New Haven, CT

After the previous day’s adventures we expected our cruise on Saturday, July19 to be much easier. But first we took a walk into the charming town of Old Saybrook where we discovered a farmer’s market that was just opening. What luck! We bought green beans, four ears of freshly picked butter and sugar corn and two blueberry peach pies (a large one and a small one). We figured we would bring the large one to Michael and Debbie Bergman’s house the next day. They are Jonny’s cousins who we often visit on our trip (the same ones where we had a tree fall on our rental car a few years earlier for those who have been reading this blog for awhile). The small pie was just for us since blueberry peach is one of Jonny’s all time favorite pies!

On the way back we passed one of those Little Free Libraries that you see in people’s yards. I just love them!  I found two good books to bring back. Unfortunately I did not have a book on me to trade but I will definitely pass it forward when I can.

Returning to Zendo we left our mooring at 10:05 for the cruise to New Haven. It was a nice sunny day, not too hot and with very calm seas. We passed two scenic lighthouses on our way.

For lunch, I steamed all four ears of corn and we ate them for lunch on the flybridge while we were underway.  This was the kind of corn we were looking forward to eating while in Connecticut - absolutely delicious!

We arrived at the Pequonnock Yacht Club in New Haven by 2:45 where a couple of friendly members and staff helped us tie up.

Later that afternoon my cousin Sally, who lives in nearby Woodbridge, came to pick us up as we had made plans to go out for pizza with her. We always have pizza when we’re in New Haven because it is recognized nationally for having the best pizza in the country!  This time instead of going to the three most well-known places (Pepe’s, Sally’s and Modern), we decided to go to Zuppardi’s Apizza in West Haven which is also highly rated and was recommended by our friend Paula in Vermont who grew up in West Haven.  A big advantage of going to Zuppardi’s was that the lines and wait times are much shorter than the “Big Three.”  It was good to catch up with Sally and the pies were very good - a small clam and bacon pie and a large pie with lots of fresh tomatoes and other vegetables.

The next day Jonny worked on the boat, washing it, changing the water filter and trying to address an issue we’re having with our holding tank.  It is acting like it is full (our gauge doesn’t work well) but we just had a pump-out that seemed very short for what we thought was a full tank.  In the meantime, I defrosted the freezer (an every other week job), vacuumed and dusted.  We also went into town to stock up on a few groceries.  We walked through a neighborhood of older homes within a designated historic district.

Later in the afternoon, Michael came to pick us up to bring us to their home in Hamden for dinner.   Their entire backyard is divided into a huge vegetable garden and a large area for their chickens.

Debbie made a delicious dinner with a first course of roasted breaded eggplant slices topped with burrata cheese served over a bed of arugula and topped with fresh basil. All the veggies were fresh from their garden. That was followed by two branzinos wrapped in grape leaves and cooked on the grill.  We had our pie for desert. Debbie’s meal was fabulous! And we enjoyed the two bottles of wine that accompanied it.

It was a wonderful evening for all of us. But little Archie had to be on a leash the whole time to keep him from chasing the chickens and their two kitties!  

It was almost 10 by the time Michael brought us back to the marina. We were beat by such a full day - a good combination of accomplishments and fun!