September 8-9                                 Mystic, Connecticut

Our last day of cruising began with rain and fog.  Confident it would soon change, David departed Newport harbor on schedule—shortly before 9:00 AM.  The waves were choppy and visibility was very limited.  With radar scanning, he and Joe continued on course.  As they predicted, the rain lessened, the fog lifted, and the waves calmed.  Within two hours, the sky was blue and we were having a great day for cruising to Mystic.

We docked at our familiar slip next to Andrew and Maribel Colson’s boat.  The huge bronze frog and neon palm tree were missing from the aft deck—a sign they were not onboard.  Everyone quickly ate lunch and went to the downtown area to peruse the shops and admire the quaint buildings and homes.  Blake and David took a taxi to Groton to pick up the minivan we had rented for our trip to the airport the following day.

The scene from the aft deck was less busy than on our previous visit but the boat traffic on Mystic River continued to enthrall everyone.  To our astonishment, the Double Eagle returned to dock next to us.  This was the large yacht that had been our neighbor for several days in this marina before we departed for Martha’s Vineyard.

We planned a dinner of fried fish (using the fish purchased the day before in Newport) and elaborate preparations took place to do the job on the bridge.  Joe’s Dairy Queen experience and expertise proved valuable as we cooked large quantities of flounder and sea bass in my small deep fryer.  It was done to perfection and every bite was eaten with gusto.  Joe is a great guest as he is very competent and helps with any task without being asked.  Having him on the boat gave me much more free time.  He was eager to put out lines, plan routes on the GPS, and pilot the boat in addition to anything else needed. 

The following morning was spent cleaning and packing for our departure.  I prepared a brunch from “everything left in the refrigerator,” which turned out to be quite tasty.  The weather was lovely and everyone was reluctant to leave.  We all agreed that our Labor Day weekend together had been wonderful.  Hopefully, we can do a similar trip again next year.