The place we were staying at by the railroad bridge did not have laundry facilities and the little washer/dryer combo on the boat has conked out. Probably from that ride to Block Island… Of course it’s a front-loading washing machine where the door locks and now it is holding 7 pair of my underwear hostage because the door won’t unlock. I’m surprised that thing has held up as long as it has with the use it gets. I’ll have to put a new one in when I get back. I just need to figure out how to get by with 1 pair of underwear for the next week.
Also, John and Philippe apologized to Chris and so I figure we now have about 3 days of “good behavior” before it all goes down the crapper again so we better get a few sightseeing things done as a family.
The seaport here is really an amazing place. It’s basically set up like a small village back in the 1800’s when shipbuilding and whaling was booming in the region and the buildings and displays I found very interesting. Again, if you enjoyed the movie “Master and Commander”, you’ll really enjoy this place. For example, this is an anchor they recovered off the Rhode Island coast that is believed to be from a 70- gun man-of-war from England. The thing was a monster.
Unfortunately, Susie and the boys have been here before but I hadn’t. So we all had this discussion about what to do and they decided to head out of the museum and go to the aquarium instead. We would meet up later by the world famous “Dolphin Bidet” water art.
Off they go:
And I get to do the museum without Timmy going “Can we go now! This is boring!”. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to go look at how rope is made. They do have kids programs at the museum to keep the younger kids entertained. For example, after the family left, I found this child showing his Cher imitation he just learned: 
I went and toured a few of the ships. The Charles W. Morgan was one of the larger whaling boats they had restored. The thing was truly impressive. 
They would sail this thing down the east coast and around Cape Horn and up the Pacific and it really was not all that big. Additionally, they had displays on the ship of the whaling operation and I just was not aware how gruesome of an industry that was. The whales were basically hunted and killed for the oil their fat would produce and these ships were set up to find them, basically skin them alive in some cases, and process and store the oil on board. The other interesting aspect was the fighting between the British, American, and French Navy to protect the whaling industry which was mainly for fuel/oil. Geez… some things never change with time.
One of the other ships here was used for fishing off the coast of New England and up over to the Grand Banks. Mind you that is probably 1500 miles from here and half way to the U.K. (also where the “Perfect Storm” was portrayed) and these guys would take a boat like this out there and go fishing: 
That’s insane! I mean, the boats the early settlers came over on down by me in the Williamsburg area basically did it once. I'm sure after they arrived they said "I ain't gettin' on another boat" but these guys up here went out over and over and over again. Also, the insides of the boat were set up to look like they did back in the day:
Looks like my son’s room on the boat.
They also salted the fish and packed them in ice and here at the Seaport, they showed how the stuff was processed and shipped off. Very interesting.
I also went into the “Ship’s Instruments” store:
The guy in there and I talked for about a half hour on chart making, sextants, and clock movements. He was very knowledgeable on the subject and was very entertaining. He would not come by and fix my GPS on the boat though. Told me to use a sextant.
Just because I could, I also went over to see how they made rope. So there.
They also had some old diesel engines on display (behind a shed actually). Here’s one with about 90 HP… about the same HP as one of my cylinders in my boat. Of course this one doesn’t have a leaking transmission cooler hose.
Susie and kids returned from the aquarium and they also found a few shops. Timmy had bought himself yet another Webkin… 
So what’s the deal with these things? They are these stuffed animals you buy and they have some sort of “Internet Code” on them and you go to a website and register the stuffed animal and then you play a game or something. You have to “feed them” and “take care of them” in this virtual Webkin space and they give you Webkin cash and if you don’t take care of them they get sick, etc. etc. etc… they die and you throw them out.. HUH? So now not only do I have TWO STUPID DOGS that suck money out of me like there is no tomorrow, I also have 43 WEBKINS doing it! I have to research this more.
Later that evening a friend of ours, Marsha (from Brady Bunch fame… well… not really), came by and we walked back up town to dinner. 
We found this place across the river: 
And the hostess said she would gladly take our cash for food: 
Timmy is also the only child that orders from the “kid’s menu” and I guess he’s tired of it… makes him feel like a 9 year old… well… he is a 9 year old… Susie told him if he didn’t snack after lunch, he could order Lobster so here he is: A 9-year old kid that ordered a $30 Lobster only to find he didn’t like it. Nice… get me another Webkin. (The Lobster did not go to waste).
A few other notes if you visit this restaurant… This is NOT the men’s room: 
But this is: 
We came back to the boat and retired for the night as we were going to leave early for New York City.
In the morning, Susie and I got up at 5 am to get the boat ready, do a load of wash in the washing machine behind the diesel engine display (both from the early 1900’s) and make the bridge opening at 7:40. Here’s the view behind us as we left: 
And we passed the restaurant we ate at the first night here: 
This sailboat was following us out of Mystic: 
There are some great views along this river: 
And passed this lighthouse near the entrance to the river: 
We got out on the Long Island Sound and the weather was perfect. Brought up the throttles and off we went for about a 5 hour run down to New York City: 
Hopefully, they sell underwear in New York.
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