Visiting Mystic and the Nuclear Submarine

Hello! I'm back from Connecticut. My arse is a little flatter but the trip went well. It's a two day drive to the East Coast. I spent one night in Toledo, Ohio at a Motel 6 on the way out and another night at the same place on the way west. As I left, the sky turned cloudy and to the east I saw some blue sky just beyond the scalloped edge of cloud. The cloud was so clearly scalloped that I felt like I was driving out from underneath some kind of planet petticoat. But even thought I was driving east at 68 mph, I could not get out from under that petticoat. This storm system followed me east and rained on us in Connecticut 2 days later. By the time I got to Chicago (the windy city for sure!) the wind started blowing. My highway was under construction and two lanes were tucked tightly between concrete barricades. The wind blew the construction dust into the air. Rain mixed with the dust forming mud on the windshield. Soon plastic bags and paper started flying across the road. I could barely see the detour signs. Rain blew so hard I had to put the wipers on the fastest speed. Could anything else make it harder to drive? I made it through Chicago although I'm sure I didn't take the route I had mapped on my AAA TripTick. Indiana and Ohio just fly by. The only thing to slow me down there are the toll booths. Pennsylvania was absolutely beautiful. After Pennsylvania, things got complicated. I quickly drove through a part of New Jersey and into New York. I went over the Tappan Zee (a $4.50 toll) over the lower Hudson River Valley. As I am driving in the stop and go, bumper to bumper traffic, I look off to the right and I think I see New York City. Is that New York City? Eyes on the road. Watch where you are going. But is that New York City? Watch what your are doing!!! I stop at the toll booth to pay my $4.50 and I tell the bored toll booth worker, "That bridge was awesome!" She is not impressed. All along my trip, I make it a point to be cheerful and extra polite to the toll booth workers. All but 3 toll booth workers were polite in return. She was the first of the three. From there I head north in I95 and will stay on this road until I get to Groton. I figure it will be another 60 to 90 minutes. What I didn't figure on was 45 miles of stop and go, bumper to bumper traffic. They even had electronic signs that tell you "Slow Traffic Next 40 miles." Such a discouraging sign! What do I expect? I'm driving north of New York city on a Friday afternoon? Many people are leaving town for the weekend. After 40 miles of solid stop and go traffic I had intermittent stop and go traffic. I get to Groton just as the sun in sinking and I am exhausted. I get out of the car and I'm a little wobbly. My eyes try to adjust to looking at shorter distances. I am happy to see my Offspring #1 who is waiting in the parking lot so I will know where to find him. Here is a shot of his condo. His place is on the third floor and is surrounded by woods and tall trees. He gives me his bedroom which has a window to the east. I plunk down in bed and I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow. The morning sun wakes me. He makes me breakfast (oh, the luxury!) and we head over to Mystic, Connecticut to see the sights. Did you ever see that old movie, Mystic Pizza? It was filmed in Mystic and he points out the famous Mystic Pizza cafe. We watch the lift bridge rise and lower for the sailboats traveling through. We visit a sailing charter and sign up for the afternoon cruise. I've always wanted to sail and this is a good chance to do it. We visit Mystic Seaport-a 17 acre museum about America and about the sea. We see a shipyard where they are still manufacturing wooden ships. We board the Charles Morgan - the oldest seaworthy whaling vessel. I love these old sail boats. I love the masts and the wood and the rope. We walk around the village looking at the lobster traps, printing presses, barrel makers, old bicycles with the gigantic front wheels, people in period dress, and a museum featuring mastheads from various ships. We have lunch there and head back to the charter to take our sailing voyage (a two hour cruise - doesn't it sound like Gilligan's Island?) They say the weather is not looking good and we agree to return tomorrow. As we leave the charter, we see letters forming in the sky. The sky to the east is blue but the sky to the west is stormy. As we watch, more letters are formed. The letters are perforated yet readable. It's the strangest thing. I don't know if you can see the letters in this photo but just to the right of the cloud in the center of the photo are the words "Hot Fun." The entire message takes a while to appear. The words hot fun become blurry before we read the end of the message which advertises a local Indian casino. The plane is not visible. I assume it left little time-released pellets that spell the words after the plane has left the area. I was impressed. I haven't seen sky writing since I was a kid and I miss it. I really want to see the ocean but it starts to rain so we head out to the Groton Navy base - the largest submarine base in the world. This is adjacent to where Offspring #1 works. The base is actually on the Thames River and we are a few miles from the Atlantic. We tour the Nautilus - a nuclear submarine and the Groton Submarine Force Museum. We walk down into the Nautilus through the tiny doorways and down the tiny halls. I can't imagine working and living in such small spaces. The museum tells us all about submarine life, Navy history and Navy artifacts. I am so proud to tour it with my Sailor of the Year. I'm tempted to tell strangers, "You know, I am here with the Sailor of the Year." He'd hate that so I keep my mouth shut but I can't hide the smile on my face.