Nickerson State Park, MA
We continued our drive up highway 1 on thru Connecticut and our first stop of the day was in Groton visiting the Submarine Force Library and Museum. It's a really interesting place with tons of hands-on activities and films, but the real attraction is taking a tour onboard the Nautilus SSN 571, the first operational nuclear submarine ever launched, in 1954. It was decommissioned in 1980 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982.
What impressed me the most was how tight the quarters were and how every inch of space was maximized for efficiency. There were 10 bunks squeezed into an area the size of a small pantry. Bet that was pleasant. The control room and mechanical room looked really antiquated by our standards today. Everything was mechanical dials and buttons. What cracked me up was the galley, where there was a tape deck, a movie projector, table-top juke box. a softie ice cream machine and a "bug juice" (kool-aid) dispenser. Ahh...living the good life. I also really enjoyed seeing the very dated 1950's photos of "sweethearts" displayed in the petty officer's quarters.
The museum was really fun too. We got to look through periscopes and try out driving a submarine. One of the films we watched talked about the historic "Operation Sunshine" of the Nautilus which was attempting a submarine transit of the North Pole. This was the first successful attempt of a watercraft to reach the geographic North Pole. Politically, it was our answer to the USSR which had recently launched Sputnik. Eisenhower was President and he mentioned that one day "nuclear cargo submarines might use that route for trade." How'd that work out Ike?
After this little jaunt we continued driving through Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, finally reaching our destination of Nickerson State Park in Cape Cod. At one point we stopped at a fish place along the coast for lunch - lobster roll for me, a lobster BLT for Ned. Several years ago when we last visited the Cape I swore we'd come back, camp at this State Park and ride the incredible Cape Cod Rail Trails. Today was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I've been so looking forward to doing this!!
We reached the State Park at about 4ish and within minutes we were on our bike riding the trail. This State Park is situated almost half way in the middle of the trail so it's perfect to break it up into two days. Tonight we tackled the Southern end of the trail and rode about 14 miles. SWEET. Our hobby is riding Rail for Trails and this is for sure my favorite one yet. We rode past ponds, through a small tunnel, and alongside really quaint shingled little seaside cottages. I can't wait for tomorrow when we ride the longest part of the trail and perhaps even take a jog onto another trail to check out the National Seashore Visitor Center.
Our campsite tonight is awesome! We are on a rise overlooking a small lake. We have the place almost to ourselves and it's great having a glass of wine watching canoers below. I could stay here a week.
