I went from Connecticut to Rhode Island!!!

Hello Fellow Wayward Travelers!!!

I know that yesterday I had told you that the U.S. Coast Guard Museum in New London, Connecticut is a must see for me!!! But, I got to thinking about it and realized that my chances of getting the trailer parked today were no better than yesterday!!! So, I decided to bypass the Coast Guard Museum and go straight for the Submarine Museum!!! Now I am glad I did!!! I ended up staying there for about four hours looking at the exhibits, movies, and touring the submarine!!!

When you get to the museum, it has RV Parking --- this shows that it is a first class museum (okay, that’s just my opinion!!!) Second, there is no doubt that you know where the museum is --- there were signs everywhere to direct you right into the parking lot!!! And then there is the sign on the building --- no confusion here!!! ---

 

When you get inside, there is a volunteer telling you what to see first --- I was told to tour the Submarine first --- so I did!! Here is what I saw walking to the dock ---

 

Then they gave you a audio phone so that you had a self guided tour with a narrative telling you what is going on inside the boat. Here are some photos of the inside of the USS Nautilus ---

Here is one of the forward torpedoe tubes ---

And on of the torpedoes ---

A shower & sink --- which is a bigger space than on my Travel Trailer!!!

 

The Officers' Galley - which was used to reheat the food from the enlisted men's galley!!!

Officer's dinning hall ---

Officer's Bunk Room (2 to 3 to a room) ---- 

Commanding Officer's rooms ---

 

 Control Room ---
 

 
Navigation Center ---

 

Sonar room ---

Boat Drivers (it takes three) ---

 

 

The Crew Mess Hall ---

 

 The crew bunks (6 to 8 in an area) ---

 

The Galleys ---

 

Then I went through the museum. It talked about some of the first attempts at using submarines. They had a full scale model of “The Turtle” so that you could see how it worked. The inventor and builder was David Bushnell sometime around 1775. Here is a photo of that model ---

 

 
 
 

There were a couple of good information movies that I sat down to see. One was about a noise detection system that the U.S. had planted in all the oceans that could hear and identify submarines. This was used to track Russian submarines until a soviet spy got the word back to Russia. Then the Cold War ended (kind of) and now the system is used to track whales. I had never heard of this system until today, but the movie was very interesting!!! The other movie was the history of the U.S. Submarine Fleet and how WW-II brought it to the forefront!!

Then I finished with the museum and went outside and here they had one of the WW-II Japanese two man subs. I have always found these to be interesting!!! They are bigger than you would think, but then they were all torpedoes and motors and batteries!!! There was hardly any room for people!!! Here is a photo of one ---

 

Here is a photo of the U.S. version of a Midget Submarine --- it probably has a few more creature comforts, but it was still small ---

 

Like the Japanese submarine, it was deemed unsuccessful!!!

From here I drove toward Providence, Rhode Island. See, here is the road sign ---

 

My goal is to stay at least a night in each of the northeastern states!!! The only museum in Rhode Island that I wanted to see was the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium. Well, guess what --- there were signs on the freeway pointing it out, there were signs on the roads pointing toward it, then when I get near --- no more signs!!! It is in a giant park with the zoo and a lot of other things!!! There are signs for all of them, but when I follow the signs for the museum, it takes me to the exit of the park!!! Well, after the second try, I broke the rule of “The Real Man” and stopped to ask one of the zoo park attendants!!! She said to go out of the zoo the way I came in and there should be signs pointing the way after I turned right!!! So, following her directions, off I went!!! Nope, her directions took me to another exit of the park!!! This is when I gave up and pulled over the travel trailer and called an RV Park nearby. So, forget about the only Rhode Island Museum I wanted to see!! I will stay the night in Rhode Island, but no tourist activities for me!!!

So with that, here I am in North Scituate, Rhode Island at the Holiday Acres Camping Resort trying to prepare for tomorrow’s adventures!!! This will mean leaving Rhode Island and driving back into Massachusetts. This is where I will also drive to the tip of the Massachusetts peninsula to a town called Provincetown. I haven’t been there since 1972. The next few days should be interesting!!!

Well, I am done for the day and I need to plan for tomorrow, so, with that, I will go for now, but I will see you all again tomorrow.

It is off to Massachusetts!!!

Again, to quote that great comedian, Red Skelton, "Good Night and May God Bless!"

Happy Trails ---- Jon