Stonington

The only Connecticut port with direct access to the Atlantic ensured Stonington's development as a 19th-century center for sealing and whaling fleets. It was also a transportation hub; for half a century trains from Boston met steamboats from New York. Mariners such as Capt. Nat Palmer—who discovered Antarctica on a sealing trip in 1820—sailed from Stonington, which became known as the “Nursery of Seamen.” Palmer's clipper ship Oriental later broke the speed record from New York to Hong Kong.

Things to Do

Old Lighthouse Museum

WINERIES