Things to do in Mystic, CT, in 48-hours

So Morgan and I just got back from our girl’s trip to Mystic, Ct. For those of you who don’t know, Morgan is one of my best friends. We had a blast! Recently we were scrolling through Google and Pinterest looking for random places within driving distance to explore. I’m not really sure how we found Mystic, but I’m so glad we did. Here are all the things we did in Mystic, Ct in 48-hours.

We decided to do a 48-hour trip to Mystic (not including travel). That way it was more likely I could get the days off work. For those of you who decide to take a trip there, because believe me after you see how much fun we had you will want to go as well, you could easily go on a weekend. There are so many things to do in Mystic, Ct.

Arriving in Mystic, Ct

We left on Sunday morning around 10 am. Going from Virginia Beach to Connecticut there are a lot of tolls to go through. Something that slipped our minds, so be sure to have some cash if you end up driving. Another reason we decided to drive was that the nearest airport to Mystic was about an hour away. We arrived at the Howard Johnson Inn by Wyndham Mystic at about 7:30 pm. This hotel is right off of I-95 and within walking distance of the Aquarium and Old Mystic Village. The staff was super friendly and the room was very nice for the price (about $50/night).

 We were starving after driving for 8 hours, the animal crackers and tropical gummy road trip snacks didn’t cut it, so we decided to go to the famous Mystic Pizza for dinner. Mystic Pizza is an old 80’s movie that was filmed in the towns neighboring Mystic and the original Mystic Pizza building was renovated to resemble the film. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be as good that it was just all the hype around the movie but nope, it was delicious! We ordered a small famous pepperoni pizza and shared it. It was really filling and only $9.00!

After all the driving we were exhausted so we headed back to the hotel to get some rest before exploring the next 2 days.

Things to Do in Mystic, CT

Day 1

9:00 am- Breakfast at the Mystic Diner

The Mystic Diner is actually attached to our hotel so breakfast was only a short walk away! There is something about authentic diner food that makes me really happy. I know it’s strange and I don’t know what it is but I love it. The food was really good and the staff was nice. I got scrambled eggs and home fries while Morgan had a bagel and French fries (I know she is basically a child). We both had bottomless coffee. Again, I don’t know if it was my weird love for diners but the coffee was really good and much needed to wake us up. We also got 10% off our bill by showing the waitress our room key from the Howard Johnson Inn!

10:00 am– Exploring Olde Mystick Village

Let me just start by saying I LOVE Olde Mystick Village. It’s cute, quaint, and it wasn’t crowded. Not when we were there at least. This was right across the street from our hotel so we walked there as well. It is open year-round, so if you go in the winter like us there are plenty of shops and things to see. Here were our favorites:

Sticky Situations/Extra Virgin

These look like two separate stores but are actually connected. On one side it’s all honey. There were about 24 different flavors from key lime and peppermint, which was my favorite, to anisette and elderberry. We were able to taste every flavor and believe me you will want to. They are all so good.

Connecting the two shops was a mid-section with mustards made from their honey. Also delicious. Then the other side was olive oil and vinegar. Like the gourmet top of the line stuff. We were also able to taste the flavors and combinations they had out. My favorite was the garlicky tomato oil with the sweet cherry vinegar. The staff was so knowledgeable and friendly. They even mixed some of the flavors for us to try. They also ship so be sure to follow them on Instagram and order some of their amazing products! For 5% off your purchase just text STICKY to 33222.

Vault Coffee Roasters

We stopped into Vault to get a pick me up. We tried the Butterbeer Lattes because we had sort of a Harry Potter theme going for some of this trip. They were really good. We also noticed on their Instagram that Friday-Sunday they serve Deviant Donuts. Unfortunately, we missed them but if you get a chance to snag them they look delicious!

 Alice in the Village

 This is a quaint little tea room with a ton of specialty teas for sale. They serve high tea by reservation. We actually did their Harry Potter Pop-Up tea on our second day. It was amazing.

2:00 pm- Walked to the Welcome to Mystic sign and the Cemetery 

Honestly, we only walked to the sign to get some pictures of it. It was an older wooden sign and it was really cute.

The cemetery was on a list of things to do in Mystic. The entrance was actually really pretty but we didn’t walk around inside. Cemeteries aren’t really my thing. They kind of freak me out. But hey if you’re into them it was really pretty.

5:00 pm- Dinner at the Sugar Factory at Foxwoods Casino

Sugar Factory is a well-known upscale restaurant. They have them all over including Vegas, New York, Florida, and Virginia. The goblet drinks they have are amazing and can be non-alcoholic. They also have milkshakes, crepes, french toast, sundaes (they have one that serves 12 people and is about $100) Don’t worry they have normal food as well like pizzas, salads, and appetizers.

A really good tip we found out while there was their Happy Hour! From 4-7 pm, they have ½ off appetizers and buy one get one free on select drinks. Yes, their $36 goblet drinks are included in this and yes, we each had one. I had a Raspberry Watermelon Mojito and Morgan had a Berry Berry Cocktail. So good! The bottom of the glasses had dry ice so they “smoked” when they poured in the actual drink.

6:00 pm- Explored Foxwoods

Yall, Foxwoods is huge! It’s the 4^th largest casino in the world. There are tons of things to do even if you don’t want to gamble. There is an outlet, restaurants, other shops, coffee shops, and even a zip line. The zip line is closed during certain seasons so keep that in mind. I think we could have stayed at the Casino for about a week and would have never gotten bored because there is so much to do. We did play slots for a little bit. If you’re a new member at Foxwoods when you go to set up your rewards card they give you a little gift like $10 of slot play, or money towards a table game.

8:00 pm- Ben and Jerry’s 

Ben and Jerry’s is located in Foxwoods as well.

Day 2

11:00 am- Harry Potter Tea

 This was by far my favorite thing we did on this trip! This was a winter pop-up tea in Alice in the Village. Normally, the tea is Alice in Wonderland themed but from Jan-March this winter they had a Harry Potter tea. This is only available through reservations so thankfully Morgan found this like the week before we left.

This place is so cute! It’s all Alice in Wonderland themed. When you walk in there is a little shop area with things to buy like figurines, hats, jewelry, and tea. The décor is crazy cool. There is grass walls with mirrors, chandeliers, card placemats, and a life-size Alice coming out of the ceiling as if she is falling down the rabbit hole. They even have cute hats you can wear while enjoying your tea time.

As for the Harry Potter Tea, it was AMAZING! First, we were sorted into our houses. This was done by each of us picking a mug and then Zack (the best employee) poured hot water into them and they changed colors revealing our house! Then we chose our tea. There were tons to choose from but we ended up with a large pot of the Strawberry-Kiwi. We were brought Butterbeer and tea and then a few minutes later our amazing food display was brought out. There were sandwiches, scones, and assorted desserts (all Harry Potter themed of course). Everything was so good. We couldn’t even finish it all. I highly recommend going hungry.

This was so much fun and if you are a Harry Potter fan like us you definitely don’t want to miss it. The employee Zack was so fun and helpful and definitely made our experience even better.

1:00 pm- Explored Downtown Mystic 

Downtown Mystic is a more touristy version of Olde Mystick. There are tons of shops and food. Unfortunately, since we went in the winter there were a lot of shops that were closed. The Mystic Drawbridge sits over the Mystic River. The views are really pretty. Especially since the river was still half-frozen from the week before. My favorite shop here was the Spice and Tea Exchange.

 The Spice and Tea Exchange

In the shop, they had tea, spices, salts, peppers, and sugars. You could taste everything but the teas. They did have a tea of the day brewed to try though. You could also open and smell all the varieties of teas. There was every flavor you could think of. The sugars were so good I wanted to buy them all. Well, except the firecracker one. That was way too spicy for my liking.

 Bartleby’s Cafe

We stopped in this small shop to sit and have a cup of coffee and relax while we decided where to eat dinner. It was quiet, relaxing, and the coffee was good.

4:30 pm- Old Lighthouse Museum/ The Point

We decided to try and find this Lighthouse we saw on Pinterest to get some pictures. We looked it up and found out it was only about 15 min away. Fail! Not the lighthouse we were thinking of but we did inadvertently find The Point. This was something we really wanted to see but we couldn’t find it when we were planning. The Point is literally a point where you can see Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York all at the same time. It was pretty foggy out but it was very cool to see.

6:00 pm- Dinner at the Jealous Monk

Jealous Monk is located in Old Mystick Village. It’s a European style pub with tons of beer on tap and social hall seating. They were really crowded when we arrived so we sat at the bar. Each of us had white sangria and then an additional cocktail. All of which were good. Then we had “A big pretzel” with beir cheese and shared the Monk Burger and fries. The food was really good. It is pretty loud in there so if you are looking for an intimate dinner that is not the place.

As you can see we had so much fun in Mystic. There are plenty of things to do even with the whole family. I hope you enjoy Mystic as much as we did!