Traipsing in SECT

So I set out to go to the shore with my daughter, our first stop was Barn Island Wildlife Management Area in Stonington, CT. When we arrived (ignoring the GPS) we were greeted with a parking lot full of boat trailers. We squeezed into a spot and wandered to the boat launch to watch the doings and snap a few photos. Maeve found a small horseshoe crab shell and that made her day, but the overcrowding was too much so we decided to move on.

 We did see this interesting house on the way out, the first of two castles we saw on the day

Our next stop was Bluff Point in Groton. This place was even crazier than Barn Island. the area to hang at Bluff Point is a good walk from the parking lot, but when you have to park 3/4 of a mile from  the trail head, then do that distance and more again, just was not into it. Especially when Maeve travels heavier then Hannibal crossing the Alps, and he had elephants.

So at this point we just decided to motor along routes 1 and 156(?) and see where the rest of the day took us. As we rolled into New London, we passed a store that caught Maeve's eye, so we stopped to get our geek on, and she bought her first comic book. Wonder Woman of course, she is thrilled with the purchase. Also got to go down memory lane rolling past the El-N-Gee (still there) and where Bank Street Tavern was, those were some fun times.

We continued down the road and headed toward Niantic and we were starting to get hungry and could go for some seafood. First place I thought of going to was out of business, the second had a line out the door, so I continued down the road and before long we were in Lyme. Checking with the GPS we saw the Black Seal come up on the radar and headed to Essex Village for some fine dining. Why not nothing else was falling into favor for us.

The Black Seal was quiet and the food was great. We split a RI Clam Chowder, clear broth our fav, and Maeve had a nice chicken parm and I had a fried Oyster Po'Boy. Also ran into an acquaintance from work which is always nice.

From there I decided to surprise her with a fun thing to do on the ride home, a side trip across the Chester/Hadlyme ferry. She got too distracted taking photos she forgot to get of the car until the ride was over. From there we headed home going past where JP Weigel used to be great bike frames (is he still around?)

So I now remember what I don't like about the beach....People. Besides that is was a great afternoon with my beautiful daughter.