From the Conrad, we continued working
our way along the shoreline heading for the shipyard area. Along
the way we passed the boat building shop where a person, for a
price, can join in on the building of a small sailing boat made
of wood; much as it would have been made many years ago. The
buildings around this area are filled with a variety of different
types of sail boats from different time periods. 
The shipyard area is a large complex
creating a working example of the ship building trade of long
ago. In one exhibit we were able to see the construction of the
Freedom Schooner Amistad. Aboard that vessel in 1839, 53 African
captives revolted against slavery and went on to win their
freedom in the U.S. court system. Mystic Seaport and 
Amistad America are working together
to build this re-creation of the original Amistad. In the movie
Amistad, Steven Spielberg's crew spent two weeks transforming
Mystic Seaport's Village area into his version of the New Haven
waterfront of 1839, and then he filmed for four days there. He
used the blubber room of the Charles W. Morgan to portray the
hold of the Amistad. From here we worked our way up through the
center of the Village where the shops are located. On the green,
we watched a demonstration of a rescue as several men climbed a
25 foot pole which simulated a ship's deck. They were shot a line
from a ground crew which allowed them to pull up a 
heavy rescue line which they fastened
to the pole. Next they pulled up a rescue basket jumped in it and
were lowered to the ground. The entire rescue took less then 15
minutes. The shops offered all sorts of interesting activities as
well as gift shops and restaurants. We stopped by a figurehead
shop where they were busy chiseling out one of the faces that
adorn the bow of the old tall ships. There was also a room where
many original figureheads are displayed. These have been acquired from many
sources. Some were identified as to the ship they had come from,
while the origin of others remains a mystery. We finished our
tour with a walk trough the center of the Village stopping by
each shop to see the 
activities presented there. At the
Buckingham-Hall House we stopped to talk to Linda Carmeroto, who
had been with Mystic Seaport for 12 years. She was fashioning an
apple pie to be cooked over an open fire. She made the old days
seem like a great place to live as she expounded on the routine
daily activities of the women in this seaport some 200 years ago.
This is a great place for everybody and a must for sailing buffs.
Plan on spending some time here, as there are many hours of
visiting required to grasp the entirety of this living museum.
Check out their website for current up-to-the-minute information: http://www.mysticseaport.org.
* * * THE END * * *
