Life

Five years ago my company purchased a nuclear power plant in Connecticut. I was part of an External Affairs team that was sent to CT to inform legislators about the purchase. It was August and it was hot. I had never visited Connecticut but we got right to work when we arrived. We divided up lists and hit the Capitol. I got lucky and was able to meet with the Speaker of the House. Most of the others were home on break so there were a lot of phone calls. After two days, most of the team had gone home (or in the case of the guy who would eventually move there and lobby, back to his family vacation) but I was asked to stick around "just in case" they needed someone on the ground. I didn't mind, it was slow in Ohio and it gave me a little time to see the state.

A little time is all I needed. Connecticut is tiny. First, I drove to New Haven to see Yale. It was okay but I probably needed to get out and walk more around campus to see the great architecture. But it was hot and I figured I would wait until my children were looking at colleges to do that; I did stop at the bookstore and get a sweatshirt. Next, I drove down along the coast to get a look at Millstone, the plant we bought. I got out and walked up to it but didn't go in, security is very heavy at a nuke plant. Groton was my next stop, the capital of the U.S. submarine fleet but I didn't see too many subs.

Mystic was the next stop and I got out and walked around the Mystic Seaport area. Its a neat, touristy area but I liked it. I grabbed a dozen oysters and a beer in a restaurant on the water but didn't go looking for the Mystic Pizza shop. Next up was Stonington and it was a typical Connecticut oceanside town. I ate at the Skippers Dock seafood restaurant and enjoyed it. There was a huge boat docked there, seems to me as if was 90 feet and an old sailboat. There were also a ton of sailboarders in the bay and they seemed to be having fun.

My final stop was Foxwoods Resort, the largest casino in the world. Hard to believe its in Connecticut. It is nice and I decided to win $100 and get out of there. Sounds easy but the execution usually is not. However, on this day I won pretty quickly and drove back to Hartford, 50 minutes away.

Hartford wasn't the most exciting place in the world. It didn't have much nightlife and it was really tough to even find a nice restaurant downtown. I'm sure they were there but you had to know where.

I enjoy getting out and lobbying different states. But I'll leave Connecticut to our northeast guy.