Subs, Trains, and Automobiles

Day 7 of the New England trip was Connecticut day -- the only day since Boston where we woke up, spent the day, and fell asleep all in the same state.

We traveled first to the Submarine Force Museum. It's actively managed by a division of the Navy. In fact, there was some sort of ceremony going on when we arrived that we felt like we didn't want to intrude on; a large group of sailors and their families were gathered for some sort of event in a wing of the museum. (Like I said, we didn't want to intrude, so we never found out exactly what it was.)

But we did get to see the centerpiece exhibit of the museum, the U.S.S. Nautilus. It was the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, and you can go aboard to tour it. It was an interesting juxtaposition with the Revolution-era Constitution we'd been able to see earlier on the trip; positively luxurious by comparison. But of course, even the Nautilus is some 70 years old, and as cramped and claustrophobic as you'd imagine a submarine to be.

As we rolled into the early afternoon, we went to collect our gold "Beer Map" pin by visiting Fox Farm Brewery, surprisingly not our first "brewery in a barn in an out of the way location" for the trip. (Not that anything in Connecticut feels truly out of the way when you're used to a state like Colorado.) This is another highly regarded brewery among beer snobs, and once again it seemed to be for the same reasons: they do very true Czech/German-style beers that are proudly pure... but also pretty good.

We thought their beer reminded us a little of a place back home, Prost Brewing, and so we got it into our heads to ask for a specialty you can get at Prost: the "Dunkelweiss," a blend of their Dunkel and Weiss style beers. I could almost see the bartender's brain melt when I asked for it... but we had tasted both the beers separately and liked them, making us wonder about the combo. Even though I assured the bartender that yes, we'd combined these styles before, and yes we liked them, he ultimately just refused to try it. As Marty McFly might say, "I guess you just aren't ready for that yet."

The rest of our afternoon was spent on the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat. The still-operating steam train doesn't really take you to any meaningful destination per se, but you can still take a scenic ride. Once again, this turned out to be an experience that was good even as it was, but would have been better still had we been just a few weeks later for peak fall leaf colors. (It also didn't help that the steady drizzle that we'd left behind from the opening days of the trip had now returned.) Still, we got to sit back, relax, and watch the countryside roll by.

After an hour on the train, we transferred to a riverboat that brought us back -- another vantage point on the lovely scenery. We sailed by Gillette Castle, an elaborate early-20th century home built by actor William Gillette, who made a fortune playing Sherlock Holmes and funneled it into this eccentric home. We saw interesting birds, and enjoyed a cocktail on the hour-and-a-half return trip.

From there, we dropped things off at the hotel near the Rhode Island state line where we'd stay the night, before heading to a delicious dinner at a restaurant called On the Waterfront. The location of the restaurant was just where the name would suggest, though we were there past dusk and not fully able to appreciate the view. (The food was delicious, though.)

The next day would be our final full day of the trip...