Mystic Pizza and Beyond: Walking the Seafarer's Trail
by
by
Lisa Saunders
Introduction
Mystic Pizza and Beyond: Walking the Seafarer’s Trail
Forced to relocate to Mystic, CT, writer Lisa Saunders must leave family and her “real” job to begin a new life with her husband in what National Geographic calls one of America’s “Best Adventure Towns.” Because the picturesque village along Mystic River attracts explorers who traverse the oceans, Lisa decides to build a new life by becoming an explorer herself. Her first goal: lose weight and meet as many locals as she can, living or dead, by taking long walks with her beagle/basset hound past the haunts and homes of Mystic’s legendary sea voyagers, including the discoverers of the RMS Titanic and Antarctica; the legendary aviatrix, Amelia Earhart; and new friend, Kate, who gave birth to her daughter on a self-built schooner and rowed to shore to weigh her on a lobster scale. Her second goal? Find a friend with a boat!
Living only blocks from Mystic Pizza, the restaurant that inspired the movie, “Mystic Pizza,” Lisa sets out daily with her hound to walk stretches of what she terms “The Mystic Seafarer’s Trail.” Although she doesn’t lose weight because she stops along the way for ice-cream, fried clams strips, and of course, pizza, she does, through conversations with locals, uncover the secrets behind what she crowns “The 7 Wonders of Mystic”; becomes embroiled in a controversy with the locals over the“8th Wonder”; and discovers that she too has family secrets buried in Mystic—that just down the street from her lived a distant cousin, Captain Charles Sisson, whose failed attempt to find gold leads to the tragic death of his childhood friend, and later, his wife dies mysteriously at sea. When she visits Captain Sisson's grave, she is in for an even bigger surprise.
The book also includes restaurant and winery reviews by locals, those who truly reflect the very soul of New England.
About Mystic, CT:
Mystic, which straddles both sides of the Mystic River, is located half-way between New York City and Boston, just north of the Long Island Sound. It has welcomed such notable honeymooners as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and is home to Mystic Seaport, a 19th century maritime village and museum that exhibits tall ships such as the oldest whaleship in the world, the Charles W. Morgan, which has appeared in several films; Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, where the discoverer of the grave of the R.M.S. Titanic, Dr. Robert Ballard, keeps his home office; Olde Mistick Village, a colonial style shopping center where Gloria, the cranky, arthritic goose has been reigning over the duck pond for decades; and the famed Mystic drawbridge, featured in “Mystic Pizza” starring Julia Roberts and debuting Matt Damon, whose only line, "Mom, do you want my green stuff?" was said while eating lobster.
“The Mystic Seafarer’s Trail” also includes what Lisa calls “The Hanging Gardens of Enders Island” at the St. Edmund’s Retreat Center, where relics such as the withered arm of Saint Edmund, who preached for the Sixth Crusade, are displayed. The trail continues eastward to Stonington, where the where vastly out-gunned citizens fought off an attack by the British in the War of 1812; and westward to Groton, the home of the first nuclear sub, USS Nautilus, which proved once and for all that that there was no land under the North Pole by punching through the ice; and Fort Griswold, where Benedict Arnold’s treachery lead to the massacre of his former countrymen.
About Lisa Saunders:
Lisa Saunders lives in Mystic, CT, with her husband, Jim, and beagle/basset hound, Bailey. The author of several books, she is a speaker, blogger, and a consulting writer/publicist. Her books and plays include: Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, featuring excerpts of her great-great grandparents’ Civil War love letters; Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator, a children’s novel based on Lisa’s summers as a chubby kid on her grandparents’ farm; Anything But A Dog!, the true story of how a big, homeless canine found his way to her disabled daughter’s couch; and The Mystic Seafarer’s Trail, which reveals the secrets behind the haunts and homes of Mystic’s legendary sea voyagers. A Cornell University graduate and winner of the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations Gold Medallion, Lisa helps authors and organizations promote their work through her free e-books, How to Get Published and How to Promote Your Business (or yourself). A former employment recruiter, Lisa shares job seeking tips in her free e-book, How to Get a Job. See her work and availability for speaking at: http://www.authorlisasaunders.com/
Lisa Saunders lives in Mystic, CT, with her husband, Jim, and beagle/basset hound, Bailey. The author of several books, she is a speaker, blogger, and a consulting writer/publicist. Her books and plays include: Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, featuring excerpts of her great-great grandparents’ Civil War love letters; Ride a Horse, Not an Elevator, a children’s novel based on Lisa’s summers as a chubby kid on her grandparents’ farm; Anything But A Dog!, the true story of how a big, homeless canine found his way to her disabled daughter’s couch; and The Mystic Seafarer’s Trail, which reveals the secrets behind the haunts and homes of Mystic’s legendary sea voyagers. A Cornell University graduate and winner of the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations Gold Medallion, Lisa helps authors and organizations promote their work through her free e-books, How to Get Published and How to Promote Your Business (or yourself). A former employment recruiter, Lisa shares job seeking tips in her free e-book, How to Get a Job. See her work and availability for speaking at: http://www.authorlisasaunders.com/
