We combined a personal vacation in New England with a small ship cruise in August of 2015. Prior to the cruise we visited, among other places, Rye & Exeter New Hampshire, Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, & Portsmouth Maine.

We lodge in Bed & Breakfast inns whenever possible. After a while even Hampton hotels lose their charm as monotony sets in, same layout, same food. In the photo above, bottom left & center, The Arbor Inn, Rye, New Hampshire. Top center & and bottom right, The Inn by the Bandstand, Exeter, New Hampshire. Top left and right, The Captain Jeffers Inn, Kennebunkport, Maine.

Hands down the city of Kennebunkport was my favorite stop on the trip. Our B & B was within a few minutes walk of the center of town. Under the heading of "I never met a horse I didn't like" Joyce treated me to a horse drawn carriage ride. In the photo above, top left, "Doc" gets a well deserved scratch on the withers. Above, upper right, Enjoying the view from the Mathew J. Lanigan Bridge over the Kennebunk river connecting Kennebunk to Kennebunkport. Lower left, want to find anyplace or anything in Kennebunkport? Joyce shows the way to the True North Gallery where we did our best to grow the local economy each returning with a major piece of artwork. Lower right, Three wooden boats stranded by low tide on the Kennebunc river.

As the U.S.S.Nautilus was for nuclear propulsion the U.S.S. Albacore was a test bed for innovations now common in modern boats of the worlds navies. Among these are the teardrop hull shape, X-tail aft rudders and counter rotating screws. The Skipjack-class nuclear submarines were the first boats to incorporated nuclear power into the Albacore hull. U.S.S Albacore -- A Revolution by Design provides a detailed history of the development.

Not far from where the Albacore was laid down and later launched we toured the boat in Albacore Park. In the photo above, upper right, the Albacore's sail in profile. The sharp eyed will notice a movable control surface, a rudder, aft. Lower right, Joyce, always the practical one, stands near the escape hatch. Lower center, a first, airplane-like yokes controlled the steering surfaces replacing the large wheels of WWII fleet boats. Bottom left, a view into the crews' common space. The crew included 55 enlisted men and officers and often carried technicians responsible for operating new equipment under test. Crowded is an understatement. Upper left, a forward berth. Note the exposed pipe and valve above the upper bunk.

Walking the coast near Hampton and North Hampton, NH, on a sunny day was a delight. In the photo above, upper left, a modest seacoast cottage. We considered buying but it's really too small for our lifestyle. Upper right, by mid August most rose blossoms had gone by leaving the bushes loaded with red and orange rose hips, the fruit of the rose plant. Lower right, New Hampshire's 18 miles of seacoast offers variety of beaches though most are primarily rocky. Several Rye and North Hampton beaches are, however, sandy. Lower left, At The Beach Plum in North Hampton we were advised to buy a small rather than a medium size cup. The small was humongous while a medium could have fed the both of us with leftovers for a doggy bag!

While in Rye, NH, we visited Fuller Gardens in nearby Hampton. The collection of roses and dahlias in particular was stunning. I'd never seen dahlias planted in such abundance. We spent several hours in the gardens.