Connecticut and Rhode Island

There is a simple word to describe both of these states: beautiful. I can honestly say that I have not seen a single road (I don’t do Interstates) that has gone a full mile without a curve. The roads go around lakes, ponds, inlets, mountains, and some dude’s farm that’s been there since 1620. Speed limits are 25 to 35 miles per hour. I sometimes have to pull to the side as far as I can to wait for an oncoming vehicle to cross the bridge ahead of me. And to top it all off, Maggie—my Magellan GPS—twice tried to route me on roads that were one-lane dirt tracks over a mountain. I had to back the trailer up to turn around. Bad GPS!

And it rained. Steadily, sometimes intensely.

I didn’t let that hold me back, though. The first thing I did was head to Groton to see The Nautilus. Our country’s first nuclear powered submarine (1954) was named after the famous submarine in Jules Verne’s classic, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The tour of the sub is extremely interesting and the narration on the audio guide was easy to follow. I’m still not sure how they managed to get a one-way passage to loop through all the decks and areas of the sub and not cross itself. I have to say, though, the head was smaller than what I have in the trailer. The museum is also fascinating.

 

When I left I headed east through Mystic. I stopped at Mystic Seaport, but I decided that $24 to get in and wander around in the rain wasn’t a good investment. So I continued east into Rhode Island. I did the same kind of hundred mile loop that I’d done along the beaches of Maryland and Delaware sticking to US Hwy 1 and 1A to Narragansett and then north along the shore to North Kingstown. From there I headed west cross-country back to my base in Old Mystic. It wasn’t a long trip in miles, though I was gone for several hours and saw beautiful countryside. It never really stopped raining until late in the evening.

The next morning, Friday, I was headed north to Massachusetts and decided that since I was just six miles from the Foxwoods Casino and resort, I’d stop there for breakfast. First, I headed out on Lantern Hill Road which is not recommended for large vehicles. Pulling the trailer along the narrow and winding reservation road at 25 miles per hour wasn’t really a problem, though I wondered at times if the trees that leaned into the road could clip the top edge. I was so fascinated by the trail that instead of turning toward Foxwoods, I continued straight on Pequot Trail and discovered the Mashentucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. I figured I was there, so I should look around. Unbelievable. If you ever get to this part of Connecticut, forget about the casino and spend a few hours in this museum.

Side note: When I was a kid, I had two favorite museums. They were both in Chicago. The Museum of Science and Industry and the Field Museum of Natural History. The Museum of Science and Industry had all kinds of things to do and demonstrations. I can close my eyes and still see the lightning strike they simulated. The Field Museum, though, was amazing. First, it had audio tours. They issued a radio and you walked along as a narrator told you what you were seeing. And what you were seeing were detailed displays depicting everything from the ice age to modern times. If you've ever seen the movie Night at the Museum, you've seen the kind of displays I'm talking about. For over fifty years, the Field Museum has been the standard of what I think a real museum should be like. No more.

 

Had I had an inkling of what was here, I would have spent the previous day instead of making my 100 mile loop. I started at the top of the tower and looked out at the resort where I thought I was going. This is a single observation deck about twelve feet square with a total capacity of 18 people at a time. Looking the other way, way down in the corner, you can see my little rig in the parking lot.

I did not take pictures in the museum, though it’s permitted. It was simply too overwhelming. I spent nearly three hours there including lunch and could have continued another three easily if I weren’t committed to a campsite eighty miles away. So instead, I’ve included a link to this video. The Pequot Village exhibit was so fascinating that I probably could have spent all day in it. The figures were molded based on native people from across the U.S. and were so realistic I expected them to start talking.

Maggie, the GPS, struck again when she attempted to route me through the Lake of Isles Golf Course and over the mountain. In just the truck I would have been fine, but I didn’t see any possibility of towing the trailer over that one-lane dirt road that kept disappearing on the GPS. I know it would be possible, but not without a guide. That wasn’t the only time that day that Maggie would try to take me on an abandoned road.

The other time, though, was in Massachusetts.