HMS Victory and the Royal Naval Museum

With the end of our classic car trip, we headed west to Portsmouth to tour the Royal Dockyards, and see the HMS Victory, the pride of the British fleet and it’s victory at Trafalgar. 

I am always amazed at how small these ships are, having a ships’ company of over 250 men, who lived, slept and ate on board, with cannons in the middle of their sleeping quarters. 

There is an audio guide for the ship so that as you walk around the ship life on board is reenacted for you.    

Welcome aboard

Between the smells of gunpowder, waste, and sweat, in close quarters, I’m not sure I could have been a sailor on one of these ships.  

Nelson's bedroom

He's got a canon in his bedroom; I guess you have to be prepared

Rule Britannia

The kitchen

The oven/cookstove

Dr. C and I were cold and tired, so we got back into the Aston and headed to our airbnb in Westbourne.  It's a small coach house, and we loved it and our hosts.  Westbourne is a hidden gem, with great restaurants and friendly people. 

My Summer Vacation, and the Lobster Roll Chronicles

On August 18th, Dr. C., our son Ryan, and I headed for the East Coast to celebrate our granddaughter Poppy's birthday and Ryan's birthday.  Dr. C. is newly retired, and so we are on an extended vacation.
Celebrating Ryan's birthday, we went to see

which was a great show.  We loved it.
Next up was celebrating our twin grandchildren's birthday at the beginning of September.  Sonny and Tilly were born a month prematurely (almost in an Uber car) but you would never know it, they are hale, hearty and happy.  This is a photo of them with their big sister Poppy blowing out candles

Poppy did the decorating on their cake.  We had the pleasure of babysitting the twins for 5 days while Poppy and her parents traveled to England.  We now know why you have children when you are young!
After the babysitting, and little projects around the house, we took off to meet up with friends in New Hampshire and family in Maine.  That's when my lobster roll addiction kicked in.  I love Maine lobster, and a lobster roll is a perfect amalgamation of lobster, crunchy grilled roll, and just the slightest bit of mayonnaise.

This lobster roll had a lobster salad flavored with tarragon; now it was delicious, it wasn't the quintessential lobster roll that you imagine, but the setting in Portsmouth, NH, and the food were terrific. This was eaten and enjoyed at Martingale Wharf.

We were so surprised by Portsmouth, it's a great town!

Next up was a little shopping at the Kittery Outlet malls, and then lunch the next day. 

This was true lobster salad, with mayonnaise and celery in the mix

I opted for the fried clam roll; yes, there is a roll under there

The next day it was off to Harpswell, Maine, another day another lobster roll; this time preceded by chowder

This one wins the prize so far; a bit of mayonnaise, LOTS of lobster, a perfectly grilled roll, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside

My brother opted for the 2 lobster special--all this for $20---amazing

Of course, hand cut onion rings are the perfect accompaniment

Tomorrow we'll leave Maine and head back to Connecticut for another week.  We leave for Italy on September 18th for 6 weeks---someone has to do it!  Hopefully Dr. C's cell phone will stop ringing, and he'll be able to really be retired.  I'll be blogging for real once we are there, and I hope you'll follow along.