My husband Bob woke up July 5th and said I want to take a cruise today. I thought he was joking. He was completely serious. He said the crusie is only an hour long and it will only take just a half an hour to get there. Sounds great, lets go!

But hold on... I grew up in Connectcut and never heard of Thimble Islands which are located off the coast of Branford. Me, Ms. Nutmegger, how could that be?

Now, I am an expert. So listen up, this is Catherine Avalone, your cruise director aboard the Sea Mist, a 44' Carman Boat of Chesapeake Design . Sit back and enjoy these beautiful 25 inhabited islands discovered by Adrian Block in 1614 who also discovered Block Island. The "Thimbles" have been described as a "piece of the Maine coast that drifted into Long Island Sound and came to rest at Stony Creek. Approximately 85 homes built mostly during the Victorian era and as you can see in my photo, the islands are famous for it's pink granite. Believe it or not, in 1665 Captain Kidd even hid his treasure here.

Stony Creek, Connecticut, take Exit 56 off of I-95.

In July and August, tours depart hourly every day from 10:15 to 4:15 p.m. Adults $10.00, seniors $9.00 and children $5.00... cash only. The vessel has large windows, bench seating and an upper deck. There is a bar which sells soda for a $1.00 (wow, now that's unheard of), wine and other beverages. Definitely bring your camera, I didn't, but thank goodness Andrew did!

The Volsunga IV, a 40' vessel with one covered deck offers tours from 11:00 to 4:00 p.m. Price is the same as the Sea Mist.

I took to photography like a duck to water. I never wanted to do anything else. Excitement about the subject is the voltage which pushes me over the mountain of drudgery necessary to produce the final photograph. - Berenice Abbott