Memorial Day Trip

Laurie planned out a trip for my 50th birthday a few weeks earlier. Friday night we went out to Vincent's nightclub in Randolph for some Salsa and Merengue dancing. On Saturday of the long weekend, we headed out early, and after a stop for breakfast at Cafe on the Common in Mansfield, we jumped onto I-95 and headed down to Connecticut, to visit Mystic Seaport.
We spent the day visiting the various exhibits, and climbed aboard their catboat the Breck Marshall for a half hour of sailing on the river. We ended with climbing up the stairs to the deck of the whaler Charles Morgan, the last remaining wooden whaling ship in the world.
The entrance to Mystic Seaport.
Me at the bow of the Amistad, a scale model of a slaving ship built by shipwrights, professional and volunteer, of Mystic Seaport.
The prow of the Amistad.
The bowchasers on the barque Joseph Conrad.
A demonstration of hauling casks and loading cargo aboard the Jos. Conrad.
The catboat Breck Marshall
A view of the Joseph Conrad from Middle Warf.
Looking south along the Mystic River from the top of the stairs built to give access to the Charles Morgan.
The whaling ship Charles Morgan being restored at the shipyard.
Charles Morgan from the stern end.
A peek into the siding of the Charles Morgan, giving access for supplies to restoration workers.
The foc's'l of the whaler.
For dinner we went to the Latitude 41 restaurant; I had the cioppino.
Laurie opted for the halibut.
For breakfast, after Mass at St. Edmunds at Enders Island, we headed to Stonington Borough where we ate at Noah's.
After brunch we headed down to the point to see Dubois beach and the famed cannon with which the men of Stonington repelled an attempted British landing fleet during the War of 1812.
Laurie at Dubois beach.
Striper fishermen off the shore in the thick fog we saw all weekend.
The Stonington lighthouse
Part of the fishing fleet in Stonington.
After leaving Stonington, we headed into Rhode Island, and visited the Greenvale Winery in Portsmouth. We enjoyed a wine tasting (5 whites and a Cabernet Franc) and then had a tour of the vineyard.
The vineyard has about 23,000 plants on 23 acres. Each vine has to be pruned over the winter, shoots and buds managed, plants tied, and then of course, in the Fall, harvested.
Some of the Pinot Gris vines.
A chardonnay vine.
Some of the chardonnay vines with a view of the river.
Because some of the grounds have been getting overgrown, and home to nesting birds that feast on the grapes, the Winery has put two Scottish highland steer on the grounds to eat the brush, as the environmental rules prohibit them from clearing it by hand.