#115 Clinton, CT 6-28 thru 6-30-09 The Nautilus and Mystic Seaport

We stayed at Riverdale Farms Campsite. It is in Clinton, CT. We wanted to stay at Hammonasset Beach State Park, but they can only handle 35’ long RV’s. Riverdale is about 4 miles away from the State park and is off River Road. It is well signed and easy to get to. The roads are narrow, but we have found them to be narrow any where we get off the Interstate. We parked on grass, and it was kind of in a depression. The first night was OK, but it did rain the second night we were there.

On Monday we drove towards Mystic Seaport and on the way we stopped on the way and saw the Nautilus Submarine.

This is the first Nuclear Submarine. As you can see the sky is threatening rain, but luckily we avoided the showers during the day. The morning was cloudy with a few sprinkles.

It is also the first to travel under the North Pole

The Captain is the only one on the boat that has his own room

This is the officer Mess. Pretty nice.

The officers usually shared a room. Only three to a room.

This is the enlisted men’s mess. Also used for medical emergencies and as a game room.

The enlisted men slept five and six high. There were 10 to 12 bunks to a room. These men had to be small and very agile and not afraid of small places!

Our audio tour told us that these men rated the best food. Home made bread is just coming out of the oven!

The torpedoes are stored on racks before they are loaded into the tubes to be fired.

This was a short but free tour and very interesting. There is also a museum dedicated to the submarine and all that it accomplished.

We left the Nautilus and continued to drive to Mystic Seaport. As we drove the weather cleared and we ended up with a nice sunny day.

We stopped at Mystic Village, a quaint reproduction village of shops.

Then we stopped at Mystic Seaport, which has the tall ships anchored there.

We did not go into the Seaport. The cost to get down to the waterfront was $24.00 each. All we wanted to do was walk along the waterfront, so we passed. This was a picture on one of the signs outside the entrance.

We continued to drive into the Historic town of Mystic.

This old draw bridge was fascinating. We stopped at the little ice cream shop and watched the sailboats, rafts, kayaks and other boats on the Mystic River.

The sign tells all about the bridge.

We just missed seeing the tall ship going under the bridge. We did get to see the bridge raise and lower. How do you like those cement counterweights?

After we left Mystic we went to Stoneington to see the old light house.

We parked right by this semi-private beach. The sun was out and it was so nice I couldn’t resist taking pictures!

Above is the beach, which is just down the very narrow street from the light house.

Here we are in the top of the old light house. It is a museum now. It is all built of rock. The view is amazing.

On our way back to the RV we decided to drive into the Hammonasset Beach State Park. The sun was out. It was beautiful. We sat on the beach and watched the people fishing, and the boats going by. We even say a cormorant diving for fish.

This was a very nice ending for a beautiful day. Even though it started out with clouds and sprinkles, it ended on a warm and sunny note.

Wild roses growing in the sand at the Park!