New England Trip

Author: John L.
Date of Trip: August 2006

Every year the Seabee group I served with has a reunion. Well this past August it was held in Warwick, RI, close enough to Michigan that we could drive & make it a road trip. We decided to see as much of New England as we could in about 9 days. Well we found out that we needed 9 days & then 9 more days to see everything. We drove through Canada from Michigan to Buffalo then drove the NY Thruway to New England.

First stop Mystic Seaport, CT. This is an old 19th-century New England fishing & whaling town. This town takes you back to the the days when whaling was the number one industry on the coast of New England. We boarded the L.A. Danton fishing schooner. (By the looks of the bunks that the sailors slept in they had a lot of short people in them days.) We also boarded the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaler in the world.

Our next stop was Groton, CT, home of the first nuclear submarine “Nautilus.” You enter to the facility at the Submarine Force Museum. The tour of the Nautilus and the Museum are all free. The whole facility is great for kids of all ages. They have something about submarines from the 1800’s till now.

Now we move on to Rhode Island. The reunion was being held at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, RI. Now I don’t really endorse hotels, but I have to say this one was A1. We stayed 3 days. They really go out of their way to make your stay comfortable.

Our first stop in RI was in Newport. We toured the Vanderbilt mansion “The Breakers.” It boggles your mind going through this 70 room mansion. Solid marble tubs, real gold wallpaper, 40 or 50 sets of fine china. It almost makes me want to buy lotto tickets.

Now in Michigan we have seafood, but in New England they have REAL seafood. We had dinner the first night in a restaurant called Chillo’s in a small town called East Greenwich right on Narragansett Bay. We sat on the outside deck looking right on the bay. I ordered steamers — not sure, but they are something like clams or quahogs. They were wonderful.

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Next on the trip was Boston. We went to the old Navy shipyard and toured the USS Constitution (Old Ironside). The ship was launched in 1797 and is still on active duty. Also at the shipyard is a WWII Navy Destroyer, USS Cassin Young, which was in many battles in the South Pacific.

Next stop: Salem, Mass. Had to stop to hear all the hoopla about the witch hunts. Worth the stop and another stop for the kids.

Now what is a trip to New England without stopping off at Cape Cod & going to Plymouth & seeing the Rock or the Mayflower. Moving up the coast we had to stop in Maine for lobster and see the Bush compound in Kennebunkport. Wonderful ocean scenery.

Now we move off the path a bit. We are heading to a small town called Meredith, New Hampshire, on a wonderful lake called Lake Winnipesaukee. In my opinion Golden Pond has nothing on this lake.

Now it is time to start heading back to Michigan, but my wife has one more stop on the must stop list. It is a town called South Deerfield, Mass, famous for Yankee Candle Co. After a ton of money on candles & fudge we are on our way home. Yankee Candle does give you something if you buy $75.00 worth. You get $15.00 worth the gas. Wouldn’t you know it, just before we got there we filled up. We found a mother with 3 kids who was going for gas, so we gave her the ticket for the gas.

That was our trip to New England. We would do it again in a New York minute.