Visiting Essex Connecticut
Saturday, July 18th, 2009A few nights ago, out of nowhere, I was bitten by something. I didn’t know what it was, but when I woke up, I wanted a boat. I guess I was bitten by the boat bug.
This is horrible. I have never wanted a boat in my life. I think it all started when I was wandering around on Google Earth (again) and noticed how cool it was that the Connecticut River leads right into the Long Island Sound. I mean, it is so easy to either launch a boat or have it docked up in East Haddam and within a half hour, you could be in the ocean. The access is incredible. That’s probably why there are like two zillion boats on this river and in the Sound. How this is just dawning on me, I don’t know.
Anyway, I decided a wanted a boat about two days ago. Then I told myself to forget about it. I didn’t want another thing taking up space around here. Then, I got back into it because I was talking to my accountant about business and the boat thing came up. Apparently, he is in the market too and he knows all about them. So, I wanted one again. Then, I talked to my father and kind of didn’t want one, but still did. I just told him I didn’t want one anymore because I didn’t want to make him nervous, even though he has two boats and two jet skis. He believes that his boats are plenty and if I would just go visit him, he could take me out. What he doesn’t know is that I need a boat to go visit him in. Then I could take him out. To make a long story short, when I went to bed that night, I kind of didn’t want a boat anymore. I figured I should sleep on it instead of making another impulse purchase.
Okay, back to a long story. Since boating requires some knowledge of the subject, I figured it would be a good idea to visit a boating town to learn a little something. What better boating town is there than Essex, CT? It would be like visiting the belly of the beast as Rob would say. So, that’s what we did.
Today, we visited Essex, CT, the nicest small town we have visited in a good long while. Essex is otherwise known as “BMW Heaven.” That’s the name I gave it. There were more BMWs in Essex today than any other place on earth. It felt good being among so many high quality machines. I kept looking at all of their wheels, running boards, ski racks, etc…seeing who had what. I am sure there were a few other enthusiast doing the same thing as I was. I decided that the X5 looks great in black. Also, the larger wheels look pretty good, but could possibly make someone a little nervous around curbs.
We visited Essex on a mission. We had to get to the water and visit a few of the many shipyards and marinas in the town. We also had to talk to a few boaters and generally absorb he vibe of the boating life. We did that and now I really want a boat.
Here is my dream – I want a boat docked in East Haddam. I want to drive down to the boat weekly with my lady and hop in for a ride. I want to cruise down to Essex, Old Saybrook, Stonington, Block Island, Matha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Newport, etc…, dock someplace and eat dinner. Then, I want to slowly cruise along the Connecticut shoreline while making our way back to the Connecticut River and up to East Haddam. Again, I want to do this all the time.
Now, I know this sounds absurd, but that’s what all these people were doing today in Essex. Man, it was so cool. All day, people were pulling up and docking their boats, only to jump out and walk around town and stop at the local eatery. It was a whole new lifestyle I have never really witnessed. I mean, I knew it was there, but I have never seen it. It’s interesting and really neat.
We did a lot of walking around today in Essex. I got a bunch of pictures and we visited a few shipyards. I got the skinny on where to dock a boat and how much it costs. Both Laura and I also helped a guy with his boat. He was having some trouble trying to dock it. All I needed was my skipper hat. It doesn’t help that I have been looking at boat websites for the past few days. Here, check out the boat I want. Now wouldn’t that be the mac daddy?
We also did a bunch of general walking around today just to check out the scene. Essex is really nice. It’s very well taken care of and the shops are unique. We stopped and went in one just because it had a sign that said, “Garden open in back.” I wanted to check that out.
After a while, we ended up in the Griswold Inn for some drinks and dinner. That was nice too. It was fun to see the boating crowd come in and eat and then leave to get back on their boats.
I am just going to post the pictures that I took and give some descriptions below them.
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- Gazebo in park in Essex, CT
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- The English Lady sign in Essex, CT
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- Looking up Main Street in Essex, CT
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- Essex history sign
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- Nice house in Essex, CT – #1
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- Church in Essex, CT off Main Street
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- Small backyard garden
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- Nice house in Essex, CT – #2
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- Nice house in Essex, CT – #3
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- Nice house in Essex, CT – #4
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- Nice house in Essex, CT – #5
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- Ducks and geese walking towards us out of water
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- Looking North up the Connecticut River from Essex, CT
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- Looking South down the Connecticut River from Essex, CT
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- The Connecticut River Museum on the Connecticut River
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- The Connecticut River Museum sign
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- Looking down Ferry Street at a marina
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- A big sail boat at Essex Boat Works
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- Some boats docked at a marina in Essex, CT
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- Some really big boats off the Connecticut River
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- Lighthouse in Essex, CT
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- Dauntless Shipyard sign
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- Boatworks Yacht Sales sign
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- Nice house in Essex, CT – #6
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- The Griswold Inn, Essex, CT
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- The Christmas Barn
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- A wedding reception on the river
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- Looking down at some docks and boats on the Connecticut River
TYSM I read this one and decided to try it out on my ACER (See, its not always HP with the problems)...