In recognition of the holiday we’d like to salute one veteran in particular, Drew’s father David, who flew jets for the Navy during the Vietnam War. While in DC we visited the Air and Space Museum, and what did we find in one of the exhibits? A plane that Dave flew. I don’t mean the same type of plane, I mean THE ACTUAL PLANE.

Dave’s A-4 Skyhawk, which flew from the USS Bonhomme Richard (aka “The Bonny Dick”).

Wow.

We had a terrific ten days in Washington, DC and Annapolis. Drew’s cousins Courtney and David Yarkin and their kids hosted us for the whole week. We got to trick-or-treat together, go to sports games, eat in, eat out, and just generally have fun. We miss them already!

Yarkinses and Williamses gather for a post-Halloween dinner.

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Says Drew: “A hurricane hit New York after all.” He refers to Hurricane Williams, which landed at the 79th Street Boat Basin around 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 11th and began a whirlwind tour of New York City that wreaked its own, unique path of destruction.

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We’ve been working our way slowly down Long Island Sound toward New York. And to paraphrase Nixon: This really is a long island! Our first big post-non-hurricane stop was New Haven, Connecticut — mostly for the pizza. But as an added bonus we walked through the Yale campus, which, wow. The kids and I were agog. It’s Hogwarts! Also Pepe’s Pizza (especially the white clam pie) was as great as we’d hoped it would be.

Yale Campus

Pepe’s Pizza (white clam pie not pictured)

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Appears Hurricane Joaquin is moving out to sea, thank goodness, and the rain here is finally easing after pouring down the last day and a half. The winds are still pretty gusty but we’re tucked up tightly in Hadley Marina so things are looking pretty good. Even better, the Dockmaster, Les Black, has been incredibly kind to us. Last night he took our kids out for ice cream (in a rainstorm), and today he brought them donuts. He also set up the clubhouse before we came over this morning: a fire was going in the fireplace, a heater had been brought in and turned on, and Looney Tunes was showing on the TV. It was like a modern version of A Little Princess. Soren and Elsa aren’t going to want to leave.

But getting to the point of this post: We have a photo gallery now! With captions and everything! Just click the Photos link at the top of the page to view them. Some of the photos have already appeared in our posts but others are brand new. You’ll see pics of Jan’s fabulous kitchen store in Providence, Stock Culinary Goods; birds on heads; sailboats in the fog; lighthouses in the fog; fog; fairy food; images from Plimoth Plantation and Boston; and much, much more.

One other housekeeping note, for those who have asked: Drew did not, in the end, cut his hair or beard. Still looking pretty salty. Internet FTW!