I skipped my Monday posting because I am on vacation, and I found other ways to spend my time. Currently I'm in Boston, but I started my day yesterday in Groton, CT. We flew out on Sunday, landed at Boston-Loagn, got in the car, and went to Connecticut. We went to the MGM Grand, where I won $40, and then had dinner in Mystic, CT. We spent the night at a Best Western, and ended up going to the Submarine Force Library & Museum on Monday morning.
The submarine museum was actually really cool. I'd been on an old submarine a few times before because the Museum of Science and Industry has the U-505 boat that you can take tours of. The submarine at this museum was the USS Nautilus. It's American, not German, and it was newer than the U-505. The Nautilus was the first nuclear-powered submarine. It could travel at a speed of 16 knots for extended periods of time while completely submerged, running on a lump of uranium the size of a golf ball weighing two pounds. The idea that something the size of a golf ball could be dense enough to weigh two pounds still boggles me a little bit. I'm trying to imagine picking it up, and how the heft of it would be in my hand, and I just can't quite wrap my mind around it. The closest comparison I have is handling a ball bearing.
While we were at the submarine museum we saw an actual submarine coming into the base. The training facility for all submariners is right next to the museum, which makes sense, all things considered. There are photos of the museum and the submarine on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninniane/sets/72157626402276945/
Today it's rainy and fairly chilly (high of 50, feels like 45), so I've elected to stay inside and read Stephen King's Under the Dome, and periodically check facebook and flickr. Sadly, my vacation fu regarding weather hasn't been all that good recently. It hasn't been terrible either, but I've managed to end up in places for vacation that ought to be nice (LA for Christmas, Boston at the end of April), and instead I've been cursed with rain, rain, and more rain. Additionally, I've managed to get at least mildly ill at the start of each of the last several vacations. Over Christmas it was two days over serious flu-like symptoms, and then a couple days to recover. This time, thankfully, it's just a sore throat and a bit of a stuffy head, but it's still irritating. It makes me more inclined to sleep than to adventure.
Still, I did get to meet up with an old friend last night. James, who I know from high school, and his girlfriend, and I went to dinner at a place called The Foundry. I had a lovely beet salad, a wonderful cheese plate, and a glass of Riesling. It also got to try a sip of absinthe, which was very delicious. I could get used to drinking it, I think. The ritual of the spoon, the sugar cube, and the water appeals to me, and although I'm not fond of black licorice generally, this is sweet enough and complex enough that I like it.
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