The lobsters will have to wait!
At 20-minutes before-the-hour, a whistle blows in downtown Mystic, and a pair of crossing gates stop traffic on Route 1. Moments later, the Mystic Drawbridge begins to rise.
A fixture in town since 1920, this counter-weighted, bascule bridge provides clearance for the ships of Mystic Seaport, as well as creating a spectacle for tourists walking the main street. On busy weekends, visitors with ice-cream cones and shopping bags stop what they are doing, to watch the drawbridge open for ships named Sabino and Argia. The ships pass, the bridge is then lowered, and vacation-life resumes.
For the residents of Mystic, it is a more complicated relationship. There's an internal clock attached to every errand planned. You always seem to arrive someplace twenty-minutes early, or ten-minutes late. When you find yourself in an absolute hurry, the bridge will be open - guaranteed.
But these inconveniences have their sweet rewards. No matter the circumstance, and regardless of the true reason, residents all carry a solid, ace-in-the-hole alibi for when they are not on-time:
"Sorry I'm late, boss (honey, Mom, Your Honor, etc)...... the bridge was up".
Wikipedia: Mystic River Bascule Bridge
WTNH: Renovations for Mystic Drawbridge
New England Traveler: Mystic Bridge is a Real Draw
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1 comment:
I remember buying rare and imported records at Mystic Disc when I was a teen. My wife and I stayed at the Steamboat Inn last year which was right next to the bridge.We enjoyed watching the bridge go up as the boats passed by. Nice little area to walk around.
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