Wooden Boats! Wooden Boats! Wooden Boats!

I did not know what to expect of my first ever wooden boat show, which occurred last weekend in Mystic, CT. My father, as seven of the 10 regular readers of False Reckonings already know, is kind of a boating nut, and since retiring and learning to build boats himself has become a rather shameless shill for a specific type of dinghy. It stands to reason that he would cross a third of this great nation in his wee car to attend this event for 2 of its 3 days. After Day 1, Dad came back reporting (with no small amount of disdain) that there was not a single shellback dinghy on display.

Nevertheless, there was plenty to see. For example, big wooden boats:
Small wooden boats:
This being New England, vintage wooden whaling ships with real harpoons!:
And, of course, it wouldn't be complete without one of these:
After, we had not quite had our fill of boats, so we went to Abbott's in Noank for lobsters and lobster rolls and views.
And IF THAT WEREN'T ENOUGH, my good Chicago friend (now of Champaign, Ill. while she finishes graduate school) arrived shortly after our return. Hearing of our faux-maritime and seafood obtaining adventures, Chris wanted in on the action. Using her librarian wizardry, she led us to Stowe's, another lobster roll/clam-shack purveyor right in our own backyard. This is not Stowe's, but it is Chris:
More photos.