Any guesses about where and what this is?
Let’s try this one more time. I’m on my last week of work and they are keeping me busy but I still have a couple more landmarks. This time I’d like to hear from you more. Do you recognize the picture? Do you know where it is? Have you ever been there? If so what did you think of it?
Now I think this one may be a little bit harder. I have written about it in the past so you may recognize it from my posts but I’ll be honest, until I stumbled on it, I’d never heard of it. So I am curious if you know where/what it is.
Remember Becky Thatcher from Tom Sawyer? Well our riverboat was the Becky Thatcher and it was quite roomy. After the safety orientation to show us the life jackets we cast off and headed upstream. The river was beautiful.
We had a young man acting as a commentator to point out the sights like eagles nests, a ferry, the Goodspeed Opera house. It was his first time so he was nervously reading the script. If they let him do it again I’m sure he will get better.
The views of the Gillette Castle were extraordinary from the boat. The mansion is an amazing sight anyway any time of the year but with the green foliage and bright blue sky it was truly magnificent.
Even with a full complement of guests the ride was relaxing. I find being on the water like that is very soothing.
When we reached the opera house and the East Haddam swing bridge we did a big , slow, sweeping turn that gave us plenty of time to take in the views of East Haddam.
We passed marinas and private docks and even a monestary! What a beautiful day for a riverboat ride!
Traveling back down the river we spotted the train on its last run of the day.
So that was how we would get back to the station.
The train stopped at Deep River Landing just as we pulled in. While I waited for my turn to leave the boat I watched two large birds swoop over the island across from the boat. Osprey! I was thrilled to actually see them fish, swooping down to brush the surface of the river and then climb back up with their fish. At first I thought they were eagles but closer scrutiny proved them to be osprey. They were too far away for photos but I did try..just a couple of spots came out.
Back at the station the office recommended Bill’s Seafood if I wanted to have a nice moderately priced dinner before I returned home. They gave me the address and directions and it wasn’t long before I spotted it. The weather was still wonderful so I took a seat at a picnic style table on the outdoor deck. I was glad for the umbrella, not for the sun but as protection from the birds. Sea Gulls were flying everywhere. Marshland spread out from the deck and I spotted white ibis, great blue herons and more Osprey. There were 2 osprey nests and they were both occupied. I watched the adults hunting and returning to the nest with their catch to feed the babies while I enjoyed a lovely meal of fish and chips.
Children were feeding the ducks and gulls bits of their lunches and the birds were clearly enjoying the attention. This would be a wonderful place to come back to with a big telephoto lens. But even without the camera, it was a wonderful way to end the day.
Just because I’m back home doesn’t mean I’m sitting around resting on my laurels or anything else. No indeed not. It has been a very busy summer so far. I’ve been lamenting that I haven’t once been down to Chatham to chase seals or great white sharks, or to Bristol to check on the Osprey nest. Even my Great Blue Heron at Oliver Mill Park seems to have given upon me. I haven’t seen him at all since the out of control kayaker nearly ran him down.
One of the things I wanted to do this year was check out the Essex Steam Train in Connecticut. I was waiting for the summer schedule when they had a combination train and riverboat ride. It seemed like the best use of time and money to do both. When I saw the schedule online on my return from my mini vacation I jumped on the chance to go.
The cost was quite reasonable. An adult ticket was only $26.00 for the combo. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I came prepared. My GPS delivered me right to the station where signs directed me to the gravel parking area.
I gave myself plenty of time because I wanted to get lunch out-of-the-way and in case I got lost. The Trackside Cafe was open in a vintage railcar.
They had pre made sandwiches in a cooler and hot dogs on a hot dog rotisserie. I opted for the hot dog, a bag of chips and a diet coke. Why is it that hot dogs taste so much better when you’re on an excursion of some kind. Anyway I enjoyed the ambiance of the little railcar while I ate my hot dog then went exploring.
The gift shop was tiny but across the way was a model train museum.
The sign welcomed me to Little River Junction. It had a wonderful model train that you could play with. It wasn’t just a display behind a glass window. The multiple trains could be run at the same time and the various villages lit with glowing windows and miniature attractions. Really fun.
Outside, as I waited for the train , I met a fellow who was dressed rather outlandishly playing a ukulele.
He said hello so I answered. That broke the ice. He is “Ramblin’ Joe” a sort of street entertainer.
I think when it’s busy his role is to keep the waiting passengers entertained and answer questions for them. He is certainly hard to miss!
The train pulled into the station and the passengers from the earlier trip stepped out. Then the engine was uncoupled, driven back to the front of the train and recoupled to take us out for our ride. That process was pretty interesting and brought out the serious train buffs to photograph the whole process.
My seat was in the open air car. Passengers in this car are warned that this is a real steam engine and cinders and soot may fly into the windows and trust me, it did!
I paid special attention to the route and where the train crossed major roads or streets in case I want to “Chase the train” sometime. That’s how you get the great shots of a steaming locomotive traveling down the tracks. We stopped to let people off for Gillette Castle and another stop at Deep River Landing.
We passed several marshes and conservation areas that looked like interesting places to go bird watching but it was hard to get decent pictures from the moving train.
At the end of the line they did the recoupling again and we started back. I was wondering when and how the River Boat came into the equation when I saw the boat from the train window. Pretty soon we were at Deep River Landing again and they were telling us to get off the train for the Riverboat ride.
We could clearly see the riverbot as she approached the dock but our attention was soon diverted to the process of climbing down from the train.
Gillette Castle
