Harbour House Restaurant in Mystic CT

Last weekend we joined our friends Wendy and Greg from Connecticut Lifestyles to visit the Harbour House Restaurant located at the Inn at Mystic.

We were thrilled to be joining them as their guests, as the Harbour House Restaurant was the winner of the August 2014 Open Table Diners’ Choice Award, which is awarded by patrons who have used Open Table to book reservations. Each month, the Diners’ Choice lists are featured on the Open Table website.

The Harbour House features fresh, seasonal and local cuisine served in one of Mystic’s most spectacular settings, the beautiful and historic Inn at Mystic.

Here's a pictorial of some of the foods we sampled on our visit.

Our starters/appetizers:

A side green salad with house Italian Dressing

Stonington Harbour Bommers
Scallops wrapped in slab smoked bacon
with a pomegranate molasses glaze baked in a brick oven

Our Entrees:

Butternut Squash Ravioli
Butternut squash stuffed raviolis served with a cranberry sage cream sauce
topped with candied pecans

Linguine and Clams
Chopped Fresh Clams tossed with butter, garlic, olive oil, parsley, basil, black pepper
served over linguine

Prime Rib of Beef
Served with mashed potato and vegetable medley

Charcoal Broiled Duck
St.Louis style half duck roasted with honey garlic, fresh thyme, butter and sea salt
Served with mashed potatoes and a medley of fresh vegetables

For dessert, we adjourned to the Harbour House Lounge where we listened to the cool brass stylings of the Mystic Horns, enjoying some rich chocolate desserts, and some dessert/after dinner cocktails.

Dessert and after dinner cocktails in the lounge

Offering a wonderful mix of casually elegant cuisine - mingled with traditional seafood staples, the Harbour House is pure New England cuisine at its finest. From wood-fired pizza from their brick oven, and freshly shucked clams from the raw bar, to gorgonzola-crusted filet of beef finished with a savory malbec demi-glace, there's something for every palate at the Harbour House!

In addition, Harbour House bar features 24 beers on tap along with fun list of signature cocktails.

We are already planning a return visit to spend the night at the Inn at Mystic, enjoy their amazing brunch, and do some shopping in nearby Mystic Village!

For more information on the Harbour House Restaurant, please visit www.innatmystic.com.

The Harbour House Restaurant at the Inn at Mystic

Three Williams Avenue

Mystic, CT 06355

Phone: 860-536-8140

Harbour House reservations using Open Table=> http://www.opentable.com/harbour-house-inn-at-mystic

On the web: www.innatmystic.com

Email: harbourhouse@innatmystic.com

Follow them on twitter: https://twitter.com/HarbourHouseCT

Like them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/innatmystic14

Follow them on instagram: http://instagram.com/harbourhousect

Mystic Aquarium in Mystic CT for Mother's Day 2013

This weekend the wonderful folks at the Mystic Aquarium invited some of the local Connecticut blogging community to attend as their guests for a special Mother's Day Weekend celebration (#MysticMoms).

The Mystic Research Aquarium has all sorts of specials each month that are available for everyone! For the month of May they are offering two great discounts! A discount on lunch and moms get in free on May 11th and May 12th in conjunction with a child's admission, check the website for exact details.  And check their website each month for all their special offers! Hmmmm. I wonder what June has to offer!

The cowboy and I were looking forward to learning more about marine life as the aquarium is a recognized oceanic research facility!  Of course, we were also excited about meeting up with some of the other local bloggers.

As we entered we were greeted by the staff photographer who luckily snapped our picture.

Photo credit: Mystic Aquarium

Luckily - because about 20 minutes later the skies opened up and I was drenched.  The photos are moderately priced, from $35.00 for an entire package of a couple of 3 x 5's and some souvenir trinkets along with a photo folder of a 5 x 7 of your family (as pictured above) with a 5 x 7 of one of the park's beluga's whale. Not too bad if you want a souvenir of your visit. And I'm happy we purchased ours as every other picture of me from this day has me soaking wet! We purchased the single folder that included the picture above on one side, and on the other side one of the beluga whales for $22.00 plus tax.  A nice keepsake to remember the day!

We started off by visiting with our new friends, the beluga whales. It appears we were there right at feeding time because they were up and about and swimming around like crazy.  They are such beautiful creatures.

We also popped in to the "pet a stingray" tank where all the little ones were getting an absolute thrill about being able to touch these fellers.

Then we moved on to the sea lions where we met Stephen and Jordan. Nope, Stephen and Jordan aren't sea lions, you sillies, they are two volunteers at the park!

Today was Jordan's first day working at the park, and she was so excited.  I asked if they had to volunteer at the park as part of a school community or service project, and she said no, that she is a marine biology enthusiast and was doing it for the love of the sea creatures!  What a great kid! Stephen explained that new volunteers are paired up with senior volunteers who shadow them until they can go out on their own.  Hmmmm. A real Mother's Day reference...don't you think?! (chuckle)

Our next stop was with the penguins and I could have stayed there all day and watched those cute little guys and girls!  They would all gather on this one rock cliff.

Then, patiently line up, one by one.

And then they would take turns diving off the rock - unbelievably cute!

There was also an area where you could watch them swimming under water!

We then moved on to the seal tank where we learned all about seal habits.

And then the skies opened up with a spring shower downpour! So we scampered back towards the entrance to move inside to the gift store. And BINGO - rain ponchos!

Thank goodness for the clear plastic rain gear!  Only $2.95 for children and  $3.25 for adults! 

We then moved on to the snack bar for our complimentary blogger lunch.  A couple of cheeseburgers, hot dogs and fries, and some fountain soda Barq's Root Beer.

We also learned that straws aren't allowed on premise at Mystic Aquarium because of the choking hazard they pose to the sea animals.  Good to know!  Please don't carelessly dispose of items like this near ANY body of water where animals live, be it the beach or a lake, or an aquarium!

The highlight of lunch?  Meeting up with some great CT Bloggers we know!  Hilary from My Own Blog Review and Wendy from Connecticut Bloggers!

L-R, Hilary, Wendy, and me

 After lunch, we moved inside to the indoor exhibitions.  Below see some of the highlights from inside:

All in all we had a wonderful time visiting the Mystic Aquarium!  It's a great place for a day trip in CT and out of state-ers could certainly make a weekend of it as there are loads of family-friendly things to do in the immediate area. Shopping at the quaint Old Mistick Village and a visit to the Historic Mystic Seaport.  For overnight visits there's a Hilton Hotel right next to the Aquarium, as well as lots of great restaurants.

It's a fun place for the whole family and would make a great weekend get-a-way!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mystic Aquarium

55 Coogan Boulevard

Mystic, CT 06335

860.572.5955

Website: http://www.mysticaquarium.org/

Like them on facebook: www.facebook.com/mysticaquarium

Follow them on twitter: https://twitter.com/mysticaquarium

There's lots of fun events going on at the Aquarium.  And they offer lots of discounts!
Big Y Card?  DISCOUNT!!! Foxwood Rewards Card?  DISCOUNT!!! Military? DISCOUNT!!
Check them all out on the website "Discounts and Promotions" click:  HERE!

********

Have you visited the Mystic Aquarium or an aquarium near you?  

Do you have a favorite sea creature? 

I'd love to hear about it in the comments below

Home Place Disclaimer: Our entrance fees to the aquarium and lunch at the snack bar were courtesy of Mystic Aquarium. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed herein are those of our own. We purchased the rain gear and photos ourselves.