Sunday morning we met with Jeremy’s mom at the Inn for breakfast (he had lemon ricotta hot cakes, his mom had the spinach, mushroom and goat cheese omelet and I had the eggs benedict) before heading out for a day of exploring. Our first stop was the Submarine Force Museum, home of the USS Nautilus. It was rather fun driving through Groton, since in so many ways it’s like driving through Norfolk with all of the military presence. The Nautilus is one cool vessel, and in addition to being able to tour about half of the vessel we also watched a video on the history of submarines in the US military (more interesting than it sounds 😉 ). For pics of the Nautilus check out the Flickr set.
After we finished our tour there we decided to stop for lunch, at Jeremy’s mom’s recommendation, at Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough. (All the photos from lunch are up on Flickr)
Our meal and view from our picnic table
This place would be really hard to find without GPS (yay for the Droid and it’s excellent navigational skills 😉 ), but is well worth seeking out. They are only open between Memorial Day and Labor Day for lunch and dinner but even on a Sunday the parking lot was full, with cars from all over New England. There’s a walk up counter where you place your order after selecting what you’d like from the large wooden menu out front, then you take your order to “the long red counter” around the corner to get your drinks and soups then the rest of your order will be called over the loudspeaker when it’s ready. There is some seating inside a screened porch but the majority is outside at picnic tables either under a tent or next to the shore.
Hot Lobster Roll from Abbott's Lobster in the Rough
We opted for an open table near the water where we split clam chowder (broth based, no cream, just clams, potatoes, and broth, simple but good), lobster bisque, a “hot” lobster roll (pretty much consisting solely of lumps of lobster meat on a buttered and toasted hamburger roll) and a lobster salad roll (tasty chunks of lobster with mayo and celery on a buttered and toasted hot dog roll). I had never had a lobster roll of any sort and I think this was definitely a great introduction, both were amazingly tasty and the pieces of lobster were huge! Definitely a place to seek out if you are a lobster fan.
After lunch we headed to Mystic, home of the Mystic Aquarium (as well as some humorously named stores spinning off of the town’s name such as “Optimystic Eyewear”). The aquarium, though a bit pricey ($28 adult admission) was fun and full of people.
Clown fish at Mystic Aquarium
They had a cool jellyfish exhibit along with outdoor exhibits for seals, beluga whales, and penguins, and of course lots of fish (all the aquarium pics are up on Flickr). After we toured the Aquarium we decided to head back, via “the scenic way” to the Inn before our dinner at 7pm. Jeremy wanted to take the ferry so we made our way there along the beautiful back country roads and just barely made it onto the last ferry of the day, as we pulled onto the small 9-car ferry the ferryman shut the gate (the ferry closes at 5pm we got there at 4:59).
Next adventure is dinner at the Copper Beech Inn dining room where we’re planning on having the chef’s tasting menu, yum!
