Weekend in Connecticut

I was able to spend a nice weekend with Dennis in Connecticut. I flew up on a Thursday to attend the Submarine Birthday Ball on Saturday night. We spent Friday visiting Mystic, which is just 5 miles away from his apartment. It's a quaint little town that Dennis says is booming with tourist during the summer. We had lunch at Mystic Pizza (made famous by the movie of the same name, starring Julia Roberts) and did a little shopping in the downtown area. We then went driving all around Southeast Connecticut and rode through many neat little towns along the water. I can't get over hold old some of the homes and buildings are in that area. It really is a very pretty area of the country full of huge stones and old stone walls. I guess I was expecting a really horrid place after all the tales Dennis has told me. Aside from being chilly there, it was nice. On Saturday morning we decided to venture to Newport, Rhode Island. I'd heard this was a must visit locale. Unfortunately the weather was kind of nasty, but we did go ahead and drive the Beach road and tour the Breakers. The Breakers is one of the famous summer "homes" from the guilded age built by the Vanderbilts. It was amazing! I'd like to go back some day and walk the cliff walk along the waterfront. We headed back to Groton and dressed up for that evenings Sub Ball. It was a nice evening out, but nothing spectacular - just like every other Sub Ball I've been to. It did give me the opportunity to meet some of Dennis shipmates - he finally was able to prove that he did indeed have a wife! I also got to see the Foxwoods, the location of the Ball, which claims to be the largest casino in the country.