Why would I take a trip on The Polar Express and why did I go back to Mystic Seaport again? Read on!
When The Polar Express movie came out in 2004, my youngest daughter, Samantha, was 7 years old. She and I wanted to see it in theaters and we were so glad we did. When you see it on the big screen, you get the feeling that you’re actually on the train riding with them. I had daydreams of taking her on the actual Polar Express where she would get her own ticket punched by the conductor.
Fast forward to 2022. My daughter is now 25 years old. We’ve watched The Polar Express together multiple times and even went back to the theater when it was re-released a few years ago. Call me silly (and I’d be proud you did), but this year I decided to ask her if she wanted to take a Polar Express ride. She said yes.
Now don’t get me wrong. We both knew it would be skewed toward younger children. I didn’t care how old we were and neither did she. I also knew we’d be sitting on what is a regular commuter train (unless we upgraded our ticket to the more expensive car with the tables), and not something that looked like a train from the movie, but I was there for it. I’m a big kid at heart. And to even get a feeling of the Christmas spirit around others, both young and old, and to sit in the car while the cast sang the Hot Chocolate song, “Hot, Hot, Hot, (we got it)” was something I was excited to do. Oh and the punched ticket? I not only wanted one for Sami but I wasn’t leaving without one for myself too. LOL
We signed up for the Cape Cod Central Railroad’s version of The Polar Express, which was 3-plus hours away from where we lived. Was there one closer? I have no idea. Road trip! I love traveling with Sami. She creates a playlist for us of songs to sing along to in the car and we laugh and talk. Great memories.
I booked a hotel room for the night at the Hampton Inn by Hilton Buzzards Bay Cape Cod Canal. We would drive up on the first day for The Polar Express ride, stay at the hotel and the next day drive an hour toward home to stop at Mystic Seaport and Mystic Village. That’s all the time we had, but it was going to be jam-packed.
We watched the movie again in the hotel before we left for the ride. It was absolutely pouring when we arrived for our 7 p.m. ride on The Polar Express. We were corraled into a tent to stay dry and wait for our boarding time. I still wouldn’t recommend being late because the ticket says the train can’t wait for anyone, but the 7 p.m. ride didn’t actually get going until 7:15. The entire experience was an hour and a half. The cast (staff? crew?) came on board clapping along to the music and got everyone in the Christmas spirit. We sang along to the hot chocolate song while they danced and they gave us hot chocolate and a snickerdoodle cookie which was quite tasty.
The conductor came onboard to punch tickets and talk to everyone. He didn’t miss a beat and asked us if we were ready for Christmas the same way he asked the kids. I’m sure they thought that two adults with no children on the train were a little odd, but go with it because we were here to have fun!
The ride was in the dark with Christmas lights strung inside the car to light the way. At the end of the train ride, we saw Santa’s village from the train, with dancers and Santa waving at us. Santa then climbed aboard the train and asked everyone (us too!) what we wanted for Christmas. He gave the younger kids the bell that is supposed to ring if they believe. Since we were too old for that (boo!), I bought my daughter the Hallmark ornament Polar Express bell as a memento from our trip. Except for the rain, the trip was cute, I got my punched ticket and she got hers and I lived out an experience I wanted to give her for years.
I want to give a shout-out to the hotel because it was so clean and the staff was so nice. If I go to Cape Cod during the peak season, I would definitely stay there again.
Olde Mistick Village
The next morning I drove us to Mystic, Connecticut, about an hour-plus away. I had visited Mystic Seaport once before, but didn’t have time to get to Olde Mistick Village. We decided to start there first and then pop over to the main part of Mystic Seaport. We were only there for a day, so there wasn’t too much time.
Like I’ve said I’ve walked around Mystic, Connecticut before and I like the town, but I have to say I absolutely adored Olde Mistick Village. The shops were fantastic and I could have spent more hours just walking there, trying all the things and spending way too much money, but we were on a time limit and my legs, which seem to be aging rapidly, needed a break. LOL
Our favorite shops that we stopped at were:
Alice in the Village: Sooo cute! The food, the teas, macarons, the mugs, the huge Chip teacup from Beauty and the Beast, oh my!
Alice’s Haunted Bookstore: You read that right…a ˆhauntedˆbookstore. Almost everything inside has something to do with the macabre. The genre isn’t for me when it comes to books, but I had to stop by and see the place. It is seriously cool. Sami bought something for her sister and I couldn’t stop looking around because the details were amazing.
Pop on the Block: Popcorn, popcorn, popcorn! So many flavors. Take my money please! (Spoiler — I LOVE buttery popcorn while watching movies.) This place had so many flavors of popcorn, it was seriously overwhelming. Sami and I each bought a variety of flavors to try at home — vanilla, lemon, pizza and more. Truth be told, I’d rather stick to the traditional buttery flavor, but I did like the white chocolate flavor.
Cloak and Wand: You don’t need to just be a Harry Potter fan to love this shop, but it doesn’t hurt. Their website says, “The Cloak and Wand is a local fantasy wizarding and witchcraft shop featuring a well-appointed potion bar.” They sell cloaks, wands, potions, brooms, enchanted plants, books, magical items and apparel, books and stationery, small magical creatures and spell & potion kits. You can also buy a delicious ‘potion’ at the counter. I bought the Dragon Turtle Tears which had watermelon, dragon fruit, lemon and fairy dust. Yum.
We went to other stores and then made our way over to Mystic Seaport, where we went to my favorite bakery, Sift, and visited another bookstore, a record shop and more. After this, we drove a few more hours back home.
If you’ve never been to Mystic Seaport or Old Mistick Village, I completely recommend the trip. There are museums, the aquarium, ships and more to see. Our trip barely touched the surface to what they have to offer. For more photos of my trip, visit my Instagram at TheVirginTraveler. Thanks!
