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2019 CONNECTICUT  REUNION RECAP

HARTFORD & SOUTH EASTERN CONNECTICUT
By Bob Ambrico - Reunion Planner
(Hover over photo's for the name or click on one to maybe visit its website)

    Our 2019 Reunion to historic Connecticut is now history, and it was a good one.  Our hotel was very nice, we had an issue with the hospitality rooms but we all adapted and made it work. 

    On Friday our tours began with a visit to Groton, CT. to visit the Submarine Force Museum and the Historic Ship Nautilus.  We had our memorial service on the pier on the Thames River.  Butch Guzejko provided his usual  moving playing of Taps from the deck of the USS Nautilus while crewmembers on the pier dropped carnations into the river in remembrance of crewmembers who are no longer with us.  The sight of the carnations floating down the Thames River toward Long Island Sound was particularly poignant.

     Following the Memorial Service we enjoyed a presentation by the Officer in Charge of the Sub Force Museum and the Submarine Base Public Affairs Officer. This presentation covered the US Navy, the Submarine Base and the Submarine Force.  The presentation drew lots of questions, so it appears no one was sleeping.

     Following the presentation we visited the Museum and the USS Nautilus. At lunchtime we went to Cross Hall Galley for a Navy buffet lunch. The Galley had a section reserved just for us. After lunch we then reboarded the buses for a tour of the waterfront. Unfortunately, most of the submarines attached to the base were at sea, but we did see the working waterfront, a submarine in drydock, and another in refit after returning from a six month deployment and two others moored dockside. Just being this close was impressive, the submarines are about the same length as the Hugh Purvis, but displace more than three times as much.

     Our next stop was at the Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park.  This is a Revolutionary War battlefield where the traitor Benedict Arnold led a British force against the Americans. Some of our more adventurous members even climbed the 135 foot tall monument which was dedicated in 1830. 

     On Saturday we visited two sites, the Mark Twain House in Hartford, and Old Wethersfield. The Mark Twain House intrigued us by its size and the 19th century opulence. We had a nice lunch there.  At Old Wethersfield, which was the first English permanent settlement in Connecticut, we visited buildings where George Washington stayed.        Also in Old Wethersfield we saw the only remaining 17th century, circa 1680, warehouse left.  Wethersfield, in Colonial Times, was a river port and shipped and received goods from all over the world.

We enjoyed excellent interpreters in each place we visited who really made the history come alive for us. Happily, we had good weather throughout the reunion and returned to the hotel each day tired.

     The Historic Ship Nautilus, the Mark Twain House, Fort Griswold, and Old Wethersfield, where George Washington visited and stayed, are sites  one can only see here in Eastern Connecticut. I hope everyone enjoyed the tours each day.








"See you all in Boston in 2020"

    Things to do in the Hartford and New London Areas...

• New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, adjacent to Bradley Airport,

• Harriet Beecher Stowe House, next door to Mark Twain House

• Essex Steam Train in Essex, CT

• Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT

• Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA

• CT River Cruises from Hartford and Essex, CT

• Block Island, RI via high speed ferry from New London

• Gillette Castle in East Haddam, CT


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