The Mystique of Mystic and the Lobster of Abbott's

If you're in Connecticut, Mystic Seaport (http://www.mysticseaport.org/) is a must. This old-world little village really gets into the centuries-gone theme, and has actually designed their town's economy around tourism to this region. Although Mystic is no longer a 19th century seafaring village, you would never guess it by visiting the seaport, which is carefully restored to the period. Tall ships abound, and the museums, galleries and storefronts stick with the 19th century nautical theme. It's really quite cool. And very much a family-friendly place (not that I have kids, but good to keep in mind for several years from now). Alpaca enjoyed the port and even went boating.

I grew up in the 80s, so when it came time for lunch, I was tempted to take Alpaca to Mystic Pizza, but Pookie (who goes to school in New Haven, CT) got a hot tip from a friend to stop at Abbott's Lobster in the Rough in Noank (http://www.abbotts-lobster.com/) for something called a "Lobster Roll." The friend went on and on about how Abbott's had won awards for its lobster roll. Frankly, this sounded like a piece of bread cooked with lobster inside, and that didn't really appeal to us. But on the recommendation of this friend, we decided to stop in and check it out, figuring that we like lobster, so how bad could it be? Boy are we glad we followed the friend's suggestion.

Lobster rolls are the best thing on earth. We love seafood. We're picky about seafood. And we're here to tell you that Abbott's is heaven and lobster rolls are the best thing ever created by man. Forget fire, forget the wheel, forget sliced bread. Lobster roll.

We couldn't figure out from our crappy little maps how to get to Noank, so we stopped at Sea View Snack Bar because we were just starving (really quite a hole in the wall run down shack overlooking the water and a cemetary, http://dinesite.com/info/rstrnt-102635/??&t=0; for map: http://www.lighthousemaps.com/Mystic/MysticMap00.htm?place=SeaView). The crab cakes were among the best I've ever had. They were simply fantastic. But we knew we had to save some room for a lobster roll, so we contained ourselves.

We finally found Abbott's. We ordered clam chowder, a crab cake and a lobster roll (just one, you know, in case we didn't like it). We should have ordered a dozen.

Abbott's is open only seasonally, and people line up on opening day in May to be the first to devour their award-winning lobster rolls (http://www.abbotts-lobster.com/pictures.html). I totally understand. I intend to be among them one year. Each of the 3000 miles traveled to get to Abbott's would be well worth it.

::drooling::