✈ Keeping Kosher in Mystic, CT

Contributed by: Arielle Klein | Last date of Travel: May 2007

In 2007, shortly after my husband and I got married, we had a great idea to take a couples trip. We invited three of our closest couple friends and headed to Mystic / Groton (rhymes with “rotten”) Connecticut. We chose Mystic because of it’s charm and close proximity to both New York and Boston, where one couple was coming from. We ended up having a really great time, even if everyone but me hated the aquarium.

Kosher Info: There was no kosher food in Mystic that we knew of so we brought our own. We hit ShopRite right before going and bought enough food for everyone. First day lunch,everyone was on their own after that we all did communal meals. We bought hamburgers, hot dogs, buns, peanut butter and jelly,mustard, relish, ketchup, beans, and a slew of other stuff. We brought a portable barbecue and charcoal. We found local parks and with areas made for BBQs and grilled ourselves amazing meals. We also turned one car into a tailgate and made sandwiches. You can find snacks and drinks in any local place, so there’s no need to bring too much other than meat/cheese, sandwich fixins and bread.

Tourist info: We started day one of the trip at the U.S. Navy and Submarine Force Museum, home of the USS Nautilus, the only nuclear submarine on display in the United States. The museum is free and really fun. We also met token Jewish Naval Officer Rob Melnick. He was so excited to meet us the first Jews he’d seen in awhile. He told us all about life in a submarine and kibitzed with us about being the token Jew in the navy. We had lunch on the pretty benches and tables overlooking the Thames river.

After all our underwater fun, we headed for more at the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration. Fun abounded for all with the dolphin and seal shows and many fun exhibits. I recommend the aquarium if like me you love animals, or have kids. They had a great live display where you got to pet stingrays. I chose to opt out as Steve Irwin had recently been stung in the heart by one of those bad boys, but all in all it was pretty fun. Another fun thing at the aquarium was the rock-climbing wall. For those skilled in the art of rock-climbing it’s small potatoes but fun either way.

After that we find a charming bunch of shops and decided to spend a little of our time there. We found a really great toy store, where the owner showed us his bubble-sword that he recovered from Bubbledore — don’t ask, we think he was high. He was an interesting character needless to say. We had delicious maple candy (made from natural maple syrup) and just enjoyed the cute kitschy stores only found in small towns.

After we found a local park to barbecue which happened to be on the beach and we had delicious burgers while watching the sunset over the beach. We headed back to our hotel, a Super 8 Motel which had great deals, and got ready to head out to Foxwoods Hotel and Casino a short drive away. Foxwoods was beautiful, but the smoke from all the cigarettes was killing me. The best part of the evening was when one of friends won $200 at the craps table and treated us all to ice cream.

The next morning we headed to the Denison Peqoutsepos Nature Center. They have a wonderful nature museum, a wetland exhibit and wildlife sanctuary with gorgeous owls. They also have a great trail that’s a lot of fun to hike through. After the nature trail we found a local Memorial Day parade with the Shriners ( 90 year old men on mini-scooters) and lots of little kids, it was hilarious. We tailgated, made sandwiches and had fun watching the old men. We found a really great health food store and bought kosher organic mint imitation Oreos.

Our last stop before we headed back to NYC, was another local park where I took the liberty of laying in the fresh cut grass and feeling the sun on my face. The boys played a little frisbee and then we got the burgers and hot dogs going. It was a lovely end to a lovely trip.

Jewish Info: We did not do anything Jewish related while in Mystic/Groton. After Googling for info on “Jewish Mystic”, nothing useful came up. There does not seem to be a significant Jewish population worth mentioning.

Mystic is great trip for couples or families looking for an inexpensive, fun filled vacation. Hope you have as good a time as we did.

Tags: bbq, Connecticut, historical mystic, jewish travel, kosher connecticut, kosher ct, kosher mystic, kosher new england, kosher travel, maple candy, maple syrup, memorial day, mystic, mystic aquarium, mystic seaport, new england, parks

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✈ Keeping Kosher in Boston, MA

Contributed by: Paul Hurwitz | Last Date of Travel:Currently resides in Boston

Kosher Info: For a city as big as the Boston Metro area, you’d think there would be more kosher restaurants. Unfortunately this is not the case, but there are choices. The Jewish center of Boston is actually the Coolidge Corner area of Brookline. On Harvard St there are kosher restaurants, a grocer/butcher and several other establishments. After each listing I mention the kosher supervision because not each establishment is universally accepted by the local community.

Restaurants/Bakeries:

• Rubin’s Kosher Restaurant Delicatessen. Rubin’s is a classic deli with what I call good old-fashioned Jew-food. Rubin’s closes at 8PM. Glatt Kosher under the KVH.
• Cafe Eilat, which is a pizza/dairy restaurant. The pizza is best when you order a whole instead of slices. Kosher under KVH and Rabbi Hamaoui (Sephardic Congregation).
• Taam China is chinese and is open the latest of all local kosher restaurants. They have a second location, Taam China II in Newton. The Brookline location is small and because of that they try to have fast turnover. The Newton location is much larger and in my opinion has much better food. Glatt Kosher under Rabbi Hamaoui (Sephardic Congregation).
• Rami’s is an Israeli falafel/shwarma place. The food is excellent, but if you want shwarma show up before 5PM, otherwise they run out. Glatt Kosher under the KVH.
• Milk Street Cafe is the only restaurant mentioned here that is not in Brookline. It is located in Downtown Boston in the financial district. It is an excellent dairy restaurant that also does a lot of corporate catering (dairy/meat/pareve). It is open Monday-Friday 7AM-3PM. It is perfect if you are in Boston seeing tourist sites. Kosher under Orthodox Rabbincal Council.
• Ruth’s Kitchen is a storefront for Catering by Edna. They are open Wednesday-Friday for takeout and they have a few tables to sit down. Glatt Kosher under Rabbi Dovid Moskowitz (Cong Chai Adom)
• Kupel’s Bakery has bagels, challah and baked goods. They have just about any spread/topping you could think of for bagels. Kosher under the KVH.
• A special mention goes to JP Licks on Harvard St, a local chain of ice cream stores. All but one of their locations are completely kosher under the KVH (Brigham Circle location is not certified). You can have the waffle cones, bagels, everything in the store. JP Licks has a special place in my heart because they always have Lactose free choices of ice cream.

Your options for breakfast are Rubin’s (pareve waffles, pancakes french toast, omelettes etc) and Kupels. Also, on Sunday mornings you can go to the JP Licks mother ship in Jamaica Plain and get fresh made waffles with any topping along with bagels, muffins, scones and coffee). There is no longer a kosher Dunkin Donuts in the Boston area.

Markets:

• The Butcherie is a full-service butcher/grocer. The store is kosher under Rabbi Mordechai Twersky, but the fresh meat and prepared foods are not Glatt Kosher. There are plenty of packaged meats/chicken, dry goods and dairy products.
• Trader Joes has a wide selection of kosher products and fresh Empire poultry products.
• The Stop & Shop on Harvard St has a kosher bakery in the store (under the KVH) and a whole section of just kosher products.

  Outside of Brookline there are more kosher establishments in Newton, Sharon and Stougton. They are not in the areas frequented by people visiting Boston, so I am not mentioning them here.

  Tourist Info: Boston is a great city to visit, whether its for a vacation or for one of the myriad conferences and conventions that take place here. There is a lot more to do in Boston during the summer than there is in winter because of all the outdoor activities here. One of the best ways to get an introduction to Boston (and have great fun while doing so) is to take a Boston Duck Tours tour. The tour takes place on a WWII era amphibious vehicle (a DUKW boat) and includes the DUKW entering the water and giving a view of Boston and Cambridge from the Charles River. Another option would be to take a trolley tour which allows you to get on and off throughout the day to spend more time at sites that interest you.

  Of course there is the Freedom Trail, a 2.5 mile red brick trail that leads to more than 15 historic sites around Boston. You can explore on your own or take a guided tour. A lot of stops on the trolley tours and the Freedom Trail overlap, so you probably don’t need to do both. A highlight of the Freedom Trail is the USS Constitution, ‘Old Ironsides’. Old Ironsides is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. You can go on a guided tour and visit the museum. Note that it is a secure Naval facility, you have to go through airport-style security to get in.

  Boston has great parks that are lot of fun to explore. Boston Common is in the heart of Downtown and has wide open spaces as well as a playground and the Frog Pond (wading in summer, ice skating in the winter). You can stroll along the Charles River on the multi-use path on both sides of the Charles and see the Hatch Shell (the location of the Pops Goes the Fourth 4th of July fireworks and concert). The crown jewel is one of the US’s newest National Parks, the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. You can take ferries from Long Wharf, near the Aquarium, to Spectacle and Georges islands and from there to some of the smaller islands. If you have one day to explore the islands go to Georges Island. Georges Island features a Civil War era fortress, picnic area and is a great place to explore. You can also take a ferry out to Little Brewster Island to take a tour of Boston Light, the oldest manned lighthouse in the country.

  The Prudential Tower in Copley Square has the Skywalk Observatory on the 50th floor that offers a 360 degree of Boston. Near the Prudential Tower is Newbury St which is great for people-watching and shopping. Another great people-watching area is Harvard Square in Cambridge. Sports fans may want to visit Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox, either for a game or for a tour on non-game days. Under the bleachers section of Fenway there is a kosher hotdog vending machine.

  Boston and the surrounding areas have some great museums that can add to any trip to Boston. If you have kids (especially under 10 y/o) Boston Children’s Museum is not to be missed. There is a special playspace just for kids under 3 and the 3 story climbing sculpture in the main lobby is great for older kids. Another museum, great for kids and adults, is the Museum of Science which also has a planetarium and a 5 story tall IMAX theater. There are lots of other great museums around Boston. Visit this website for links to all of them.

  Jewish Info: There are many places to stay in Boston if you are Orthodox. If you will be staying for a Shabbat, there is a Courtyard By Marriot and a Holiday Inn in Brookline that both have special rooms for ‘Sabbath observers’ that don’t require a electronic card key and are within 10 minutes walking distance from the Young Israel of Brookline. The website of the Young Israel of Brookline is a great resource for finding local minyan times at all the local Orthodox shuls and other Jewish community info. Visit http://www.yibrookline.org. The Daughters of Israel mikvah on Washington St. in Brighton can be reached by calling (617) 782-9433.

  There are other Jewish communities in the area: Newton, Brighton, Sharon and Cambridge. With the exclusion of Cambridge, these are areas not usually reached by people visiting Boston on vacation.

Tags: boston, jewish community, jewish travel, kosher boston, kosher mass, kosher travel, new england, universities

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✈ Keeping Kosher in Bangor, ME

Contributed by: Daniel Wenger | Last Date of Travel: June 2004

Kosher Info: We relied on Brookline, MA, for our Kosher food supply for all of Maine, as well as Shabbat in Bangor. As far as I can tell, that’s still the closest place to stock up on major kosher supplies. The Shul did have a nice Kiddush and Seuda Shelishit, but I presume that that was all prepared in-house.

Tourist Info: The Shul was in a largely residential part of town, so we really didn’t see much over Shabbat. Bangor’s tourism website has plenty of info, but we really used it as the closest Jewish community to Bar Harbor, which is the seaside luxury tourist spot.

Jewish Info: Bangor and Portland are the only two Maine cities that the OU website listed as having a Mikvah. The Orthodox Shul is Nusach Sfarad, and is situated across the street from a non-Orthodox Shul, which threw me for a loop when I tried to enter the wrong one. The community is not particularly large, but it is certainly well attended and active (daily Minyan, etc.) and hosts a great Shabbat.

Tags: jewish travel, kosher travel, Maine, mikvah, minyan, new england

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