Croton-on-Hudson, NY - Old Mystic, CT

 May 2 - 5, 2025

On Friday, May 2, we drove to Sun Outdoors Mystic in Old Mystic, CT for 3 nights.  It was 30 amp electric and water and was $61.25 per night.  We wouldn't recommend it.  I think it used to be a privately owned campground.  Sun Outdoors bought it, put lipstick on a pig, added a $10 per night 'resort fee' (none of which we used), and called it a resort.  We've stayed at other Sun Outdoors resorts and this one wasn't even in the same class.

Site 101

It rained all night and there was a lot of standing water.

On Saturday we went to the Mystic Seaport Museum.  They have a village, preservation wharf, and several old ships.

This was the Charles W. Morgan.  It was a whaling ship that was launched in 1841 and retired in 1921.  It would spend three to five years on each voyage, with shorter voyages between 1887 and 1904 when it was berthed in San Francisco.  There's a lot more information on the sign above; you can click on it to enlarge it.

Captain John at the helm.

Captain's Quarters

1st and 2nd Mate Quarters

Where everyone else slept.  They packed them in.

We couldn't stand up in the lower part of the ship so they must have been much shorter men back then.

These signs explain how they processed the whale blubber.

View from the other side of the ship.

More info if you click and enlarge.

Joseph Conrad Training Ship.

They are in the process of restoring the L. A. Dunton.  They say it will take another six years to complete.  I'd say at least that amount of time.

A little bit from home.

This is where they restore other boats, whether for the museum or private individuals.

We talked with these nice people.  They are volunteers that do things like stripping paint so the craftsmen can work on other things.

They had some informational signs on the Mayflower II and it's history, as well as a model.  We're planning on going to see it later.

They had a submersible built in 1964 by Electric Boat in Groton, CT.

Looks like a yellow submarine to me.

John's getting better at taking selfies.   On the waterfront.

On Sunday we went to the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, CT.

The small circle is the circumference of the first submarine, the USS Holland (SS-1).  The large circle is the size of the USS Ohio (SSBN-726).  Quite a difference.

We were able to tour the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear powered submarine.

We could only go back to just below the conning tower before the nuclear reactor.

The officer's dining room and lounging area.

First and Second Mate Quarters

Captain's Quarters

Ship's Office

Periscope in Control Room

Navigation Center

Bunks for enlisted men.  Hope they weren't claustrophobic.

John posted this on his Facebook page:

"Cindy and I toured the Nautilus Submarine Museum today. My Dad was in charge of the second stage of the first submarine launch missile Polaris A1, and he worked on all the others except the last one.

I developed the publishing system for all the documentation of the last one (Trident 2 — D5 missile). I also help put together the three Data Centers used at Kings Bay Submarine Base where I worked for 11.5 years."

First Polaris A-1 missile.

Second Stage

Polaris and Trident missiles.

Yesterday we were...

Roving on...
but that will have to wait for the next blog.

For this is what the LORD says, He who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and not create if as a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited): "I am the LORD, and there is no one else."  Isaiah 45:1

Sparta, NJ - Croton on Hudson, NY

 April 27 - May 1, 2025

On Sunday, April 27, we drove to Mahlon Dickerson Reservation campground for 3 nights.  It was 50 amp electric and the water wasn't supposed to be turned on until May 1, but it was on.  It was $35.78 per night.

Site #13

It was a beautiful campground and very quiet.  Probably because there wasn't hardly anyone there!

View from our back window.

On Monday we left the campground at 6:45 in the morning and headed for Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty ferry from just south of Newark, NJ.  We had a security check-in time of 9:15 and we made it a few minutes early.  You get a timed security check-in time and then just catch the next ferry.  The traffic was horrible, but it was rush hour (do they NOT have a rush hour around here?).

This is the ferry building.  Behind it are 20 train tracks that depart from the building and haven't been used in years.  I'd love to know the history of that.

Our first stop was Ellis Island.

You go inside and get some audio phones that guide you around the building, then you go up the stairs into the Registry Room.

It looks a lot different today, but the dark benches you see are original.

This is what it looked like when all the immigrants were coming through.  People had just come on a ship in steerage for up to a month.  They landed in New York, but were ferried to Ellis Island to be processed.  There were many languages being spoken, and the women and children were separated from the men.  They had to go through physical and mental examinations, and they had to have at least $20 with them.  Some had health issues, and if they were treatable (like measles) they were sent to the hospital.  If it was a child the parents could only visit once a week for a few minutes.  If it wasn't treatable they were sent back to where they came from.  They tested for an eye disease with a button hook, where they rolled the eyelid over the button hook to check their eyes.  I'm sure the button hook didn't get cleaned between each person, so if someone had it they probably spread it to someone else.  There was a story about a family - grandmother, children, and grandchildren - where they grandmother had something wrong with her and they wouldn't let her in.  A family member said they never heard from her again.  Even so, only about 2% of people that came over had to go back.

People sat on the benches until they got up to the inspectors.  They had interpreters to help.

Ship Manifest

If they were allowed in they were ferried to the city.  If they were going somewhere besides the city they purchased train tickets to where they were going.  Since they couldn't speak English the railroad company would put a tag on them saying where they were going so the conductor would know when they should change trains or get off.

Our ferry.

When we were done at Ellis Island we took another ferry to the Statue of Liberty.  We got some lunch and walked around the statue.  You don't realize how big it is until you get up next to it.

Panorama of New York City

Then we went into the museum.

The original torch.

Full-scale model of the face.

Full-scale model of the foot.

After a couple of purchases at the gift shop we took the ferry back to the NJ terminal.  We were glad we went from NJ instead of NY.  The line to get the ferry back to the terminal was much shorter than the one for NY.  We didn't want to try and drive in the city and find parking either.  We got back at 4:30.  It was a long day.

On Wednesday we drove to Croton Point Park Campground in Croton on Hudson, NY for 2 nights.  It's 30 amp full hookups and $60.00 per night.

Site 36.  It's a pretty campground right on the Hudson River, but you can't see but a peek of water through the trees.

There was a pretty sunset last night.

Tomorrow we'll be...

Roving on...

For this is what the LORD says, He who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and not create if as a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited): "I am the LORD, and there is no one else."  Isaiah 45:1