film

Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Connecticut

Dining Outside the Home: Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Connecticut! Step through the doors of the main street pizza parlor that made Julia Roberts famous in 1988. Mystic Pizza is the real deal. Visitors flock here to grab “a taste of heaven” firsthand, and also to snap a photo standing under the sign to prove it. The entire restaurant is filled with memorabilia as well as continuously running a flick of the film itself on flatscreen TVs. The pizza is pretty darn good, too. The House Special has mile high meats and veggies piled on. As long as you’re going all the way, add the extra cheese. You know you want it. If you haven’t seen the movie, spend an hour and a half watching it before you go. It’ll make the experience absolutely unforgettable.

What is Motif Number One?

In the quaint harbor town of Rockport, Massachusetts, is a little fishing shack with a huge history. So much so, it has been deemed the “most often-painted building in America”. Initially home to a colony of artists and avid fishermen, the shack was built, at the end of a granite wharf, in the 1840s as a symbol of maritime life. Artists favored it for the simple composition and ideal lighting, making it appealing on canvas. Locals readily offer tidbits of Hollywood films shot at this location: “Finding Nemo” and especially Sandra Bullock’s 2009 blockbuster entitled, “The Proposal”. Now that you see the charming little shack with its weathered red paint, perhaps you’ll flock to Rockport for a closeup of Motif Number One.*
*”Motif” is a French term for a distinctive and recurring subject in a work of art. 

Manchester-by-the-Sea is a Charmer

You probably know the Massachusetts village by an Oscar-winning film of the same name that awakened the rest of the world to this sleepy little fishing community. But Manchester-by-the-Sea has been around since 1645. Located along the north shore of Massachusetts Bay, where quaint summer cottages become the coveted home-away-from-home for a season, history is still being made. Such notables include a poet, author, actor, politician, comedian, professional golfer, radio talk show host, and more. The town has several points of interest, like Singing Beach, that adds enough allure to keep people flocking back. Unless of course, you’re one of the fortunate ones who get to live there. 

Once a Film Location; Always a Destination 

Driving west on the island, the scenery changes dramatically from sandy beach to mountain peaks. We made a pit stop in the historical village called Hanapepe, which literally means “crushed bay” in Hawaiian due to the landslides occurring over time. I had my mind set on buying a miniature bamboo rolling pin to match the one I got there three years ago. It’s something I could imagine using in Gail’s Kitchen back home. Mission accomplished. A quick walk about in this sleepy little town told us people come and go as frequently as businesses do, while the old-timers hang on remembering better days. Time passes slowly where locals revel in library cards and starving artists try to close a sale slashing prices for more wall space. Once a film location for “The Thornbirds”, now a destination for always.