Captives in Connecticut

Friday after we pulled into our campsite Judy noticed that the trailer wheels on the street side of the trailer were almost touching (you normally can place your fist between the wheels).  Mike checked underneath and discovered that we had a broken spring assembly on one of the axles.  We were lucky that the wheels didn’t touch while we were driving and cause the trailer to flip.  After making many phone calls, taking pictures and driving to an RV dealer we finally located the part we need.  Monday the part will be ordered and if all goes well it will be installed on Tuesday.  Meanwhile we have the opportunity to see more of Connecticut than we planned on.

Bad Side

 

Good Side

Saturday we drove to Mystic Seaport which is one of the Northeast’s most visited villages, primarily because of the Museum of America and the Seas.  It is America’s leading maritime museum and houses the world’s largest collection of historic boats and ships.  The 17-acre riverfront site encompasses a re-created coastal village that brings salty nineteenth century maritime America to life.  There are many fully rigged sailing ships docked.                                                     

The Charles W. Morgan, built in 1841, is America’s last surviving wooden whaling ship.  It was possible to climb up and board this ship even though it is in the midst of reconstruction.  At one point we rode a boat shuttle to get from one end of the village to the other just to cool off a little.  We toured about three hours and drank a lot of water since it is still so very hot and humid.   

Ahoy Matey!



Weaving a Rope

On Sunday we visited the Submarine Force Museum, located on the Thames River in Groton, Connecticut.  It maintains the world's finest collection of submarine artifacts and is the only submarine museum operated by the United States Navy.  The museum traces the development of the "Silent Service" from the Revolutionary War, to the latest submarines.                                                            

We then looked at the Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear powered vessel and the first ship to go to the North Pole.  After checking out the outside of the sub we explored the inside where the crew worked, ate, slept and entertained themselves on their long voyages far beneath the ocean’s waves.                                                                        

The museum's collections include more than 33,000 artifacts, 20,000 significant documents and 30,000 photographs.  

 The rings represent the  diameter of early and modern subs

TO  BE  CONTINUED

Back to Vermont

Leaving Lake George, NY on the way to Connecticut, we pass through Vermont and Massachusetts again.   On our way to our campground in Vermont we stopped at the Vermont Country Store.  Their slogan is “Purveyors Of The Practical And Hard To Find”.  Going through their shelves and racks brings back lots of memories of things from many years ago.  They carry items that are/were useful and make sense, at least that’s what their sign says.  The store has been in existence since 1946 and is the first restored rural country store in the U.S.  Going through the store was our entertainment for the day.   

 

The next day we drove through the country side, making a loop.  Everything is nice and green; the road has gentle hills and curves.  We still see lots of Tiger Lillys.  We’ve seen them all over the sides of the roads and by the homes since Mississippi.   There are also see a lot of ‘For Sale’ signs just like at home.  Our first stop was Putney, Vermont where we walked through the Basketville store.  The first time we were here on another visit Judy said it reminded her of World Market/Cost Plus because of the many baskets and decorations available to purchase.  We made a few purchases and then were on our way.

Our next stop was the Grafton Village Cheese Company in Grafton, VT.  We sampled their wares and didn’t purchase anything, liking Cabot Cheese a little more.  We did enjoy their air conditioning as it was hot and humid outside.  Then we walked around the town seeing many historical buildings.  We saw houses from the 1700s and 1800s.  The Old Tavern was built in 1788 and was converted to an inn in 1801.  As Grafton prospered so did the tavern/inn and by 1823 it had doubled in size and was the center of activity for the town.  It is listed today in “Historic Hotels of America” which includes the 110 foremost lodging and dining establishments in the country.  We saw a few churches, museums, galleries, restaurants, library and shops.  Our walk through this quaint town, which is well-kept and very picturesque, was pretty short since it was extremely hot.  It is one of the prettiest villages in Vermont we have seen.  Our next stop was a branch of the Grafton Village Cheese Company which was right by a covered bridge.  Here we could look at some of the employees working on the processing of cheese and a movie.  Last time here we made purchases and had a picnic lunch by the bridge.  Down the road a short distance we came across the Kidder Hill Covered Bridge.  A light-weight kingpost truss bridge, it was reconstructed in 1994 by adding laminated beams to the interior to increase its load-capacity, so we felt comfortable walking on it!!!!  

This couple found a novel way to try to beat the heat!

(They are sitting in the river by the covered bridge)

Shelburne, VT & Lake George, NY

Shelburne, VT

Our next stop was the Cabot Creamery in Cabot, Vermont, which we had been to four years ago.  It is a dairy-farmer-owned cooperative that opened in 1919.  They are still very generous with sampling cheeses and dips.  We sampled and then made our purchases.  

After arriving at Shelburne Camping Area and setting up we headed out to get sheared (haircuts).  The scenery along the way was beautiful.

The next morning started out with a surprise.  When going out to the truck Mike noticed the left rear tire was flat, so we had to make phone calls and wait until someone could come and change it.  Then off for lunch at Al’s French Fry’s, a South Burlington, Vt institution that was started in the late 1940's.  Outside and inside it resembles an old-fashioned diner.  The booths are red and black with white tiles are on the floor.  You order at the counter and then get your food and hope to find a table.  We were there around 2:00 and the place was busy.  They have burgers, chicken, hot dogs, corn dogs and salads but they are best known for their fries.  They serve the smallest hamburgers we have ever seen but the fries were very good.

Next stop was the Church Street Market Place in Burlington which is a four block pedestrian outside mall lined with restaurants, shops and a mix of entertainers trying to earn some money.  
                                                                                                                                                                

Lake George, NY

We took a five-minute ferry ride across Lake Champlain from Vermont into New York.  There was no charge for the ferry ride because they had to demolish the old bridge since it was no longer safe.   The new bridge is in the progress of being built.  Both sides have been started but they haven’t met in the middle yet.   Hope they do upon completion.

Our new home for the next few days is King Phillip’s Campground in Lake George, New York, an old resort area.  After setting up we drove into town to walk up and down the busy streets of little shops typical of a tourist-trap.  There were oodles and oodles of people walking both sides of the main street and the side streets trying to spend their money. 

After enjoying a morning of a yummy breakfast in the trailer and relaxing we headed into Lake George Village for our 2:30 reservation on the Mohican cruise.  We were a little leery about the weather, but Judy packed her rain jacket and umbrella.  Because of that we lucked out and it turned out to be a very nice day, a little sunnier on the return trip and the humidity was quite high.  Lake George is 32 miles long and 183 islands dot the surface of the lake.  154 of the islands are state owned, 29 private, most are undeveloped.  Some are very small they have no purpose as far as we could see, although there was usually at least one tree on each one matter how small it was.  The boat had both enclosed and outside observation decks.  We chose the outside since it was such a beautiful day.  The two and a half hour cruise on Lake George took us by many beautiful homes and boat docks.  By Lake George Village they were almost ‘shoulder to shoulder’.  The hotels and resorts were on the opposite side of the lake.  The sizes of all these buildings went from comfortable to huge.  We strolled the stores close to the dock and even sat in Adirondack chairs, finding they are most comfortable than they look.  The scenic Adirondack Mountains surround the area.  Then back to the trailer for dinner and visiting with the French couple from Quebec next door.

                                                                                                                                                                 

You Meet All Sorts Of People On The Streets!