Trip #5 Glen Cove, NY - Stratford, CT - Our Cruise Across America

Sun

24

Aug

2014

Trip #5 Summary

Length of Trip: 16 days

Nautical Miles Traveled: 340

Hours of Cruising: 30 hours

Longest Cruising Day: 4 hours, 50 NM (on one engine): Sag Harbor, NY - Stratford, CT

Pleasant Surprise: Block Island, RI

Biggest Disappointment: Downtown Montauk, NY

Favorite Destination: Martha's Vineyard, MA

Favorite Meal: 1770 House, East Hampton. NY

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Sat

23

Aug

2014

Saturday morning we cleaned the boat inside and out, did laundry and took all the perishables off the boat. I tried to convince Kirk and Mary to grab a cab and head to Greenwich, CT to enjoy a nice day in town instead of working on the boat with us, but they refused. They are very hard workers (Kirk's cleaning skills an determination rival John's) and while the help and organization was great, but I felt a bit guilty about it as they were our guests! We put a few sweaty hours in, got packed and on our way to Greenwich for some respite at the beautiful Delamar Hotel, the same hotel where we had previously docked the boat with Nunziati's on the first stop of this trip. We enjoyed lunch at our old haunt, Meli Melo, then shopped a little on "the Avenue". That evening we had dinner at Mediterraneo, then back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

The next morning we "ubered" to JFK for our flight to SFO. Thank you Kirk, Mary, John and Nancy (and The Latitude Adjustment) for a wonderful couple of weeks!

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Fri

22

Aug

2014

A Bump in the Road (or Water)

We untied the next day to head out to Port Jefferson. About an hour into the cruise, there was a thud, then the sound of a little underwater clatter and the engine sound went from smooth to not so smooth. In the boat's wake, two dark pieces of a smallish log drifted their separate ways. So, on what was to be the second to last cruise on our trip, we had to begin running on one engine as seemed certain the propeller blades had been bent. We ran slowly while John and Kirk did some planning and decided to go straight to Stratford, CT where we would abandon ship one day early, spending our last night in a hotel in Greenwich, CT. It was a long four+ hour cruise on one engine, but all went well and we limped into the harbor. Fortunately Stratford turned out to be a pleasant enough place (towns with the large winter storage buildings are usually off the beaten path) and we were able to enjoy a nice dinner at the waterside Outrigger's Restaurant before retiring for the evening.

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Thu

21

Aug

2014

The Tender's End

We rode bikes through Sag Harbor to breakfast then Mary and I headed to East Hampton to check out the shops in town and John and Kirk took a ride around the harbor in the tender testing out it’s speed (or lack thereof) while checking out the harbor full of fancy boats. They later joined us there for dinner at The Living Room which is a Scandinavian restaurant in The Maidenstone Hotel, a charming, warm, yet chic hotel at the end of town. When we arrived, we were the only guests there. By the time we left, the joint was hopping. As we made our way out of the restaurant and through the bar, John noticed that all the patrons were men, and they were all pretty swankily dressed. Kirk thought he and John could stay and get some free drinks, but Mary and I put the kabosh on that so it was back to the boat for Rummikub and some sleep.

That evening, John announced that he was putting the tender up for sale on Craigslist as not only were he and Kirk unimpressed by it's performance. we have yet to ever need it and he would much rather free up the area on the swimstep for relaxation space close to the water. Bye bye little tender! Vaya con dios.

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Wed

20

Aug

2014

Where the Foodies Eat

The next morning we worked out at the fitness club at MYC, then had lunch at a taverny type place called The Dock before heading out to Sag Harbor.

The cruise to Sag Harbor was the best yet, so glassy and smooth it was like a lake. After docking and boat cleaning, we took a 7 mile cab ride to East Hampton to check it out. As expected, the very upscale town of East Hampton offered many high end shops which Mary and I plan to explore in detail tomorrow as we will be here for two days. We had dinner at a very charming 1770 Restaurant, where we sat next to the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, and Giada de Laurentiis from the Food Network while we had drinks and appetizers in the basement "Tavern" featuring rich wooden wainscoting with dark hundred year old beamed ceilings before heading up to the garden patio for a lovely candlelight dinner.

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Tue

19

Aug

2014

No Redneck Yacht Club

The next morning we cruised across the Sound to Montauk Yacht Club, where we had a nice lunch at the Club. They have a shuttle to town, so we took advantage of that and walked around Montauk which was disappointingly tacky. Our restaurant for dinner did not disappoint, however, as we had lovely meal at a restaurant called Harvest in their garden overlooking the Fort Mill Pond. There were beautiful swans with several grey signets and giant carp sticking their faces out of the water looking for treats. We had a family style dinner on their deck under a beautiful pink sunset.

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Mon

18

Aug

2014

The Men Who Built America

The next day we were up early to walk through Newport to tour some of the Mansions. We went to The Elms, The Breakers and Marble House. First we took the Servant Life Tour at the Elms to see behind the scenes areas of the house and what the servants lives were like. The Elms was built by the coal baron Edward Julius Berwind. Completed in 1901, its design was copied from the Château d'Asnières in France. The house was so efficiently run and the thought and organization that went into making it so was quite amazing.

After the tour, we walked to lunch at the Tennis Hall of Fame. The charming shingle buildings form an oval around a little grass tennis court that is green and pretty. The structure is noted as the finest example of shingle style architecture in the country. Then we walked on to the two Vanderbilt mansions: The Breakers and Marble House.

The Breakers was the Newport summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, built in an Italian Renaissance style. Marble House was his daughter in law Alva’s, built for her 39th birthday present by his son William. It is in the Beaux-Arts style inspired by the Petit Trianon at the Palace of Versailles. Apparently Alva was a women’s rights advocate and shocked society in 1895 when she divorced William at a time when divorce was rare and when women were not even able to vote, she received over $10 million, and several estates, including Marble House.

We walked back along the cliff walk on the oceanfront side of Marble House and The Breakers, then to Diego’s Restaurant on the Bowen's Wharf where to boat was docked for dinner.

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Sun

17

Aug

2014

Yachting Capital of the Northeast

The next morning we unrafted from two other boats and had a pleasant cruise to Newport, RI. Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island 23 miles south of Providence, and 61 miles south of Boston. A New England summer resort and home of famous Newport Mansions. An 18th-century port city, Newport now contains among the highest number of surviving colonial buildings of any city in the United States and apparently was the center of piracy during the late 17th and early 18th century. So many pirates used Newport as their base of operations that the London Board of Trade made an official complaint to the English government. The most famous pirate was Thomas Tew. who was very popular with the locals; after one of his pirating voyages, it was reported that almost the whole town came out to greet him. That came to an end in the 1720s when colonial leaders, under pressure from the British government, arrested and hanged many of them. It’s also rich with Revolutionary War History with Rochambeau and George Washington.

We docked at the Newport Hotel, did the usual boat cleaning and yoga and then went for a walk on the wharf which is charming and full of shops, restaurants and people. That evening, Kirk and Mary arrived. We had a late dinner on the wharf at The Clarke Cooke House an 18th-century building where they report they have been hosts to royalty and yachting stars, captains of industry and charming scalawags. Not sure where we fit in there, but it was a lovely time.

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Sat

16

Aug

2014

Old Acquaintances

The next day it was breakfast at the Art Cliff Café, and then to packing (Nunziati’s had to catch a Ferry to the mainland then to transport to the airport). Bon Voyage John and Nancy – we will miss you!!!!!!

After the Nunziati’s departed, we cleaned and did laundry for a couple of hours, then rented bikes for a ride to Edgartown, 8 plus miles away. It was beautiful – riding by marshes and beaches and Cape Cod style houses perched by the white-capped sea overlooking the gorgeous sailboats criss crossing the water. We rode through East Chop then Oak Bluffs. Oak Bluffs is ‘extreme Victorian’, situated in the midst of the historic gingerbread campgrounds, which was very crowded with cars and people and as the wind was kicking up, dust. We rode until it started getting too windy, and then turned for home to be there in time for our dinner guests, Paul and Pam Donlin, John’s friends from his summer at Oxford thirty-ish years ago. They live just a ferry ride away from Martha’s Vineyard.

We had dinner at the Blue Canoe, that Pam had selected for dinner months before and was coincidentally located right across from the boat. It was fun for John, Pam and Paul to get caught up in 30 years of time in just a couple of hours. Before we knew it, the 9:30 ferry was about to depart so nostalgia time had to come to an end.

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Fri

15

Aug

2014

The Vineyard

We unrafted by 7:30 am the next morning to hurry to our next destination: Martha’s Vineyard. After a couple hours of smooth cruising (John and John saw dolphins) we arrived to the quiet and charming little harbor. Often called just "The Vineyard," the island has a land area of 100 square miles. It is the 58th largest island in the US and the third largest on the East Coast. It is also the largest island not connected to mainland by a bridge or tunnel on the East Coast of the United States. In the summer the population of the island swells from 10,000 to over 150,000 people.

The Vineyard Haven Marina only has room for about a dozen boats, is very clean, cute and charming. We were docked only about 20 feet off shore in front of the Blue Canoe Restaurant. We went to the delicious Black Dog Tavern next door to the harbor for lunch, then walked around the little town of Tisdale (aka the New Harbor) before coming back to the boat to enjoy a beautiful afternoon and some deck time, then headed to Edgartown for dinner at Alchemy, and walked around downtown afterwards. Once back on the boat, Nancy and John went to the bow deck to watch the stars, and John and I went to sleep.

Thu

14

Aug

2014

Perfect If That Is What You Like

We took off early for Block Island, RI as the weather delay meant we only had one day there. We cruised in our usual fashion, with both John’s and me in the cabin, and Nancy on the bow taking it all in.

Once there, we rented bikes and rode to town for lunch at Mohegan’s Café, then rode a few miles to the end of the island to take a hike in a nature preserve. After the hike, we biked back to the boat and relaxed for a couple hours. The harbor is quite fun and unusual. It is a decent sized harbor packed with boats all "rafted" together (one boat is tied at the dock, another boat tied to that boat an so on, so the outside boaters have to walk across the docked boat’s deck to get to shore ) as it’s such a popular destination. Everyone in the harbor and in town speak with Jersey type accents and all extremely friendly in a very "real" way.

We cabbed to Spring House Hotel for a drink at the deck bar which is perched on a hill and has a large grassy area with spectacular views of the Atlantic. There were people having drinks enjoying the view from Adirondack chairs while kids ran up and down the hill launching little wooden glider airplanes. After enjoying that, we cabbed to town to hunt down some t-shirts for Chloe and Leann’s stocking stuffers (yes, already thinking about that!) from a restaurant we had seen called Three Kitten’s or Tres Gatitos and "Block Dog" shirts for all. We had success with the kittens, but no Block Dogs, although it was fun just looking. We stumbled in to dinner at Winfield‘s around 9 p.m., then cabbed back to the harbor under a half-full red moon low on the horizon.

Upon our return, the harbor docks were still lively, exactly as noted in the Active Captain reviews, perfect if that is what you like.

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Wed

13

Aug

2014

Learning the Ropes

The forecast was for a gigantic scary storm so we had already planned to stay an extra day in Mystic to avoid crossing the Long Island Sound in eight foot seas. The weather predictions proved correct so we had a lazy morning listening to the rain and catching up on work and emails. Once the storm subsided, we headed out to explore the Mystic Seaport (just stepped onto the dock and we were in it!), the nation's largest maritime museum. The museum is made up of several buildings and houses - a little village - that has preserved a number of sailing and whaling ships (most notably the whaleship Charles W. Morgan) and seaport buildings.

We headed straight for the village planetarium for a mini lecture on navigating by the stars (we learned about navigating by the North Star in our hemisphere and the Southern Cross in the southern hemisphere). Afterward, we walked through the village and learned about whaling (terrifying and horrible for all involved), rope making, barrel making (to store and transport the whale oil) wood carving, and ship building. Lastly we toured the Charles Morgan where we found out all about how the lines and rigging on a sailing ship functioned, yes we "learned the ropes" of sailing. The volunteer staff were very good at explaining everything, and it was an enjoyable day.

We had a really fun dinner at the The Captain Daniel Packer Inne, which was built on the Mystic River by Square-rigger Captain Daniel Packer in 1756 a fun in part due to the fact that Nancy and I had consumed a bottle of wine on the boat before departing, then imbibed in a delicious grapefruit cocktail at the restaurant. We ordered a cab home, and as we were climbing in, Nancy got a burst of energy and trotted/bounced down the street proclaiming she was running back to the boat. Of course, being the consummate gentleman, John N. oined her, and John and I cabbed back to the boat

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Tue

12

Aug

2014

America's Seaport

We were up early to cruise to Mystic, CT. so that we could try to get back on a schedule where we might have dinner before 9:30 pm.

The sea was a bit rough at first, but even so, Nancy served as lookout/figurehead, sitting on the bow sunpad the entire way. At first she was laying belly down hanging on to keep from getting bounced off the boat, but after the first hour things calmed down, we had a smoother cruise, and she could let go of the rails. Coming in to Mystic, the channel is long and lined with lots charming harbors and sailboats on moorings. We had to float around for a bit waiting for a couple of bridges that only open once an hour, and then it was into the quaint harbor.

After docking and boat cleaning, we walked through town for a peek at the shop exteriors (aka window shopping). Having missed lunch due to the length of the cruise, we walked to an early dinner at the Engine Room where we had arranged to meet Nancy’s college roommate Nancy and her husband Frank. Nancy and John had not seen them since just before John Andrew, now 18, was born. They live in Connecticut and had just returned from their condo in the Berkshires. They were lovely and we had a fun evening.

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Mon

11

Aug

2014

The Ivy League

The next morning Nancy and I went for a walk while the boys planned the route and prepped the boat for our two hour cruise to New Haven. Nancy sat on the bow deck the entire way enjoying the wind in her hair and the feeling of expansiveness and freedom cruising on the ocean can bring.

After docking, we headed out to Frank Pepe’s Pizzaria, which is known for pizza so good Frank Sinatra used to send a driver from New York all the way to New Haven to pick one up. The line was out the door when we arrived on a Monday at 3:00 in the afternoon. The cab driver told us that on weekends it is not uncommon for the wait to be three hours. We were a little concerned it would take forever to get in, but the line went quickly and we were sitting at a table within twenty minutes. The pizza really was amazing; crisp and chewy, thin, wood fired crust, real house-made tomato sauce and light and delicious cheese. My belly is very full of it as I write this and yet I still fantasize about eating some more!

After lunch we walked to Yale University and marveled at the gorgeous Gothic Revival and Georgian architecture of the 18th and 19th centuries. Every window, every wall, every gated arch is graced with beautiful details we don’t see much of in the U.S. This is why Yale’s campus buildings are frequently referred to as an outdoor museum of architecture.

We had a very late dinner (due to our very late lunch) on a rooftop deck at a New Haven restaurant called ‘Goodfella’s’. When we walked through the ground floor of the restaurant, even though it was a lovely and elegant setting, there were several flat screen TVs running either ‘The Godfather’ or ‘Goodfellas’. We had a pleasant dining experience, then headed back to the harbor to get some sleep.

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Sun

10

Aug

2014

Money Talks

We were up early and the Johns worked on boat operations and route planning while I did yoga on the dock and then Nancy and I walked up to the charming town of Sea Cliff. When we returned the boys were fueling up the boat and we set sail through the Long Island Sound for Greenwich, CT. It was a peaceful short cruise and we were greeted cheerfully at the dock. After a little swabbing of the decks, we all walked in to town for lunch.

Greenwich is a very affluent town of about 60,000 people. On July 18, 1640, Daniel Patrick and Robert Feake, jointly purchased the land between the Asamuck and Patommuck brooks, in the area now known as Old Greenwich, from Wiechquaesqueek Munsees living there for "twentie-five coates.". Not long after, the English joined the Dutch in a dispute with the Native Americans, which resulted in a massacre at the Indian village of Petuquapaen. A few hundred years later, Greenwich is a crisp and clean town with a long main street full of upscale shops such as Tiffany’s and Ralph Lauren. We walked the street and stopped for lunch at a well attended sidewalk café called Meli Melo (French - a mixture or mish mash) which served crepes, smoothies, salads and quiche. We then all did a little shopping and later relaxed on the boat watching ferries cruise quietly by while Nancy made fancy hors d'oeuvres (a bag of condensed popcorn chips) for us to munch on. To end the evening we walked uptown under a beautiful full moon to dine on the patio at Terra, an Italian restaurant.

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Sat

09

Aug

2014

Long Island Sound Here We Come!

After a lovely flight on Virgin America, John, Nancy, John and I landed at JFK and caught a taxi to Brewer’s Yacht Club in Glen Cove, NY stopping on the way at the grocery store for staples like fruit, cheese and milk. We asked the taxi wait as we hauled our baggage and groceries to the boat. A full moon was rising and the tide was at its lowest, making the ramp to the dock steep, and John Nunziati had to rescue me from my heavy rolling duffle which was seriously threatening to pull me down the steep slope. After dropping our things on the boat, we headed out to the American Café in Glen Cove for a lovely dinner on the patio.

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