Our quick trip to Connecticut and a bridal shower

My nephew is stationed at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, CT.  He has been on deployment on the USS Annapolis since February of this year.  The Annapolis is an Attack Submarine assigned to the US Atlantic Fleet.  On Friday, the sub returned to homeport with her crew.  Since my nephew's term with the Navy will end early next year, and he isn't sure he'll re-enlist, especially for sub duty, we wanted to see it come in and visit with him for little bit. 

A sign at the entrance to the base.

Decoration on the fence at the entrance to the base.

When the tugboats bring the sub close enough to see from the dock it's really neat!  Horns were blowing, flags were waving, people were crying.

The two tugboats are attached at either end and they maneuver the submarine to the dock.

The tower is decorated with a big lei.  I don't know if it's made of paper or plastic but I'm sure she appreciates a little adornment. 

When it's close enough for the ropes to be thrown over to the dock, the tugs back away.

While watching and taking pictures from the dock, the flag that my nephew's other aunt was holding blew right in front of me and I thought it would make an awesome picture. 

And you know how I can't not play with the photo programs for different effects.

Yup, still playing.

After the sub docked my nephew disembarked, but he was still on duty so we couldn't get our hugs right away. 

Part of his duty included a salute to each sailor as they disembarked.

Then the hugs and flowers for his girlfriend and his Mom. 

Even though he got to see some of Bahrain, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, India, and France he was VERY glad to be home!!!   Six months is a long time at sea.

Since we went up the day before the submarine came in we had a little time to go see something else.  We decided to visit the village of Mystic, settled in 1654, located on the Mystic River. 

The Mystic Drawbridge.

There are alot of nice shops around.

An old dock.

We met my sister and her husband at Kitchen Little for breakfast on Friday.  It was VERY little!  We went outside to their patio and ate at a picnic bench.  Food was good.  Weather was really nice. 

On Thursday night, after we got our hotel room we off in search of a place for dinner.  The S & P Oyster Company was an AWESOME choice.  We sat in a little nook with windows overlooking the Mystic River and ate our seafood dinner by candlelight.  A wonderful evening. 

The Mystic.

Nice New England views.

We were early for meeting my sister for breakfast so we saw a cemetery along the way and pulled in to see if there were any old gravestones.  Yes, there were. 

If I ever saw the movie, Mystic Pizza, I don't remember it.  But it was fun to see it's namesake. 

The sunset was lovely in Mystic.

A bummer about the trip was traffic.  We hit it going up and coming back down.  I guess that's probably likely anywhere these days. 

To add to the excitement of the long weekend was my daughter's bridal shower today!  It was alot of fun.  She was really surprised and got many nice gifts.  It was good to see a little family and friends that I hadn't seen in awhile.   Her Matron of Honor planned it all so luckily I only had to bring the cake and hoagies, both of which I ordered, and a bowl of guacamole which I did make because good homemade guac is real treat and my daughter likes mine!  

We fit ALOT in to the last few days.   Whew!    

And yes, my neck and back are still howling at me but I just had to share these pictures with you!  

Now.....

It's ice, advil, and REIKI time. 

Have a great week!  xo