After gratefully leaving the quite horrible Village Motel (I discovered during the night that the place was crawling with bugs and spent all day scratching various bites), I drove to Essex, an early home of American ship-building. It was another stupifyingly hot day but I didn't mind, really - I was enjoying myself too much. I did, however, feel a bit groggy. Although I've been sleeping incredibly well on this trip, last night the bugs woke me up and I had to resort to melatonin to get me to sleep. I'm gradually realizing that it may not be the wonder solution I've always thought it was - it tends to instil in me a kind of weird melancholia.

Near the Docks, Essex, Connecticut

I spent a happy hour in the Connecticut River Museum there, before a microscopic lunch at the very old Griswold Inn. I have to say that one of the waiters was incredibly cute - unfortunately not my waiter! Tired of getting my morning coffee at the local gas station, I also bought a small French press and some ground beans at the Captain's Cup, a cute little coffee business.

Old Lyme was the next stop - that town and Essex really are probably the most beautiful towns I've visited so far. I toured the Florence Griswold House, which displays work from the tonalist painters that gathered there around the turn of the century.

Outside, in the gardens, a small group of women painters had setup their easels - I tried to get them on camera but they were too shy.

Easels of Shy Lady Painters at the Florence Griswold House

I didn't spend as long at the house as I've had liked, because I wanted to get to Groton in time to visit the Submarine Force Museum. In explaining this to the guide at the Griswold house, though, I did learn to correct my pronunciation of "Growton" to "Grattan" (Groton).

Given my fascination with all things naval, I was very excited about seeing the Submarine Force Museum. There were too many kids there, but it was still fascinating and enjoyable. And I bought a souvenir dogtag!

Submarine Force Museum, Groton

USS Nautilus

One thing I found particularly curious was in the enormous cut-away model of a Gato class sub, where every last sailor was wearing nothing but a cute little pair of shorts!

The Navy's Best Kept Secret

I wanted to get over to New London to see if any subs were being built at the General Dynamics plant there. I remember pulling into the train station on Amtrak ten years earlier on my first visit to Boston from Philly and seeing a nuclear sub under construction poking out from a large shed downriver. In fact, it was memories of New England like that that contributed to my desire to make this new trip. I've always loved train travel. I love that feeling when the train slowly, imperceptibly, silently starts moving - you barely notice it at first, then the click of the rails tells you you're underway again. I think the reason I love train travel so much is that my family would often make train trips together when I was a child. We didn't have a car, so a train journey always presaged an exciting time away from home. The memories of the glamour of train stations remain with me still.

Amtrak train pulling into New London

Even though I'd already gotten a lot into the day, I still had time to go to the Acquarium at Mystic.

A Beluga Whale at Mystic Acquarium

The funniest thing there was what I found in the gift shop - "Titanic, the fragrance" - I'm not kidding! Perhaps the scent of mouldy clothing?

I reached Newport around 7.00 and drove around helplessly for a while, looking for a hotel that wasn't built by Vanderbilt, until a helpful Irish girl called Rachel at the Yankee Peddler Inn made some calls for me and found a great little place for only $55 per night! And here I am!