June 21 - Stonington, CT

Stonington Harbor - Anchorage

The rocking settled down some late last night, but began again early this morning. We felt like we were sitting in rocking chairs on a porch while we had our coffee on the deck. During one of the lull times we put the dinghy down and went into Stonyington. This little town has the distinction of being the only town in Connecticut to fight off the British in two wars. Shipbuilding, sealing and whaling were busy businesses here in the 1800s and it still has the largest commercial fishing fleet in Connecticut.

First we wandered down to the tip of the peninsula to the Stonington Lighthouse and beach. They charge you to walk on the beach here, so we walked along the rocks...looking for sea glass. Later we walked along their main street and looked through some of their little shops and found out where the farmers market will be tomorrow. Our last stop was at the Dog Watch Cafe for lunch, a nice spot overlooking the marina, with wonderful lobster bisque.

Since today was the first day of summer we thought we should celebrate by spending a little time at the beach. We took the dinghy out to Napatree Beach close to the cute town of Watch Hill, RI. The water on the bay side looked like coffee, but once we walked across the sand dunes we were treated to beautiful clear aqua green water. The only thing between this beach and the Atlantic Ocean is Block Island. We spent a couple of hours strolling along the beach...I even found some nice pieces of sea glass.

It's a lot quicker getting to places in our dinghy so we also explored the little beach town of Watch Hill. It looks like your typical little New England beach town...quaint buildings and shops along a pretty little cove full of boats.

The flowers are blooming everywhere right now

Water Street in Stonington

Lobster and fishing boats docked in Stonington

Stan walking over the dunes to the beach

Looking back at the bay beach towards Stonington

Napatree Beach looking towards Watch Hill

The Flying Horse Carousel - It may or may not be the oldest carousel in the nation, but it is certainly the oldest of its type ("in which the horses are suspended from a center frame"). The carousel is believed to have been built 1861. It was part of a traveling carnival until 1879 when the carnival was forced to abandon the carousel in Watch Hill. Unlike most carousels, there is no wooden platform to support the horses but rather, they are suspended from chains. As a result, the horses seem to "fly" as the ride increases speed, hence the carousel's name. Each horse has a tail and mane of real horsehair and a genuine leather saddle. Children younger than 12 years old may ride. In the middle of the ride, a device holding metal rings is lowered for riders to grab as they pass. The last ring is brass, granting the "winner" a free ride token.