 80 MPH it would take at LEAST 45 minutes to get from Groton, CT to Providence. I drive this at least once a month, trust me. you must have been going faster than 80 at some point.
4. the people you saw going 95 MPH must have been trying to beat the 45 second mile. it’s a RI tradition to try and make the “measured mile” on I-95 in 45 seconds or less. Everyone does it.
5. Mystic Pizza sucks. Don’t waste your money, seriously. Instead, spend it at The Spot in Groton. No pizza, but good food. IMHO
6. you have to come back to CT so we can meet. I will even buy your aquarium ticket, even if it is hella expensive! and they have a wine tasting bar in Mystic now, so that’s fun!
7. Can you tell I really wanna meet you? LOL