Mystic is enjoyable, but it is grade A New England Tourist town. As stated, parking is a bear, so get there early. Alternately, park over in Noank or Stonington and paddle in:^).

That warning given, the seaport is pretty cool. They've got a couple of wooden boats floating around, and a fully operational shipyard. They're finishing up a reproduction of the AMISTAD, and have lots of small boats they've built there. They've even got rowboats and small sailboats for rent, if you can convince the worker that you're competent. The giftshop is full of nautical stuff, but the coolest thing is the bookstore upstairs. Need a nautical themed book (History, shipbuilding, voyage planning, whatever); it's probably here. They've also got a huge plans archive if you're interested in building a traditional wooden boat (planks, cotton caulk, brass nails, none of this handy epoxy stuff that we all love).

Mystic itself is pretty cool, too. Hmm, that must explain all the tourists. Once you're parked at the seaport, you can walk into town (it's about a 15 min hike, but it's along the river). There's a couple of great resturants on the east side of the drawbridge, but they're pricy. Immediately on the west side of the bridge is Mystic Drawbridge Icecream, where you've got to go get a cone. If you want to get 'lobsta' on the (relatively) cheap, zip over to Noank and go to Abbot's. It's open air, right on the water, and you can watch the boats come in and out. A word of warning, it's BYO for booze.

Other stuff to check out pretty close: USS NAUTILUS in Groton at the US Submarine Museum (See how nuts we submariners actually are); Catch the ferry to Block Island from New London or Point Judith, RI; Donate money to the Mashentucket Peaquots and Mohegians at Foxwoods and Mohegian Sun Casinos (Foxwoods is the largest casino in the world); or just go for a paddle on LI Sound. It would be Fisher's Island sound, technically, just off Mystic.

Worth the drive, especially if the show's in town.