Northport NY to New Haven CT

I can now officially say I studied at Yale.  Maybe it was only for one minute and I wasn't enrolled ... But I studied there ...  Much like I studied at Oxford years ago... And sat where Tolkien and CS Lewis sat and drank....

Anyway ...  Before I get to that ....  We left Northport this morning to gorgeous weather.  A bit cool but sunny and bright. 

And calm....

We cruised out of the harbor and into the Long Island Sound with no traffic and a stiff cool breeze.  Enough to get me to close the windows....

It was a great day to cross the sound into Connecticut.   Another state!

New Haven welcomed us into the breakwater after a relaxing morning cruise right about noon.  

At one point crossing I thought I saw a flipped Kayak or Canoe (which would be bad since the water is 60F).   It wasn't.  Instead it was a ship killer...

I wouldn't want to hit that bad boy in a storm or waves.   It was 12 inches thick (or more).  A full tree trunk!  

We also met a boat doing bottom survey on the way in.   Not only do they map depth but they map what is UNDER the bottom with sophisticated sonar.   Pretty cool.  

Eventually we found ourselves at the town dock.  No officials around yet ... 

Still too early in the season.   This is where the Amistad is typically docked.  But not today.   No one around except sight seers and vagrants.  

So we just tied ourselves up and grabbed the bikes and went exploring.    

Our first order of the day was lunch ... 

Louis Lunch has been serving burgers (and only burgers) since 1895   They are in the Library of Congress as the originator/creator of the hamburger.   Not Germany.  Connecticut.  Louis Lunch. 

The place is a little bit of a cross between Yesterdog and ChooChoo grill...

The burgers are decent.  Made on toast (the way they first made them) and yes, you can still get pie with them ...

The wood is old and carved up.  It has a really cool vibe.   And it's right next to Yale.  But again I get ahead of myself.  There were more important things to do in this port than Yale.   

Orange CT (right next door) is home to PEZ!   Who can pass up a good marketing success story?   PEZ was created by Eduourd Haas (any relation to the Haas' I know?   Inquiring minds want to know..).  It was originally created to be an alternative to smoking.  A breath mint.  

But the dispenser... That was unique.  And patented.   And it caught on.   At first it was just a cool dispenser... But they figured out how to co-brand.  

100 years (almost) of cobranding and licensing.   All the big names.

Disney, Coke, Warner, Paramount, Marvel, Star Wars, even people.. 

Orange County Choppers even made a PEZ motorcycle.  

They had a little scavenger hunt going on where the Seven Dwarfs were hidden among all of the other dispensers on two floors of displays and if you find them all you get to spin a wheel and win a dispenser and candy!  

So we had to do that of course!

And we got to see how PEZ was made (originally) and see how they pack it for distribution now....

PEZ galore!  

After the 6 mile ride back to New Haven (on crazy busy roads) we went to see Yale.  (Did I mention I fixed my bike again.   Melted wires again but this time the controller didn't fry). 

The bikes took us 20+ miles today. - with pedal assist the whole time of course.  A good day of riding.  

So we got to Yale.  What a stunning beautiful campus and thankfully no protests.  

I don't remember college life looking like that.  Probably because mine was all school, then work, then homework, then sleep, then school again...

After Yale we had to do mandatory Ice Cream.  I don't bike 20 miles and not reward myself.   

We also visited the cemetery.  

Lots of history here.  History older than our nation....

And after that we biked to Modern Apizza.  This is the most famous pizza place in these parts.   It was decent, but there's better pizza in W Michigan or Chicago for sure....  Give me a slice of Lombardo's, Fricanos or Lou Malnatos and ... I'll take it over this.   Still, it was great and I have some leftovers for tomorrow.  

And then.... back to the boat....

Traffic here is nuts.  Biking is actually faster than driving because the traffic all just sits in queue all day and barely moved.   I'll be glad to be home where I can run down millionaire row on Lakeshore drive and barely see a car..

43 miles today on the boat.... And 20+ on a bike....  One of the best days I think we've had on the entire loop.   Very enjoyable.  

Now if we can keep the curious and homeless off our boat through the night ...  Yes, besides the rich and privileged, New Haven has more than it's share of homeless and addicted.   Sad...   But we are finding that everywhere we go on the loop now....    People who don't have hope or reject any personal responsibility.   Sometimes both.  

I'm thankful for faith, family and health ... So many are missing these things....