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Pet Friendly Mystic Seaport and Giveaway

What’s better than traveling? Being able to travel with your pets! It’s a special treat to be able to create memories together while visiting scenic locations. I appreciate when someone helps to pave the way for dog friendly travel by hitting the trail and chronicling their adventures. As you know, sometimes places say they’re dog friendly online, only to be less than welcoming when a person arrives with their pup in tow. Our friends at GoPetFriendly help to demystify which locations are as dog friendly as they claim to be, while also sharing helpful tips, personal stories, and awesome photos. Last year, the GoPetFriendly crew went across the country on the “Ultimate Pet Friendly Road Trip.” This year, they published a book that fellow travelers can reference as they embark on their own pet friendly road trip! Read on to learn about the stop that we visited and for a chance to win your own digital copy of the book.

We have partnered with fellow pet bloggers and GoPetFriendly to help host a virtual book tour! Check out each of the blogs listed below to read about their pet friendly stop and to read an online chapter of the GoPetFriendly book that it pairs with. You will have a chance to win an electronic version of the book with each visit to the blogs, so be sure to read everyone’s post and enter to win!

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. If you click on the link and make a purchase, we make a small profit. Full giveaway details listed at the end of this post.

MYSTIC SEAPORT & OTHER DOG FRIENDLY SPOTS NEARBY

While we currently reside in western Massachusetts, I’m originally from Southeastern Connecticut. Technically my hometown is Stonington, but it’s a short distance from historic Mystic. The town itself is incredibly dog friendly and it features a row of shops near a drawbridge that was first installed in 1835. At that time, Oxen were used to raise the bridge in order to allow tall ships to cross through and out towards the open water of the Long Island Sound. It still functions and opens about once an hour. Clearly, there have been updates so the use of Oxen is no longer needed. Many of the shops near the drawbridge are dog friendly, although guests should look for signage on store windows or inquire inside before bringing their four legged friend indoors.

The town also has a dog friendly shopping area near the Mystic Aquarium (where I had my first summer job) which is called the Olde Mistic Village. Visitors can find Christmas decorations all year round in a Christmas themed shop, they can get old fashioned treats like kettle corn in the general store, and find dog themed gifts for themselves and the other dog lovers in their lives. Bean and Yoda mostly enjoy visiting so they can watch the ducks swim and quack near the center of the shopping area. They’re pretty immune to the yearning gaze of dogs, but I’m pretty sure Yoda would really like to give one a taste test if they got a little closer!

A five minute drive from the Olde Mistic Village, and you’ll be near the main parking area for the Mystic Seaport. The Seaport is a sprawling property which includes a large number of buildings and ships for guests to explore. The grounds are dog friendly, allowing for your dog to enjoy learning about what it was like to work on a whaling ship back in the day. Well, I’m pretty sure your dog will not care one bit, but us humans can find the information about life on a whaling boat to be fascinating. Dogs aren’t allowed in all spaces, so it’s best if you can bring a few people with you so you can take turns with going into the exhibits while someone spends time with the four legged travel partner.

There’s a lot of ground to cover when visiting the Mystic Seaport, so make sure you are wearing comfy shoes and have drinking water for your dog. There are water bowls spread throughout the property, but we brought a collapsible bowl so we could give the dogs water whenever they seemed thirsty instead of having to search for one. One of Yoda’s favorite parts of his visit was watching men dressed in historically appropriate clothing singing old whaling songs on the town green. Yoda really wanted to join in on the singing, and he contributed with his signature snorts and grumbles. I wish I had captured it on video, but I was too busy laughing, as were the other guests that were close enough to hear him!

I wrote a bit about my experiences with the Mystic Seaport while growing up near the property in my post announcing the Mystic stop on the GoPetFriendly “Ultimate Pet Friendly Road Trip.” Take a moment to read about my childhood (and high school memories) and also get your paws on a free drink recipe that is yummy any time of the year!

FREE E-CHAPTER

Want to read a bit more about dog friendly Mystic, Connecticut and the Seaport? We have a special sneak preview of the Ultimate Pet Friendly Road Trip book. You have exclusive access to the Mystic Seaport Chapter that you can visit to help with planning your travel.

WIN THE BOOK

Now that I’ve wet your whistle by giving you access to one of the book’s chapters, I’m sure you are super excited to read the whole thing! You can win your very own e-book by entering the giveaway widget below. Increase your chances of winning by visiting all of the participating bloggers and entering the giveaway on their blogs! Of course, if you don't win, you can always buy a copy!

Oct 20: DogTipper

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