Betty Ann and I were married 45 years ago this past Sunday and we thought that we would "slip away" for a few days to Mystic CT. And since it snowed on our wedding day in 1972, we were not the least surprised that it snowed...a lot, on the day that we planned to leave for Mystic!

We stayed at the Steamboat Inn in Mystic, right on the Mystic River just before it opens up to the wider harbor to the south. We were literally on the dock, with great views...with snow, but it was a great get-a-way for sure.

Fortunately the village feel of Mystic meant that we were able to walk to most places. We spent several hours at the Mystic Aquarium the day after we arrived (see fishy photos!) and I had all I could do to keep Betty Ann from crawling into a tank and calling it home!

As a photographer, I have a thing for "function and form" structures, thus the bounty of images of the old Mystic River "Bascule" bridge that's been doing it's thing since 1920 that opens and closes above the Mystic River throughout the year. I talked to a shop keeper two doors down and asked him how often the bridge mechanism brakes down, to which he said, "Never!" Hello New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge!

We plan to return in late September to the very same inn and suite, minus the snow!