May 15, 2006 (Monday): The rain continues—it’s gotten rather frightening. There are reports on TV that there’s serious flooding all over New England. We’re pretty high and dry at our campground near Mystic, CT, and we’ve decided to stay here for another day. There’s more heavy rain coming tomorrow morning (Tuesday). We’re hoping to head to Cape Cod on Wednesday. That will be our final stop before the push to Maine. There’s serious flooding in southern Maine as well. We’re having a hard time deciding whether to leave now and go around the flooding, or wait for it to subside and hope the new band of storms coming tonight and tomorrow and the new low coming through on Thursday and Friday won’t cause even worse flooding. Mark is following road conditions for us because we don’t have reliable internet service here.

We didn’t let the rain stop us from having a very nice day today. We went into Mystic Seaport. There was never actually a seaport at Mystic. It’s a living history museum, sort of like Greenfield Village, where they’ve recreated a New England seaport with buildings they’ve moved from other places. It was really fascinating. We toured a shipyard where they’re restoring old tall ships. We saw two tall ships which were getting ready to leave the port and travel north. We later saw them out in the ocean near the lighthouses in Stonington Borough. It was fascinating to see how these old wooden sailing ships were built. The shipbuilders didn’t start with plans. They started with small models carved from wood. Then they’d draw the layout on a large floor and cut the pieces according to that layout. A variety of kinds of wood were used, depending on their characteristics. Live oak, yellow and white pine and locust are some of the varieties I remember. The ships were launched before they were completed to make room for construction of the next ships. They were completed at the dockside. There were many shipyards in New England, and the ships they built (3-5 per year) were crucial to the economy of the country, because roads were limited and treacherous.

We boarded a ship called the L.A. Dunton, which was a fishing boat. It carried 8-10 dories from which the fishing actually took place. Two men fished with trawl lines that had lots of hooks spaced along them. The crew quarters were tiny, and they fished even in the winter, so there were wood stoves in the quarters. Imagine how hazardous that was!

Then we saw various historic homes, a school and church and some other interesting sites. (My friend, Lucie, is thinking about coming up to visit us this summer in Maine, and maybe swing by Mystic Seaport before she returns. You’ll love it, Lucie! You could easily spend 2 days here.)

There’s a restaurant on the museum grounds, but we opted to walk down into town a few blocks to a restaurant we’d seen coming in. (Lucie—skip the rest of this paragraph. You’ll be tempted to break your diet!) It was called “Kitchen Little,” and it was TINY! There were only 4-5 tables inside. We got there early, but by the time our food came, a line was forming outside (all locals as far as I could tell). I got a scallop sandwich (delicious, sweet, fried scallops on a crusty roll, served with tartar sauce and lemon). It was yummy! Wiley had a fish sandwich that also looked scrumptious. We shared a piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie which was to die for. The combination of sweet and tart and the flaky crust…m-m-m!

After our tour of Mystic Seaport, we drove 4 miles north to Stonington to see the lighthouse there. It’s a tiny little thing, which was eventually closed because it couldn’t been seen very far out. There was a little museum with some interesting relics. I especially enjoyed the exhibit on an eccentric local resident, the son of a prominent family, who was spruned by the lady of his choice because he didn’t have enough money. He spent the rest of his life trying to earn enough money to win her (she, meanwhile, married, had a family and passed away before him). He did this by building rental houses, while saving money every way he could, including making his clothes and everything he needed. They had a picture of him—he looked like the worst kind of street person! We went up in the lighthouse and enjoyed a spectacular view.

We did a little grocery shopping on the way home. Wiley’s got the foccacia bread we picked up for just $2.99 in the oven right now. We got 2 of them—they’re great, homemade looking bread crusts with big chunks of grilled bell peppers and onions on top. Wiley added some pepperoni to his side. It smells wonderful in our little home right now! We also picked up a roasted chicken for tomorrow’s dinner. The leftovers will make a good lunch. We’ve only eaten out twice this whole trip, and I’d like to keep it that way. When you’ve got your home with you wherever you go, there’s no excuse for not having good, inexpensive, homemade meals. At some point, I’m going to record some of my recipes for healthy, quick, delicious meals for 2 people that can be made with minimal equipment and mess. Wiley doesn’t know it, but I think I’m going to make some dessert bars to go with the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream we bought for dessert.

I’m going to go over to the rec hall and post this now. If anyone hears anything about flooding problems in the I-95 corridor between CT and ME, please give us a call on the cell!