The Great Bay, NH

Jasmine and I flew to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to visit my friend Big Tom and his family. The flight was an adventure, since we missed our connection and then switched to another destination city: Providence, Rhode Island. When we finally got there at midnight, we found our luggage hadn't made it.

So instead of hiking today, we went for a boat ride on the Great Bay of Portsmouth. Big Tom captained, while Jasmine, Tom's daughter Abby, and Abby's grandpa Herb checked out the sights.

As we left the slip where the boat is moored (like those nautical terms?) it was high tide. Going under a number of roadways to get out to the main bay entailed going under several very low bridges. Watch your head, Jaz!

Once on the main bay, we saw lots of cool things. Here, a submarine sits at dock.

Jasmine had been asked not to put her feet in the water from the bow of the boat. But it felt so good, she couldn't resist.

Unfortunately, that is a criminal offense, and the Coast Guard came to read us our rights. Here, they give Abby a sobriety test.

Fortunately, everything was ship-shape and they let us off.

As we neared the mouth of the bay, an Aegis-class destroyer was coming in, likely returning from duty in the Middle East. Believe it or not, we were too close when we took this picture- another Coast Guard boat came roaring up to wave us away as potential terrorists.

Must have been Jasmine's burkha.

Tom's phone rang- it was Karen checking up on the family. So Jasmine took over as Captain.

Heading back into the harbor, this tall ship was coming out under the draw bridge.